At a time when BJP, Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party, AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) among others have made a strong case for one nation one election (ONOE), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group, has strongly supported the simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the country.

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In its presentation to the committee headed by the former President of India Ram Nath Kovind, CII has argued that simultaneous elections allows governments to focus more on governance rather than constantly being preoccupied with election duties. CII recalled that it had recommended in 2012 and in 2018, simultaneous elections in India. Incidentally, the Congress party has vehemently opposed ONOE terming it undemocratic.

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The industry body has recommended Single Stage Simultaneous Elections with an election cycle every five years and bringing half of the states in the next General Elections, and adding the rest in the forthcoming one. Alternatively, CII has suggested Two-stage elections with a gap of at least 2.5 years.

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According to CII, ONOE can reduce the overall expenditure incurred on General as well as State Legislature Elections, making it more cost-effective, and at the same time there are less days of productive work that are lost due to multiple elections.

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ONOE refers to synchronizing the electoral cycles of both the Union and State governments in India. This means that the voters would cast their votes for both the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly on the same day and at the same time, but voting across the country may happen within a specific time-frame. Concept of ONOE ideally involves voting for all three tiers (Centre, State, and Local) of Governance. However, CII pointed out that synchronising Local Body elections with National and State will be a challenge.

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‘’Frequent elections, besides being expensive, can disrupt the policy making process, leading to uncertainty among businesses & investors, and impose significant economic costs,’’ said CII.

CII has argued that due to asynchronous Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections, Infrastructure and Capex projects in the initial stages of implementation are affected due to delays in project implementation because of lack of approvals and clearances during imposition of the Model Code of Conduct for both General elections as well as States elections.

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Government Staff Capacity constraint for about 2 months for each election impacts all Government work. These factors lead to delays in project implementation by about 2 months and this problem aggravates when there are multiple elections in the economy.

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The private sector is reluctant to invest months before and after the elections. So is the case for public investment which affects economic activity, overall development, and jobs & livelihoods. Moreover, asynchronous Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections result in disruption to Policy Making and Administration while higher uncertainty affects sustainable economic development.

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Additionally, the Centre and States have to incur expenditure for conducting elections including movement of EVMs, personnel, and setting up as well as running of election booths besides other administrative expenditure. This leads to loss of production due to holidays on election days. Almost one day of productive work is lost due to the days of General election and State elections being holidays.

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It also results in delays in outstanding payments to projects during the period when the model code of conduct is in force. Economic Loss for taking holidays by voters to travel from their place of work to vote, said CII.