Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said that frequent elections across the country are not good for the country's economy and hinder development. In a letter to former President Ram Nath Kovind, who heads the high-level committee on elections, the Chief Minister said it was the most important proposal mooted by the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold simultaneous elections across the country.
35 political parties have responded so farA high-level committee was formed in September to look into the 'one nation, one election' proposal. The committee will examine the views of political parties on holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats as per the constitutional framework and make recommendations to the central government accordingly. It is noteworthy here that objections and suggestions have been filed by 35 political parties so far.
"This decision will help bring transparent governance in the country. If elections are held simultaneously, not only will the expenditure of the Election Commission be drastically reduced, but party spending will also be reduced."- Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister
Thousands of crores spent on electionsAssembly elections were held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram four months before the Lok Sabha elections. Assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra, Haryana, and other states of the country after six months of the Lok Sabha elections.
In such a short span of time, the cost of these elections goes up to thousands of crores. In the letter, the Chief Minister pointed out that Rs 6,000 crore was spent on the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.