Lucknow: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) scrutinising the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, on Tuesday began stakeholder consultations in Uttar Pradesh on the proposed One Nation, One Election (ONOE) framework.The committee, chaired by BJP MP P P Chaudhary, held a programme in Gomti Nagar where it interacted with political leaders and other stakeholders to gather views and suggestions on conducting simultaneous elections.Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana attended the meeting. A Samajwadi Party delegation also participated, comprising state president Shyamlal Pal, Alok Ranjan, Prof Sudhir Panwar and K K Srivastava.Addressing the gathering, Mahana said the concept of ONOE had long found resonance across the country and argued that synchronised polls would be more convenient for both political leaders and citizens. He said frequent elections affected not only voters but also elected representatives, with repeated poll cycles disrupting governance and routine administrative work.Mahana said the opinions of all stakeholders were important in the electoral process, but recurrent elections impacted accountability and development delivery. Referring to his own responsibilities, he said elected representatives were required to stay actively involved in the electoral process in their constituencies whenever elections are announced.“Whenever elections are held, they affect the accountability of representatives to the public and impact development work. A significant amount of a representative’s time is spent on election-related activities, whereas people expect continuous efforts towards development and resolution of local issues,” Mahana said.He added that simultaneous elections could enable representatives to devote more time to public service and development work.Mahana also pointed to the administrative burden of elections, saying frequent polls keep large sections of the govt machinery, security forces and public resources engaged for extended periods. Conducting elections together, he said, would allow better utilisation of manpower and resources and help maintain the pace of development schemes.
