Over 70 per cent of people think that the adaption of simultaneous elections will help align national and regional issues leading to better policy decisions, the ‘News18 Pulse: One Nation One Election’ survey has found.
The survey found that most people who believe that ONOE will herald a future of enhanced policy decisions belong to the central, eastern and northern parts of India.
As part of the survey, News18 interviewed 4,573 individuals across 29 states and Union Territories in India. The regional breakdown included 508 respondents from the central region, 713 from the east, 1,270 from the north, 602 from the north-east, 911 from the south, and 569 from the west. Among them, 81.7 per cent in the central region, 75.5 per cent in the east, 80.2 per cent in the north, 60.6 per cent in the north-east, 63 per cent in the south, and 63.8 per cent in the west answered the question affirmatively.
In December, the Lok Sabha referred the two bills on simultaneous polls to a joint committee of Parliament. The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) held its first meeting on ONOE on Wednesday to discuss the provisions of the bill.
The 39-member committee is headed by BJP MP PP Chaudhary and includes leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Congress, Sanjay Jha from JD(U), Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, and Kalyan Banerjee from Trinamool Congress.
The News18 survey also found that the One Nation One Election bill is backed by over 80 per cent of the respondents. The survey found that 81.2 people think that simultaneous polls will save public money and reduce expenditure while 80.8 per cent feel that fewer elections would reduce disruptions to day-to-day life by cutting down on rallies and public events.
Nearly half of the respondents expressed confidence that voters would clearly distinguish between candidates and parties in national and state elections if such an approach were adopted. Additionally, 55.9 per cent believe that conducting simultaneous elections on the same day would not lead to voter confusion.
Link to article –
