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The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 'One Nation One Election' Bill interacted with political scientists and academicians on Monday with panel chairman PP Chaudhary stating that the members raised questions and sought clarifications and the experts conveyed that it is "very important" to have simultaneous polls.
The panel has been holding regular interactions on the bill. "Today we called political scientists, the input of political scientists is also very important. There were many questions, and we have asked them for clarification. They told us that from their side, it is very important to have one nation, one election in the country... If we want the country to develop, India to develop, then it is very important to have One Nation One Election...Former Chief Justice of India Justice Khanna is also coming on the 19th. He will also give us inputs about this," PP Chaudhary told ANI. He had said earlier in the day that 'One Nation, One Election' is very important for nation-building Sources said the meeting focused on the prospects and challenges of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The sources told ANI that the political experts argued that the idea of democracy is not just limited to elections. They are learnt reported to have argued that frequent polls increase the scope of corruption, which weakens democracy and that the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct slows down the pace of government work and decision-making. Sources said the experts identified four broad areas of reforms - political parties, campaign, parliamentary and legislative and women's representation. They noted that in terms of women's representation, local self-government institutions have performed better, and this success can also be seen in the large number of women getting elected to non-reserved seats. There were suggestions that the report cards of candidates should be made available to the electorate, there should be Action Taken Reports on manifestos, and parties should be encouraged to come out with constituency-specific manifestos. The experts highlighted the impact of frequent elections on education, particularly on school education .. The Constitution (One Hundred And Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 were introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2024. The bills were sent to the Joint Committee of both Houses for further examination. (ANI)
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