Ravi Shankar Prasad pitches Modi's idea of 'one nation one election'; says frequent elections waste public money

Amid anticipation for Law Commission's recommendations on PM Modi's 'one nation-one election', Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday pitches the idea of simultaneous election, saying "there should be some stability in electoral process".

"Frequent elections lead to expenditure of public money, posting of officers from outside & governance suffers," Prasad told ANI.

Earlier a statistic prepared by the BJP showed huge expenditure and disturbance of public life during general elections conducted in 2009 and 2014.

The entire process amounted around Rs 1,115 crore and Rs 3,870 crore respectively. The expenditure would multiply by several times together with elections in 31 state assemblies.

Moreover, elections to the 16th Lok Sabha witness 10 million personnel as polling officials across 9,30,000 polling stations across the country, where around 1,349 companies of central security forces were deployed.

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"Our democracy is 70 years old there should be some stability in electoral process. Let's await recommendations of law commission," the RS Prasad, the Union Minister for Law and Justice added.

Frequent elections lead to expenditure of public money, posting of officers from outside & governance suffers. Our democracy is 70 years old there should be some stability in electoral process. Let's await recommendations of law commission: RS Prasad on 'one nation-one election' pic.twitter.com/DYhTHDN85o

— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2018

With 2019 Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Law Commission will hold discussion with all the major political parties on the possibility of conducting simultaneous election of both Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The all-party meeting on 'one nation-one election' is scheduled to take place on July 7 and July 8.

Read | PM Modi in NITI Aayog meet: GST relects spirit of one nation, one aspiration, one determination

Earlier in April, the Commission had suggested simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and state Assemblies in two phases from 2019 and also invited suggestions from the citizens of India. The panel also provided that at least two provisions of the Constitution are amended and ratified by a majority of the states.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also reiterated the need for simultaneous elections to be conducted in the country, adding that this would be good for India. While Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav mirrored the idea saying UP should also go for polls during 2019 Lok Sabha elections.