How Has The Cost Of Elections Evolved In India Since 1952?

The Central government is likely to table the One Nation, One Poll Bill in the Special Session of the Parliament called on next month, sources said. The Bill is likely to be introduced during the Special Session which has been called for five sittings from September 18-22, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi announced on August 31. 

If the Bill is passed, the nation will do away with the elections that are held at short intervals throughout the year and spare a huge amount of resources both in terms of manpower and money. The bill will also reintroduce simultaneous elections in the country for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly. Simultaneous elections were a common practice in India until 1967 but the trend was disrupted after some assemblies were dissolved in 1968 and 1969. 

Can One Nation, One Poll reduce election costs?

The financial aspect is one of the arguments of the Centre, which cited the jump in the cost of organising elections since India's first general elections.

According to the existing records, the cost of election in 1951-52 was estimated at Rs 10.45 crore, which jumped to a whopping 3,870 crore in 2014. Notably, this amount does not include the cost of transportation, security and the money spent on advertisements by political parties in every election campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pitched the idea of One Nation, One Election on multiple occasions as he says that elections held at different places hamper the developmental work. In addition to this, PM Modi also vouched for one voters' list for the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and other elections to save time and money.