Harish Salve Meets Joint Parliamentary Committee on 'One Nation One Election’

New Delhi:  Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and King's Counsel, UK, Harish Salve met the Joint Parliamentary Committee on ‘One Nation One Election’ on Monday. 

JPC had requested the presence of Harish Salve, who is also a former Solicitor General of India, for today’s meeting to seek legal suggestions. 

"Today, former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve is coming for an interaction to enlighten the committee.In the next round, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Ajit Prakash Shah will also come for an interaction," JPC Chairperson PP Chaudhry said. 

Harish Salve Arrives At Parliament To Meet JPC On ONOE | WATCH

What is ‘One Nation One Election’

A High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, was constituted by the Government of India on September 2, 2023.

The committee’s primary objective was to explore the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.

Also Read: Harish Salve Explains Why ONOP Will Give India's GDP A Critical Push | Exclusive

After holding over 65 meetings and extensive deliberation, the High-Level Committee submitted its recommendations to the Government. The Committee submitted its Report on March 14, 2024 after inviting suggestions, viewpoints and comments from various stakeholders including political parties.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections.

Recommendations Made by Panel on ONOE

The committee recommended that the One Nation One Election model can be implemented in two phases. 

In the first phase: conduct Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously.

In the second phase: Conduct local body elections (panchayat and municipalities) within 100 days of general elections.

The panel also recommended a common electoral roll for all elections.

Harish Salve on One Nation One Election

Harish Salve, has strongly advocated for the implementation of 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE). According to Salve, frequent elections in India significantly impact the country's GDP , resulting in a loss of around 1%. 

In an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami , Salve emphasised that the substantial logistics and financial investments required for each election adversely affect India's GDP. He believes that the ONOE proposal can effectively minimize these negative implications on the nation's growth. 

“The good sense behind the proposal of 'One Nation, One Poll' is in the number of chapters where the implications of having frequent elections in one state or the other have been measured in economic terms,” he said.  

The One Nation One Election bill was tabled in the winter session of Parliament and was referred to a 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee.