India will be able to save 1.6 percent of its GDP, amounting to Rs 5 lakh crore, if Lok Sabha and state assembly elections are held simultaneously. This was stated by PP Chaudhary, chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in Dehradun on Thursday. The committee is also known as the panel on the “One Nation One Election” Bill introduced by the Centre in December 2024.

Speaking to the media, PP Chaudhary stated that the nation currently incurs financial losses amounting to around 1.6 percent of its GDP under the existing system, where states hold elections at different times. “A study by the Centre shows that if elections for all state assemblies and the Parliament are held together under the ‘One Nation, One Election’ provisions, it will help the national exchequer save ₹5 lakh crore. This is approximately 1.6 percent of the country’s GDP,” Chaudhary said.

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He added that an estimated 4.84 crore workers migrate across the country during different assembly polls, which adversely impacts industrial production nationwide. Additionally, students also suffer as parts of the country undergo elections every year.

Chaudhary and other committee members were on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand—the second state they visited after Maharashtra—to interact with civil society and seek public opinion on the Centre’s “One Nation, One Election” Bill.

Chaudhary said that so far, the JPC has visited Maharashtra and Uttarakhand. Its interactions with the chief ministers of the two states and civil society have been very productive, as they expressed support for the provision of One Nation, One Election, considering it in the national interest. They also stated that this reform would not only save a significant amount of revenue but also strengthen the country’s democracy and increase voter turnout in elections.

Speaking on how the “One Nation, One Election” law will help maintain the election cycle in cases of hung assemblies or Lok Sabha dissolution, and when Article 356 of the Constitution is imposed in states, the committee chairman said that in extreme situations, re-elections will be held only for the remaining tenure of those assemblies. However, Chaudhary stated that the provisions enshrined in the bill prevent the political class or ruling dispensation from forcibly dissolving assemblies to suit their political agenda, mainly out of fear of being exposed before the people.