News18 Pulse: One Nation, One Election | 69.9% Respondents Say ONOP Will Strengthen India’s Democracy - News18

News18 Pulse: One Nation, One Election | 69.9% Respondents Say ONOP Will Strengthen India’s Democracy - News18

Will the government’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal strengthen democracy in India if implemented? Around 69.9% respondents to a News18 survey on simultaneous polls said it would strengthen the country’s democracy.

The survey, titled ‘News18 Pulse: One Nation, One Election’, was conducted from December 23-31, 2024 among 4,573 respondents across 29 states and Union Territories of India. Nationally, 80.1% respondents said they are in the favour of simultaneous polls.

Around 13.4% respondents said implementing ‘One Nation, One Election’, also known as ‘One Nation, One Poll’ or ONOP, will weaken democracy, while 16.7% said it would have no impact.

Around 80.9% respondents from Central India and 80.6% from North India said ONOP would strengthen India’s democracy, while only 54.5% respondents in West India agreed.

While 80.1% respondents said they support ‘One Nation, One Election’, around 16% said they are not in favour it, while 3.9% said they had no opinion on it. The support for ONOP, also called ‘One Nation, One Election’, was highest in Central India, with 90.7% respondents saying they are in favour of it. Next came North India (87.3%) and East India (84%). Support for simultaneous elections was relatively low in North East India (73.9%) and West India (72.9%), and the least in South India (69.7%)

Around 66.1% respondents were based in urban areas while 33.9% belonged to rural areas. Around 73.7% of those surveyed and 26.3% were female, with North East registering a more sizeable sample of female respondents. Nearly two-thirds of the survey sample identified as businesspersons or traders, land owning farmers, white-collar workers and homemakers.

Around 81.2% respondents agreed that simultaneous polls will save public money and reduce expenditure, while 80.8% respondents also believed fewer elections will reduce disruptions to daily life.

Nearly 50% respondents expressed confidence that voters will not face problems in differentiating between candidates and parties at national and state levels. Over half the respondents (55.9%) think simultaneous voting for national and state elections will not create confusion among voters.

However, even among respondents who supported ONOP, around one-third feel simultaneous elections could potentially create confusion among voters. This figure was higher among respondents in South and West.

The parliamentary panel constituted to scrutinise the two simultaneous election bills will hold its first meeting on Wednesday.

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill were introduced in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session and referred to the committee.

The Constitution (129th) Amendment Bill, 2024 says there is an imperative need for holding simultaneous elections for various reasons as polls have become expensive and time-consuming.

The bill proposes to insert a new article 82A — simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and all Legislative Assemblies and to amend Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 172 (Duration of State Legislatures) and Article 327 (power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures).

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The bill also provides that after its enactment, a notification is to be issued by the President on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election, and that date of the notification will be called the appointed date. The tenure of the Lok Sabha will be five years from that appointed date.

The tenure of all state Assemblies, constituted by elections to the Legislative Assemblies after the appointed date and before the expiry of the full term of the House of the People, shall come to an end on the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha.