New Delhi [India] June 14, (ANI): Endorsing the One Nation One Election (ONOE) initiative, senior BJP leader and former Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra has said it will not only reduce election-related expenses but also speed up the country's development by opening new avenues.

Addressing an event at the Constitution Club in the national capital on Friday evening, Mishra said Lok Sabha and assembly polls were done simultaneously without any hiccup till 1967, since the first polls in independent India in 1952, as everyone was in support of simultaneous polls, be it the then ruling Congress or Communist parties.

'Everyone supported it, beyond political affiliations, be it then Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru or, Communist leaders...,' the former union minister said.

He said the trend was 'broken' due to many reasons.

'It was broken as some new states were formed, and their assembly elections were held... then ruling Congress dismissed the opposition ruled state governments by misusing Article 356; general elections were preponed in 1972... term of Lok Sabha was also increased by an year to 6 years during Emergency...,' said Mishra said, who was the Governor of Rajasthan from 2019 to 2024.

Simultaneous polls across the country will significantly reduce poll expenditure and manpower. This is not about any political party, ONOE is 'essential for the country's development,' he stressed.

Mishra said it is fully 'according to the Constitution' and said the opposition parties should be asked which schedule of the Constitution forbids the ONOE.

The senior leader recalled that even in 1983, the Election Commission felt the need to rethink on the simultaneous polls and said it was essential for the country. He said NITI Aayog in 2016, and other government commissions have also endorsed the ONOE.

The 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill for simultaneous national and assembly polls was tabled in the Lok Sabha in December last. It was later referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Modi government had formed a High-level Committee on simultaneous Elections, under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, who submitted over 18,000-page report to President Droupadi Murmu in March last year.

Earlier, the former governor condoled the loss of lives in the deadly crash of London-bound Air India plane in Ahmedabad on Thursday. He also remembered the former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani who also died in the deadly crash.

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft was carrying 242 passengers and crew members, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian national. (ANI)