Do you think the concerns raised by the Opposition about the PM�s One nation, One Election are valid? Is One Nation, Two Elections a valid alternative to it? Comment.

The Prime Ministerial all-party meeting between the government and all the major political parties of India was not attended by many parties of Opposition as they were totally opposed to this idea. The main fear they have raised is that this will bring in a quasi-federal system. They also see that the popularity of PM Modi will also cast a shadow on the State elections. However, the concern raised that if any state government fails will the same state have to wait for the next general elections and go under the Presidential rule till then.
� However, the logic put forward by PM Modi does have some merit as there are elections in some state or the central government which disrupts the governmental decision-making as no policies can be changed during the Election Model Code of Conduct.
� Also, each time elections are held, huge amount of black money is used on them which leads to corruption for poll-funding.
� Even the governmental officials remain diverted from projects which are of developmental nature and are productive in the long run.
� Also, governments which have full five-year terms can focus on long-term projects while the ones for short-term cannot do so.
The problems which are associated with it are that the government will have to amend laws. Also, voters will get no chance to make changes in the middle of a fixed Lok Sabha term. This can all be handled if the state elections are held in the middle of the term of the central government i.e. once in every two and half years. This will give the full scope to the government for focussing on state-specific issues in one election and on the central issues in the other.

Topics: GS-II: Salient Features of the Representation of Peoples Act