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Time of India

Over 5k bodies give thumbs up to One Nation One Election

1 2 3 Lucknow: Groundswell for the BJP-backed One Nation One Election (ONOE) campaign may well be building up. Over 5,000 organisations, including local bodies, lent their support to the campaign, prompting the saffron outfit to step up its feedback-gaining exercise. UP BJP state general secretary and co-convener of the ONOE committee, Anup Gupta said that nearly 5,300 local bodies, including nagar panchayats, nagar palika parishads, nagar nigams, kshetra panchayats, gram panchayats and even cooperative societies, sent their letters of support to the President. "We also collected the copies of their support proposals. This clearly shows that the issue found significant resonance at the ground level," he told TOI on Thursday. Sources said that the BJP mobilised civil society, including NGOs and professionals, to give their feedback as part of an extensive outreach campaign aimed at building consensus for simultaneous elections across India. Early this year, the BJP launched a pan-India campaign to raise awareness about its ambitious plan for simultaneous elections and build broad public consensus around it. The advocacy, sources said, is essentially guided by a central BJP committee led by Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, with BJP general secretary Sunil Bansal as the national coordinator. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo Panels have also been formed at the state level to take the message forward. The outreach focused on facilitating meetings on the need for ONOE with various sections of society, including academia, doctors, lawyers, traders, ex-servicemen, youth, women, farmers and sportspersons, as well as elected bodies like panchayats, nagar palikas and zila parishads. Deliverables of the campaign include pro-ONOE resolutions being passed by these bodies and organisations, all addressed to President Droupadi Murmu. A senior BJP functionary said that the campaign primarily aims to highlight its potential to reduce electoral expenditure and strengthen national unity. He stressed that the idea aligns with the Constitution's preamble, promoting a unified national identity. The BJP has been a vocal proponent of ONOE. Senior party functionaries have been arguing that frequent elections disrupt governance and development. Implementing ONOE could boost GDP by 1-1.5% by providing govts with more stable time for development work, the BJP stated. The opposition parties, including Congress, SP and BSP, however, have been vocal against the ONOE, believing that it would undermine the federal structure of the Indian Constitution and the states may lose autonomy. The BJP has been dismissing concerns that ONOE would harm regional parties, citing the historical precedent of simultaneous elections from 1951 to 1967.