Chaudhary says One Nation One Election (ONOE) can still be implemented for the 2029 General Elections even if the Bill is passed by July 2028.
The JPC is yet to hold discussions with Delhi, Goa and Uttar Pradesh and will submit its report only after building a wider consensus.
Chaudhary argues ONOE will reduce election-related expenditure, improve governance, ease the burden on teachers and administrators, and boost voter participation, particularly among migrant workers.
The One Nation One Election (ONOE) Bill is unlikely to be introduced during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, according to BJP MP P.P. Chaudhary, who heads the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the proposed legislation. However, he said that even if the Bill comes by July 2028, it can still be implemented for the 2029 General Elections.
"Elections of several states can be done in 2029 and maybe their term will be reduced, but ONOE helps the nation. It should be implemented," Chaudhary told Outlook.
Chaudhary argued that the biggest benefit of ONOE is that India would no longer remain in a permanent election mode.
"It would help the country economically as we would not have to spend as much and the staff would not have to be deployed multiple times," he said, adding that voters know whom they have to vote for in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
He also said repeated elections affect investment decisions.
"Investments are also stalled because of multiple elections. If it is close to an election date, people will wait because the next government may or may not be in favour."
"We are always in election mode. Because of that, we lose out a lot."
During the committee's consultations in Uttarakhand, Chaudhary said the Chief Minister highlighted the burden elections place on teachers.
"BLOs are teachers and they are involved in everything — SIR, preparation of rolls for panchayat elections, Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections. There are different voter lists. One Nation One Election also envisages one voter list."
He said teachers posted in difficult terrain lose several teaching days because of election work, affecting the quality of education in government schools.
"I asked many officers across states whose children go to government schools. No one said their children do. It affects the poorest children. We can't quantify this loss. It is a question of human resources."
He said Gujarat informed the committee that nearly 2.5 lakh teachers are involved in election-related work. "We can imagine how much loss this is."
Chaudhary said simultaneous elections would also help migrant workers exercise their right to vote.
"Indians migrate a lot within the country and abroad for work. If elections are held on separate dates and in different years, we cannot expect them to come and vote every time. But if elections are held together, they can at least think about it. There are several crores who miss elections because of this."
He clarified that ONOE does not mean the entire country will vote on a single day.
"ONOE doesn't mean elections of Lok Sabha and Assemblies should be conducted on one day. They will be conducted in phases within 45 days, like they are now."
Recalling India's earlier experience with simultaneous elections, he said the country successfully held them from 1952 to 1967.
"It was conducted simultaneously for 20 years. It was then done on ballot papers and not EVMs. Voters knew whom to cast their vote for at the Lok Sabha level and at the Assembly level."
One concern raised about ONOE is that if a no-confidence motion succeeds, the new government would serve only the remainder of the five-year term.
Chaudhary said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis argued before the committee that such a provision would itself discourage unnecessary no-confidence motions.
"No political party will take a no-confidence motion lightly. It will become the rarest of rare cases and won't become the rule. When it is not the rule, we shouldn't be worried on that account."
He also maintained that while separate elections may suit the BJP politically, ONOE is being pursued in the national interest.
"For BJP, it is in the party's interest to have separate elections, but for the Prime Minister, the national interest is bigger. Modiji believes this will help the national interest."
The committee has interacted with former Chief Justices of India J.S. Khehar, Ranjan Gogoi, D.Y. Chandrachud, U.U. Lalit, Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai, former Supreme Court judges B.S. Chauhan and Hemant Gupta, former Chief Justices of the Delhi High Court, Law Commission Chairman Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, legal luminaries including Harish Salve, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Attorney General R. Venkataramani, along with economists Gita Gopinath, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Arvind Panagariya, N.K. Singh and Sanjeev Sanyal.
It has also visited Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, where it met chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, Speakers, secretaries and members of civil society.
"What was surprising is that, except political parties, everyone, including civil society across the states, even in Karnataka, was in favour of ONOE. The public pulse is in favour of ONOE. Democracy is the will of the people, and not the will of the political parties."
Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chaudhary said, "When Amit Shah was asked that BJP did not have a two-thirds majority for One Nation One Election, he said the people will demand ONOE. Even if certain parties may not want it, people will demand it."
After the Modi Cabinet approved the ONOE proposal in September 2024, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in December 2024. The Bills were referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee headed by Chaudhary.
The proposed law seeks to conduct elections to the Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies simultaneously, or in phases within a fixed period.
India held simultaneous elections between 1952 and 1967. The cycle was disrupted after several state governments and the Lok Sabha were dissolved before completing their terms. The Election Commission referred to simultaneous elections in its 1983 annual report, while the Law Commission recommended the idea in 1999. Subsequent Law Commission reports and a NITI Aayog paper also supported synchronised elections.
The proposal received fresh momentum after the Narendra Modi government set up a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind in September 2023. The committee recommended constitutional amendments to enable simultaneous elections, suggesting that Lok Sabha and Assembly elections be held together, with local body elections held within 100 days. The Cabinet later accepted its recommendations."They cited national interest as it touches many sectors of the economy, governance, human resources and other aspects," said Chaudhary.