ICAI to assess financial aspects of 'One Nation One Election' proposal

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI will assess the financial aspects of the proposed 'One Nation One Election' reform that will help the Parliamentary panel, which is currently examining the relevant bills, to have a better understanding about the financial implications.

A high level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind came out with its report, in March 2024, recommending holding the Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies' polls together.

Subsequently, the government, in December last year, introduced two bills in the Lok Sabha to provide a legal framework to simultaneously hold Parliamentary and Assembly polls.

A 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee, headed by BJP member P P Chaudhary, is now examining the draft bills, which are based on the Kovind panel recommendations.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) President Charanjot Singh Nanda told PTI that the institute will be assessing the various financial aspects of ONOE reform.

A report of the assessment will be submitted to the Parliamentary panel.

The institute, which has more than 4.50 lakh members, is a key body that helps provide inputs on various financial legislations and the government's tax collection efforts.

According to the Kovind panel, simultaneous elections will bring fundamental transformation in the electoral process and overall governance as well as result in optimising scarce resources and also encourage voters to participate in the electoral process in large numbers.

The panel, in its report, also mentioned about research paper on macroeconomic impact of harmonising electoral cycles.

"The findings in the paper suggest relatively higher economic growth, lower inflation, higher investments and improved quality of expenditure following periods of synchronised elections, as compared to those that were not synchronised," the report said.