Opinion | Who Really Benefits From One Nation, One Election?

The Union Cabinet has cleared the “One Nation, One Election” (ONOE) Bill and it is likely to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. The party argues that ONOE will reduce cost, time, and energy spent on elections. However, the opposition views this as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to nationalise state elections, thus enabling it to reap the benefits of simultaneous polls.The opposition's concerns stem from the fact that the results of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections tend to mirror each other in states going for simultaneous elections. In four states—Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh—assembly elections were held alongside the Lok Sabha polls in April-June 2024. In all these states, the party that won the state elections also went on to win the majority of Lok Sabha seats.

Additionally, the vote shares in both the assembly and Lok Sabha elections show a striking similarity, usually within a percentage-point range. The absolute number of votes also reflects this trend:In Odisha, the BJP secured 45% in the assembly polls and 40% in the Lok Sabha polls, while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had 40% and 38%, respectively. In terms of absolute votes, the BJD secured 1.01 crore votes in the assembly and 0.93 crore in the Lok Sabha, while the BJP received 1 crore and 1.13 crore, respectively.

In Andhra Pradesh, the NDA secured 55% of the vote share in the assembly elections and 54% in the Lok Sabha elections. The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), on the other hand, garnered 39% and 40% votes, respectively. In absolute terms, the YSRCP received 1.33 crore votes in the assembly and 1.32 crore in the Lok Sabha, while the NDA received 1.77 crore and 1.78 crore votes, respectively.