New Delhi: Calling the opposition to the simultaneous polls premature, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government will implement ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) only in or after 2030.

Speaking at a seminar at SRM University in Chengalpet district of Tamil Nadu, Sitharaman claimed that nearly Rs 1 lakh crore was spent on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saying that such expenditures can be reduced through simultaneous elections in India.

“If simultaneous elections are held for electing the members of Parliament and Assembly, about 1.5 per cent growth will be added to the country's GDP. In value terms,  Rs 4.50 lakh crore will get added to the economy. This is a black and white example of One Nation One Election' concept,” said Sitharaman, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Claiming that some political parties were opposing the ONOE initiative by “spreading a false campaign”, Sitharaman alleged that while current chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin, is against it, his father and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch M Karunanidhi had supported the idea when he was alive. She said that Karunanidhi had written in support of the idea in his autobiography ‘Nenjukku Needhi’.

She also alleged that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) have extended support to the simultaneous polls initiative.

Sitharaman also said that the idea was not a ‘pet project’ and that the government has been speaking about it for the last 10 years. Calling it important for the nation, she urged everyone to support it. 

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