JPC on simultaneous polls meets Maharashtra govt officials, party leaders, bankers

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) The Joint Parliamentary Committee on simultaneous polls on Saturday held extensive consultations with senior officials of the Maharashtra government, representatives of political parties, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and major banks and insurance companies.

The JPC has been formed to review the Constitution Amendment Bill on 'One Nation, One Election', which seeks to synchronise polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies with the aim of streamlining the electoral process.

Addressing a press conference, JPC members PP Chaudhary, Dharmendra Yadav (both from Lok Sabha) and Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari said the discussions with government officials centred on potential administrative and economic implications of simultaneous elections.

The committee held discussions with representatives of various political parties in Maharashtra, including former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, on the constitutional and logical aspects of simultaneous elections, they said.

The committee interacted with RBI representatives to understand the potential impact of simultaneous elections on monetary policy and economic stability, while discussions were held with representatives of major banks and insurance companies, including SBI, Bank of India and LIC about the potential impact on the banking and credit culture.

They said the committee discussed the financial and administrative implications of simultaneous elections with senior officials from the state administration. The officials assured the committee that a detailed study would be conducted and information would be provided particularly on the positive impacts of simultaneous elections on the education sector.

The committee then interacted with representatives of the Reserve Bank of India on the impact of non-synchronous elections on economic policies.

RBI representatives stated they would conduct an in-depth and comprehensive study on the subject and would aim to understand the effects of political and policy uncertainty caused by frequent elections, the JPC members informed.

The committee also engaged with representatives of major institutions in the banking and insurance sectors, including the State Bank of India, Bank of India, Central Bank, Union Bank, LIC, GIC, and NABARD.

They stated that a comprehensive study would be conducted through the Indian Banks' Association to understand the impact of simultaneous elections on banking and credit culture, and the findings would be presented to the committee.

The findings from these consultations will be compiled and a report will be submitted to the government, the JPC members said. PTI MR BNM

Source: PTI