JPC on ONOE likely to consult Rajan, Ahluwalia

The parliamentary panel examining the two bills for simultaneous polls plans to hold talks with top economists which may include former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and former Deputy Chairman of erstwhile planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Besides them, the panel also plans to hold deliberations with RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra and Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, sources said.

The Joint Committee of Parliament has prepared the list of economists to hold deliberations over the economic benefits of the simultaneous polls, which includes names of several prominent economists, including Surjit S Bhalla, former governor of RBI C Rangarajan and others.

In its upcoming meeting on August 19, the committee will hold deliberations with former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna. Khanna retired as the CJI on May 13. Before him several former CJIs, including DY Chandrachud, JS Kehar and others, have presented their views to the panel on simultaneous polls.


On Wednesday, former finance commission of India chairman NK Singh and another expert made an economic case for simultaneous elections before the parliamentary committee, saying it can lead to a 1.5 percentage point rise in the real GDP growth.