Udupi
Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje expressed her support for the concept of One Nation, One Election as a solution to the disruption of development works caused by repeated elections. During a press conference in Manipal on Friday, September 1, Shobha Karandlaje stated, We believe that elections should be held across the country simultaneously, as development works are impacted for three to four months each year due to elections. In Kerala, elections for rural and city local bodies are conducted concurrently. If parliamentary and assembly elections are held in a similar manner, it would be possible to save time, effort, and money. There is no need for opposition political parties to be afraid. I don’t know why they are opposing this proposal. All parties campaign for elections, but voters choose their leaders. In some states, including Karnataka, many issues have arisen due to free schemes. While it may make everyone happy to provide free schemes to all, it is not right to take from some and give to others. She went on to highlight issues such as unpaid salaries for judges and teachers in Karnataka, delayed funding for various projects, and the depletion of funds for social security schemes. She also mentioned the suspension of the state’s contribution to the Kisan Samman scheme of the central government and called for attention to the losses incurred by private bus operators and KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation). Shobha Karandlaje noted the success of Digital India, citing the achievement of UPI payments reaching Rs 1000 crore in 2023, creating a new milestone. She recalled how Congress economist P. Chidambaram had ridiculed the concept of Digital India in the Parliament in 2017.
