One nation, one election

 

 

 

DURING the consultation process on ‘one nation, one election’, 32 political parties supported the idea while 15 did not, according to former President Ram Nath Kovind, who headed a highlevel committee that studied the proposal. Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposed the proposal,while the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) and the National People’s Party (NPP) supported it.

 

The panel headed by Kovind submitted its report to the President in March. According to the report,theCongress, the AAP and theCPI(M) rejected the proposal, saying it undermines democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution. The BSP did not explicitlyoppose it, but highlighted concerns regarding the large territorial extent and population of the country, which could make itsimplementation challenging. The Samajwadi Party (SP) said if simultaneous elections are implemented, State-level parties will not be able to compete with national parties as far as electoral strategy and expenditure are concerned. Among the State parties, the AIUDF, the Trinamool Congress, the AIMIM, the CPI, the DMK, the Naga People’s Front, and the SP opposed the proposal. 

 

 

A HIGH-LEVELcommitteeheadedbyformerPresidentRamNath Kovind had made recommendations on simultaneous elections, which were accepted by the Cabinet in September. The top 10 recommendations on simultaneous polls made by the high-level panel on “one nation, one election” are: 1.The Governmentmustdevelopa legally-tenablemechanism in order to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections. 2. In the first stage, elections for the Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies can be held together. 3. In the second step, the elections to Municipalities and Panchayats will be synchronised with the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in such a way that the polls to Municipalities and Panchayats are held within 100 days of the holding of the parliamentary and Assembly elections. 4.ForthepurposeofsynchronisingtheLokSabhaandAssembly elections, the President shall notify the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election as the “appointed date”. 5.

 

The tenure of all State Assemblies formed via polls after the “appointed date” and before the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha will only be for the period ending up to the subsequent parliamentary polls. After this one-time transitory measure, all Lok Sabha and Assembly polls will be held simultaneously. 6. Fresh elections could be held to constitute a new Lok Sabha in the event of a hung House or a no-confidence motion or any such event. 7. Where fresh elections are held for the House of the People (Lok Sabha), the tenure of the House will be “only for the unexpired (remaining) term of the immediately preceding full term of the House”. 8.Whenfreshelectionsare heldforStateLegislative Assemblies, thensuchnewAssemblies --unless soonerdissolved-- shall continue up to the end of the full term of the Lok Sabha. 9.A single electoralroll and elector’s photo identity card (EPIC) shall be prepared by the Election Commission (EC) in consultation with the State Election Commissions and the same will substitute any other electoral roll prepared by the EC. 10.Formakinglogisticalarrangementsfortheconductofsimultaneous elections, the EC may draw up a plan and estimate in advance for the procurement of equipment, such as EVMs and VVPATs, deployment ofpollingpersonnel andsecurity forces and make other necessary arrangements. 

 

 

OPPOSITION parties on Thursday raised concerns over billsclearedbytheGovernment for holding simultaneous elections and said larger consultations are required while ruling NDA leaders asserted the burdenontheexchequerwillbelessened. TheUnionCabinet approved bills to implement‘OneNation, One Election’ and sources said the draft legislations are likely to be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing Winter session. Opposition MPs questioned ifthecountryislogisticallyready toholdsimultaneous elections, pointing outthatrecentpolls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand could not be held together with thatinHaryanaandJammuand Kashmir. Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Chaudharywelcomedthemove andsaid,“Onenation,oneelection will be good forthe nation. It will help in saving people’s money.” BJP’s ally Lok Janshakti Party (RV)MPShambhaviChoudhary also welcomed the move. “This is an ambitious bill, LJP has supported it... Every six monththere is electioninsome State and leaders focus on that. Many times representatives are also not able to give time in Parliament,resources are wasted,” she said. “One Nation one election sounds good, if the nation can gointhatdirection,nothinglike it. But what is the reality? Is the Election Commission ready for it? Do we have enough forces, infrastructure?”ShivSena(UBT) MP Anil Desai said. “J&K, and Haryana elections could have been held together withMaharashtra butitwasnot done. Even the Jharkhand election was held in two phases... If government has some solution it can be discussed, but in present situation it does not appear they can do it,” Desai said. Congress Lok Sabhamember K Suresh said his party has alreadymadeitsstandclear,and it is opposed to simultaneous polls. 

 

 

THE high-level panel on ‘One Nation, One Election’ studied electionprocessesinsevencountries including South Africa, SwedenandBelgium,beforerecommending simultaneouspolls for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in India. The other countries where simultaneous elections are conducted are Germany, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. “In South Africa, voters cast theirballotsforboththeNational Assembly and Provincial Legislatures simultaneously. However,municipalelectionsare held separately from provincial ones ina five-year cycle. On May 29,SouthAfricawillholditsgeneral elections to elect a new NationalAssembly aswell as the Provincial Legislature for each province,” the report said. The panel noted that Sweden follows proportional electoral system, which means thatpoliticalpartiesareassigned a number of seats in the elected assemblybasedontheir share of votes. “They haveasystem where elections for the Parliament (Riksdag), County Councils and MunicipalCouncilsalltakeplace atthesametime.

 

Theseelections occur every four years on the second Sunday of September whereas elections to the municipalassembliesoccuronthesecond Sunday of September, once every five years,” it said. Subhash C Kashyap, member ofthehigh-levelcommittee,supported the German model of a constructive vote of no-confidence in addition to the procedure for the appointment of Chancellor made by the Bundestag. “Healsoexplainedtheprocess thatisfollowedinJapan.InJapan, the prime minister is firstly appointed by the National Diet and thereafter accepted by the Emperor. He advocated adoptionofamodelsimilartoGerman or Japanese model. This, in his view, will also be beneficial to India,” the report said. Since2019,Indonesiahasbeen conducting simultaneous elections,asystem under which the President, Vice President, and members of both national and regional legislative bodies are elected on the same day. 

 

OPPOSITION parties on Thursday raised concerns over billsclearedbytheGovernment for holding simultaneous elections and said larger consultations are required while ruling NDA leaders asserted the burdenontheexchequerwillbelessened. TheUnionCabinet approved bills to implement‘OneNation, One Election’ and sources said the draft legislations are likely to be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing Winter session. Opposition MPs questioned ifthecountryislogisticallyready toholdsimultaneous elections, pointing outthatrecentpolls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand could not be held together with thatinHaryanaandJammuand Kashmir. Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Chaudharywelcomedthemove andsaid,“Onenation,oneelection will be good forthe nation. It will help in saving people’s money.” BJP’s ally Lok Janshakti Party (RV)MPShambhaviChoudhary also welcomed the move.

 

“This is an ambitious bill, LJP has supported it... Every six monththere is electioninsome State and leaders focus on that. Many times representatives are also not able to give time in Parliament,resources are wasted,” she said. “One Nation one election sounds good, if the nation can gointhatdirection,nothinglike it. But what is the reality? Is the Election Commission ready for it? Do we have enough forces, infrastructure?”ShivSena(UBT) MP Anil Desai said. “J&K, and Haryana elections could have been held together withMaharashtra butitwasnot done. Even the Jharkhand election was held in two phases... If government has some solution it can be discussed, but in present situation it does not appear they can do it,” Desai said. Congress Lok Sabhamember K Suresh said his party has alreadymadeitsstandclear,and it is opposed to simultaneous polls.