One Nation One Election : Whether Feasible Proposition ?
Elections are indispensable in a democracy but at the same time they are expensive affairs putting pressure on financial resources of the country. There was almost one -party rule at the central level as well the state level till 1967. Simultaneous elections were taking place for both House of the People and the State Legislatures But with emergence of regional parties in states and frequent imposition of Article 356, simultaneous elections fell into dis-continuity.
Various bodies have deliberated over simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of States time to time. Election Commission of India in 1983 recommended simultaneous elections for House of the People and Legislative Assemblies. Law Commission in its 170th Report “Reform of Electoral Laws” also recommended for simultaneous elections for House of the People and Legislative Assemblies. In 2015, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice in its 79th Report suggested to hold simultaneous elections for long term good governance. In January 2017, NITI Aayog prepared a working paper titled “Analysis of Simultaneous elections: the What, Why and How” wherein proposal to conduct simultaneous elections for the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies was deliberated upon
Recently, the Union Government appointed committee has recently appointed High Level Committee under chairmanship of Sh. Ram Nath Kovind, Former President for examining issue of simultaneous elections in the country.
Many of the Political Parties are not in favour of one nation one election as they perceive it against the federal principle. Issues in elections for House of the People and Legislative Assemblies are not always same. Lok Sabha elections are fought on larger issues affecting the whole country while Legislative Assembly elections are fought on local issues. Simultaneous elections may lead to voting in the Legislative Assembly Elections on the basis of national issues causing disadvantages to regional Political Parties.
Benefits
Simultaneous elections have various benefits.
Conducting elections are costly affairs. Conducting simultaneous elections will reduce financial burden on exchequer. These resources can be used for developmental purposes.
Conducting simultaneous elections will also free human resources who are deployed during conduct of elections. Security forces have to be deployed for conducting of elections. Many other personnel are deployed at booths for conducting of elections. These human resources can be freed from elections.
It will give time to government uninterrupted time to focus on developmental work. Leader of political parties enjoying majority in the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies are also head of the Governments. They are constantly engaged in election campaigns rather than being dedicated to developmental work for the nation. During elections government cannot take policy decisions due to imposition of code of conduct, which causes “policy paralysis” impacting development work adversely.
Challenges
There are various challenges to one nation one election.
This will require extensive constitutional amendments. Article 82 provides that the tenure of the Lok Sabha will be five years. Similarly, Article 172 provides that tenure of Legislative Assembly will be five years. It is a fundamental principle of democracy that council of ministers are collectively responsible to the elected house. Many of the Articles including the aforesaid articles will have to be amended.
There is also possibility of judicial challenge to any such amendment on the ground of doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution.
There will also be issue of resource mobilization for conducting simultaneous elections. There is not availability of sufficient numbers of EVMs for conducting of simultaneous elections. Sufficient number of EVMs and other tools have to be arranged before implementing one nation one election.
There will be also challenge of consultation with other political parties. Regional political parties may not be in favour of simultaneous elections. Regional political parties have become powerful and without their consent, it will be difficult to implement one nation one election.
Way Ahead
Implementing one nation one election can lead to reduction in financial burden and give a boost to developmental efforts. It is a gigantic task and can only be implemented after extensive consultation with different stakeholders. Further it should be implemented in a way that fundamental principles of democracy or federal structure is not weakened.
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Mukesh Kumar Suman is an advocate and legal author based at Delhi. He regularly appears before various Judicial Forums including NCLT, NCLAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court. He can be approached at mukesh_suman@outlook.com or +91 9717864570.