One Nation, One Election first committee meeting today: How feasible is the idea?

The first official meeting of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ committee is being held today, 23 September under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind.

According to PTI, the meeting on ‘One Nation, One Poll’ will be “introductory” in nature and members will discuss the roadmap and how to go about consulting with stakeholders.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh, former general secretary of the Lok Sabha Subash Kashyap, senior attorney Harish Salve, former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari, and Minister of State (Law) Arjun Ram Meghwal are the members of the committee.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was also a member, however, he declined to join the panel in a letter to Home Minister Shah.

In this meeting, panel members are likely to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats. The committee will also recommend a framework and a time limit within which the elections can be carried out.

What is ‘One Nation, One Poll’ (ONOP)? What are the arguments for and against the proposal? Is it a feasible idea? We explain.

What is One Nation, One Election?

It pertains to holding Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly polls simultaneously across India, with voting possibly being held around the same time.

This practice was applicable in India till 1967. As per NDTV, several state Assemblies were dissolved prematurely in 1968-69, leading to different polling cycles in those states.

In 1970, the Lok Sabha was dissolved a year ahead of schedule; mid-elections were then held in 1971. The Election Commission (EC) had recommended going back to the exercise of simultaneous elections in 1983.

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Currently, polls in only Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are held together with the Lok Sabha elections.

It must be noted that ONOP does not entail panchayat elections, state municipality elections, and byelections, reported Times of India (TOI).

Meanwhile, the panel headed by Kovind will study the practicality and draw up a mechanism to synchronise Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, sources told TOI. He will consult experts as well as leaders of different political parties to ascertain the feasibility of the move.

Government has constituted a committee headed by ex-President Ram Nath Kovind to explore possibility of 'one nation, one election': Sources

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 1, 2023

Arguments for ONOP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a vocal supporter of conducting simultaneous elections across India. In 2019, soon after his reelection, Modi had said that a panel would be formed to discuss the proposal with all political parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long argued for bringing back simultaneous polls. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister, had discussed the idea with the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Veteran BJP leader LK Advani took up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2010, as per an Indian Express report.

In its 2014 election manifesto, the BJP had vowed to bring back simultaneous state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

The supporters of simultaneous polls say it would reduce election expenses.

As per the Centre for Media Studies, the EC estimates that Rs 10,000 crore was spent on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Unofficial estimates put this figure at Rs 60,000 crore in 2019 and Rs 30,000 crore in the 2014 general elections.

States spend somewhere between Rs 250-500 crore per Assembly poll, according to The News Minute (TNM). The backers claim ONOP will save time and money. “Combined elections could optimise public funds and the burden shared between the Centre and states could significantly come down,” Akshay Rout, former Director General of Election Commission of India wrote for Economic Times (ET) in 2022.

As elections are always going on in some part or the other in the country, the Model Code of Conduct has to be implemented, which the ONOP supporters say hamper the government from introducing projects or policy plans for people’s welfare, noted Indian Express.  During the Lok Sabha elections, states cannot launch new projects or schemes till the Model Code of Conduct remains in place, as per NDTV.

#WATCH | On 'One nation, One election', Union Parliamentary Affairs Minsiter Pralhad Joshi says "Right now, a committee has been constituted. A report of the committee will come out which be discussed. The Parliament is mature, and discussions will take place, there is no need to… pic.twitter.com/iITyAacPBq

— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2023

The Law Commission says that simultaneous elections could also improve voter turnout, reported India Today.

ALSO READ: Is Centre likely to introduce ‘One Nation, One Poll’ bill in special session of Parliament?

Why doesn’t everyone agree?

Critics question the practicality of holding simultaneous elections, pointing out that it would require twice as many electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines than are deployed now, according to Indian Express.

TOI reported citing the Law Commission that India would have had to spend about Rs 4,500 crore on EVMs if simultaneous polls were held in 2019.

Another concern is that national issues would overwhelm local topics in simultaneous polls, thus harming the federal structure. Regional parties also fear that they will suffer at the cost of national parties with more resources in such a scenario.

As per India Today, a study by the IDFC Institute in 2015 found that 77 per cent of electors are likely to cast votes for the same party in case of simultaneous polls. However, only 61 per cent of voters will choose the same party if polls are conducted six months apart.

Speaking to NDTV, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja said, “One Nation, One Election is not a new issue. It has been discussed for several years. Ever since the BJP came to power, it has been obsessed with one nation, one culture; one nation, one religion; one nation, one language; one nation, one tax; now one nation, one election; then one nation, one party; one nation, one leader. That is the obsession the BJP is suffering from”.

Several Opposition INDIA bloc parties, including the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress, have also opposed the idea.

How feasible is the idea

For any such proposal to be realised, constitutional amendments will have to be made to align the terms of state legislative assemblies with that of the Lok Sabha.

A Bill on ONOP needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Moreover, it has to be ratified by more than half of the state legislatures across India, noted TNM.

Polling is expected to be held in five states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Rajasthan –later this year, while four others will go to polls along with Lok Sabha elections.

Four other states – Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Delhi – vote months after the Lok Sabha polls.

As per News18 sources, the Centre is likely to get these 13 states on board for ONOP. The main challenge would be to convince the rest of the 15 states, especially those ruled by Opposition parties, whose election schedules vary largely from general polls.

Also, there are several questions to consider. There is still uncertainty over what would happen if any of the state governments collapsed before their term ended. Will elections be held again for all states if the Central government falls? What will happen in case of a hung House after a state election that requires mid-term polling?

As the then Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora highlighted in 2019 simultaneous elections were “a very desirable goal, but for that, political systems of the country will have to take steps to align the life of a state Assembly with the life of Parliament”.

He said this is possible only if political parties “sit together and evolve some consensus. Do the requisite amendments in the law, so that (poll) cycle can be brought together,” reported Indian Express.

With inputs from agencies