‘One Nation, One Election’: High-level panel recommends simultaneous LS, Assemblies, local bodies’ polls in 2 phases
NEW DELHI: A high-level panel, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which was set up to examine the possibility of ‘One Nation, One Election’ on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as the first step.
The second step would be synchronised local body polls within 100 days, the panel said in its voluminous report on ‘One Nation, One Election’ which was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
Simultaneous polls will spur development and social cohesion, deepen “foundations of democratic rubric” and help realise the aspirations of “India, that is Bharat”, the Kovind panel said in its report running into more than 18,000 pages.
The committee recommended that 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. 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”, it said.
When fresh elections are held for state legislative Assemblies, then such new Assemblies — unless sooner dissolved — shall continue up to the end of the full term of the Lok Sabha.
To bring into force such a mechanism, Article 83 (duration of Houses of Parliament) and Article 172 (duration of state legislatures) need to be amended, the committee said.
“This Constitutional amendment will not need ratification by the states,” it said.
The panel also recommended preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India in consultation with state election authorities. It said Article 325 dealing with voters’ list may be suitably amended for the purpose.
At present, the ECI is responsible for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, while local body polls for municipalities and panchayats are managed by state election commissions.
The panel recommended several Constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by states. “Now, several elections are being held every year. This casts a huge burden on the government, businesses, workers, courts, political parties, candidates contesting elections, and civil society at large,” the panel said.
It said the government must develop a “legally tenable mechanism” to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.
An official statement said the committee crafted its recommendations in such a way that they are in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and would require bare minimum amendments to the Constitution.
In submitting the report, former President Kovind was accompanied by other panel members, including Home Minister Amit Shah, former Finance Commission chairman N K Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash Kashyap, former leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The report is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days, since its Constitution on September 2, 2023, a statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has strongly favoured the idea of simultaneous polls, saying the concept of ‘one nation, one election’ is imperative to make the country great.
The high-level committee on ‘one nation, one election’ approached 62 parties out of which 47 responded — 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Fifteen parties did not submit a response, according to the report of the panel.
Among the national parties, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National People’s Party supported it.
“Responses were received from 47 political parties. Barring 15 political parties, the remaining 32 political parties not only favoured the system of simultaneous elections, but also advocated its adoption for saving scarce resources, protecting social harmony, and stimulating economic development,” the report said.
“Those who opposed simultaneous elections raised apprehensions that its adoption could violate the basic structure of the Constitution, be anti-democratic and anti-federal, marginalise regional parties, encourage the dominance of national parties, and result in a presidential form of government,” it said.
The AAP, Congress and CPI(M) rejected the proposal saying it undermines democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution, said the report.
The BSP did not explicitly oppose it, but highlighted concerns regarding the large territorial extent and population of the country, which could make implementation challenging, it said.
The Samajwadi Party, in its submission, said if simultaneous elections are implemented, state-level parties will not be able to compete with national parties in electoral strategy and expenditure leading to increased discord between these two sets of parties.
Among state parties, AIUDF, Trinamool Congress, AIMIM, CPI, DMK, Naga People’s Front, and Samajwadi Party opposed the proposal to hold simultaneous elections.
The AIADMK, All Jharkhand Students Union, Apna Dal (Soney Lal), ASOM Gana Parishad, Biju Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party (R), Mizo National Front, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, Shiv Sena, Janata Dal (United), Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, Shiromani Akali Dal, and United People’s Party Liberal supported the proposal.
Other parties including Bharat Rashtra Samiti, Indian Union Muslim League, Jammu And Kashmir National Conference, Janata Dal (Secular), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Kerala Congress (M), Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Sikkim Democratic Front, Telugu Desam Party, and YSR Congress Party did not respond.Among other parties, CPI(ML) Liberation, Social Democratic Party of India opposed it, while Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Bharatiya Samaj Party, Gorakha National Liberal Front, Hindustani Aavam Morcha, Rashtriya Lok Jan Shakti Party, Rashtrawadi Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) were among those who opposed.
The report also referred to an all-party meeting held in 2019, which was attended by 19 political parties to discuss critical reforms in governance, simultaneous elections was among the issues discussed and 16 of them favoured it. Only three parties opposed the idea, it said.
According to the report, in the 2019 meeting the parties that had supported the idea are: the BJP, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal (United), YSR Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Lok Janshakti Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Apna Dal, All Jharkhand Students Union, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, National Democratic Progressive Party, National People’s Party, People’s Democratic Party, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, and Republican Party of India supported the proposal. The CPI(M), AIMIM and the RSP were the only parties that had opposed it.
Three former High Court chief justices and one former state election commissioner were among those who objected to the idea of ‘one nation, one election’ during the consultations by the high-level committee.
According to the report, all four former Supreme Court chief justices — Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justice UU Lalit — the panel consulted gave written responses, all of which were in favour of holding simultaneous elections.
Among the former chief justices of major HCs, nine supported simultaneous elections, highlighting their potential benefits while three raised concerns or objections.
Former Delhi High Court chief justice Ajit Prakash Shah opposed the concept of simultaneous elections, noting it may curb democratic expression along with concerns about distorted voting patterns and state-level political alterations.
“Additionally, he said that simultaneous elections hinder political accountability, as fixed terms offer representatives unwarranted stability without performance scrutiny, challenging democratic principles,” the report noted.
Former Calcutta High chief justice Girish Chandra Gupta opposed simultaneous pols, saying the idea is not conducive to the principles of democracy.“Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Former Chief Justice, Madras High Court opposed simultaneous elections due to concerns that it would undermine India’s federal structure and be prejudicial to regional issues,’’ it said.
All four former chief election commissioners, who were consulted by the panel, favoured simultaneous elections. Amongst present and former state election commissioners consulted by the panel, seven endorsed the idea while Tamil Nadu Election Commissioner V Palanikumar, expressed concerns.
The concept of simultaneous elections has been featured in many reports and studies since 1983, essentially implying a return to the previous practice of conducting polls concurrently, the high level panel on ‘one nation, one election’ has noted.
“The concept of simultaneous elections has been featured in many reports and studies, essentially implying a return to the previous practice of conducting elections concurrently. In its inaugural Annual Report in 1983, the Election Commission of India advocated the idea of conducting simultaneous elections for both the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies,” the report pointed out.
The Law Commission studied the various issues involved in the conduct of elections and recommended in its reports of 1999, 2015 and 2018 (draft) the adoption of the practice of simultaneous elections to free citizens, political parties and government authorities from the encumbrance of asynchronous elections.
In January 2017, NITI Aayog formulated a working paper titled “Analysis of Simultaneous Elections: The What, Why and How,” exploring the prospect of holding concurrent elections for the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies.
“The document examined current Constitutional provisions and the financial and logistical considerations associated with simultaneous elections and formulated a framework for the implementation of such synchronised electoral processes. The desirability of conducting simultaneous elections is underscored on various grounds, as indicated in these reports,” it said.
