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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

23/10/23 09:27 AM IST

One-nation, one-poll

In News
  • The Law Commission, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, is likely to support the idea of holding elections to Parliament and all state assemblies together.
One Nation One Poll
  • The EC has never opposed the idea of holding simultaneous elections, as long as the logistical arrangements for EVM procurement are addressed, there is consensus among political parties, and there are corresponding amendments to the Constitution.
  • The poll panel, however, wants six months to a year to prepare for it.
  • One Nation One Election proposes that simultaneous elections be held in all states and the Lok Sabha in a gap of five years.
  • This will involve the restructuring of the Indian election cycle in a manner that elections to the states and the centre synchronise.
  • This would mean that the voters will cast their vote for electing members of the LS and the state assemblies on a single day, at the same time (or in a phased manner as the case may be).
  • Simultaneous polls to states and Lok Sabha is not a newly conceived norm.
  • In fact, simultaneous elections have previously been conducted in India in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967.
  • Soon after, this norm was discontinued following the dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies between 1968 -69.
Few of the important Articles that need to be amended for implementation of ‘one nation one election’ are:
  • Article 172 and Article 83 deal with the duration of the Houses of Parliament, and guarantee a five-year term to both the elected Lok Sabha and state assemblies, unless they are dissolved sooner.
  • Article 85 of the Indian Constitution deals with the powers of the President to summon Parliamentary sessions, not exceeding a gap of more than six months.
  • The President also carries the power to adjourn either House of the Parliament and the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
  • Article 356 of the Indian Constitution, comes into action in case of governance and constitutional failure in a state and deals with the President’ Rule.
  • Amendments in the People’s Representation Act, 1951(RPA Act 1951) and the Anti Defection Law must be made for organised conduct and stability in both Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Concerns
  • It is certainly not a virtue for a Central or Cabinet leaders to be relegating the duties of their office to a lower priority such as contesting state or local elections for the electoral interests of their party.
  • Each of India’s States has different political cultures and parties. Furthermore, this is an attack on and an affront to India’s federalism.
  • An elected Chief Minister of a State has the powers to recommend dissolution of their State legislatures and call for early elections.
  • Under a ‘one election’ framework, state parties will not have the right to do this.
  • These powers will be taken away from the States and only the Union government will have the powers to dictate the election schedule for every State.
  • In the short term, simultaneous elections will increase the costs for deploying far larger numbers of electronic voting machines and control units.
  • Political parties and candidates may spend a lot more money on elections than the government but that is not the tax-payers’ money.
  • On the contrary, there is economic research to suggest that such election spending by parties and candidates actually benefits the economy and the government’s tax revenues by boosting private consumption and serving as a stimulus.
  • A single election calendar may work in a presidential system where the survival of the executive is not dependent upon a legislative majority.
  • ‘One nation one election’ is a politically unfeasible, administratively unworkable and constitutionally unviable proposition.
Source- The Hindu

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