One Nation, One Election

'One Nation, One Election' is a proposal under consideration by the Government of India to synchronise elections for the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian Parliament) and all state assemblies. It intends to hold these elections simultaneously, either on a single day or within a specific time frame.

History

The first few general elections post-independence were held simultaneously, with the state legislative assembly elections. While the practice continued till 1967, due to the premature dissolution of some state assemblies in 1968 and 1969, the system of simultaneous elections was disrupted. In August 2018, the Law Commission of India released its draft report on simultaneous elections. In order to conduct such simultaneous elections, it said that there needs to be made appropriate amendments to the constitution, the Representation of the People Act 1951, and the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

High-Level Committee

On 2 September 2023, the Government of India issued a notification constituting a high-level committee to examine the issue of simultaneous elections. This notification states:

"WHEREAS elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of States were mostly held simultaneously from 1951-52 to 1967 after which this cycle got broken and now, elections are held almost every year and within a year too at different times, which result in massive expenditure by the Government and other stakeholders, diversion of security forces and other electoral officers engaged in such elections from their primary duties for significantly prolonged periods, disruption in developmental work on account of prolonged application of Model Code of Conduct, etc.;

AND WHEREAS the Law Commission of India in its 170th Report on Reforms of the Electoral Laws observed that: “This cycle of elections every year, and in the out of season, should be put an end to. We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once. It is true that we cannot conceive or provide for all the situations and eventualities that may arise whether on account of the use of Article 356 (which of course has come down substantially af ter the decision of Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai vs Union of India) or for other reasons, yet the holding of a separate election to a Legislative Assembly should be an exception and not the rule. The rule ought to be ‘one election once in five years for Lok S abha and all the Legislative Assemblies’.”;

AND WHEREAS the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice in its 79th Report on ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Election to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’ submitted in December, 2015 has also examined the matter and recommended an alternative and practical method of holding simultaneous elections in two phases;

NOW, THEREFORE, in view of the above and that in the national interest it is desirable to have simultaneous e lections in the country, the Government of India hereby constitutes a High Level Committee [hereinafter referred to as ‘HLC’] to examine the issue of simultaneous elections and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country."

This committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of former President of India Ram Nath Kovind. Other members of this committee are:

• Amit Shah, Union Home Minister
• Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
• Former Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad
• Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh\
• Lok Sabha’s Former Secretary General Dr Subhash C Kashyap
• Senior Advocate Harish Salve
• Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari

Reactions

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that once the committee submits its report, it will be discussed in the public domain and Parliament. He said "There is nothing to be nervous about, as discussions will be held. We are the world’s largest democracy and we are known as the mother of democracy. This is the evolution of democracy in the mother of democracy."

Calling it a "total eyewash", committee's member Chowdhury said he cannot be part of the committee, as the “terms of reference” of the committee “have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions.”