Sansad TV Perspective: One Nation One Election

In the series Sansad TV Perspective, we bring you an analysis of the discussion featured on the insightful programme ‘Perspective’ on Sansad TV, on various important topics affecting India and also the world. This analysis will help you immensely for the IAS exam, especially the mains exam, where a well-rounded understanding of topics is a prerequisite for writing answers that fetch good marks.

In this article, we feature the discussion on the topic: One Nation One Election

Anchor: Teena Jha

Participants: 

1. Prakash Javdekar, MP, Rajya Sabha, BJP
2. KTS Tulsi, MP, Rajya Sabha, Congress
3. Om Prakash Rawat, former Election Commissioner of India

Context: The idea of One Nation One Election is considerably a topical context across the country which has invited both arguments in favour and against such a practice. Despite the fact that the Election Commission has asserted that it is prepared and equipped to adopt simultaneous elections, there exist significant challenges in the process of implementation. 

The background:

• The idea of ‘One Nation One Election’ is not certainly a recent introduction but a practice that was witnessed in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967. 
• There was a discontinuity in the practice of simultaneous elections during the period of 1968-69 because some legislative assemblies were dissolved and many irregularities disrupted the stability in the functioning of the Parliament and the assemblies. 
• Ever since its discontinuation, there have been plenty of discussions pertaining to resuming simultaneous elections. However, there is a lack of consensus among political parties on the same context. 

What is the idea of One Nation One Election all about?

• One Nation One Election refers to the restructuring of the cycle of elections in India in a manner that the Lok Sabha elections and the State assembly elections are synchronised together. 
• General elections for the Lok Sabha and State assemblies are usually held at the gap of 5 years in India along with separate elections for different State assemblies. Such a continuous cycle of elections poses a huge burden on the country’s exchequer. 
• Over a period of time, it has been observed that elections take place frequently in some states of India. 
• According to the NITI Aayog, over a span of 30 years, there has not been a single year without an election to either a State assembly or to the Lok Sabha or both. 
• The necessity to revive the practice of One Nation One Election was felt by the Prime Minister who intended to seek political consensus on the same issue. 

Advantages of One Nation One Election:

• The most significant rationale favouring simultaneous elections is that it saves the government money to a great extent. According to the Law Commission of India, the estimated cost of buying enough Electronic Voting Machines would be to the tune of Rs. 4,500 crore and more in the upcoming years.
• Simultaneous elections will speed up the developmental work which is disturbed due to the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct due to frequent elections. 
• With the One Nation One Election in place, there will be sufficient scope for the policymakers to work on the welfare programmes. 
• One time elections will ensure the continuity in policies and programmes of the central and the state governments. 
• The concerned government deploys a huge workforce and machinery to conduct free and fair elections in the country occupying premises of schools and colleges. One time elections will help the educators to work without the fear of vacation every now and then. 
• It will reduce the number of false promises bringing down vote bank appeasements during elections. 
• According to the Election Commission of India, the country is well equipped to conduct simultaneous elections despite the existing challenges. 

  Disadvantages of Simultaneous elections:

• It will reduce the focus area highlighting regional issues and will offer more priority to the national issues, thereby leading to inadequate representation of the regional parties. 
• The regional parties will have a higher tendency to be on the side of disadvantage as they won’t be able to compete with the national parties in terms of electoral expenditure and strategy. 
• It will also delay the process of declaring the results. 
• There is a possibility that the same voter will vote for the same party for both state and centre when elections are held simultaneously. This is backed by the fact that India is a union of states and the Central government allots huge money to its party in the states. 

 Challenges in the implementation of Simultaneous elections:

• It would be a significant challenge to synchronise the term of Lok Sabha so that elections to both the centre and the states can be held within a given time frame. 
• In doing so, the term of the legislative assemblies can be reduced and increased with a constitutional amendment in place which again demands a special majority.
• To synchronise the term of legislative assemblies with Lok Sabha, constitutional amendment shall be required in the following articles:
• Article 83 – It states that the term of Lok Sabha will be 5 years from the date of first sitting.
• Article 85 – It empowers the President to dissolve Lok Sabha
• Article 172 – It states that the term of legislative assembly will be 5 years from the date of first sitting.
• Article 174 – It empowers the Governor to dissolve the Legislative Assembly.
• Article 356- It authorises the Central government to impose President’s Rule for the failure of constitutional machinery in the state.
• Simultaneous elections also demand the amendment of RPA, 1951 and certain Parliamentary procedures. 

Walking Ahead:

• There needs to be a consensus and precise scrutiny before implementing one nation one election. 
• All the political parties must cooperate and discuss the implications of simultaneous elections.
• The decision must be in favour of the spirit of India’s vibrant democracy which can actually reap the benefits of simultaneous elections with increased attention towards developmental agendas and welfare programmes instead of the political ones. 

Read more summaries of Perspective in the link.

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