New Delhi: In a politically significant move, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the “one nation, one election" proposal for conducting the parliamentary and Assembly polls simultaneously. The Cabinet nod comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah indicated that “one nation, one election" will become a reality in the current stint of the NDA government at the Centre. With the in-principle approval of the policy, the government will now undertake consensus building before the roll-out of the common election plan.
In March this year, a high-level panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu. The Cabinet announced its acceptance on Wednesday. The panel recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as the first step, followed by synchronised local body polls.
After the Cabinet meeting, information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee on simultaneous elections under the chairmanship of Mr Kovind.
Mr Vaishnaw stated that an implementation group will be formed to take forward the recommendations of the panel and detailed discussions will be held across the country over the next few months.
Welcoming the Cabinet decision, Mr Modi said, "This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative." He also complimented Mr Kovind for spearheading the effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders.
Responding to the media queries on its implementation, Mr Vaishnaw mentioned that Mr Shah has said the government will implement it in its current tenure.
The information and broadcasting minister noted that after completion of the consultation process, the government will draft a bill, place it before Cabinet for approval and subsequently take it to Parliament for simultaneous polls to come into effect.
The high-level committee on simultaneous elections recommends amendments to the Constitution to enable simultaneous election in two steps. As the first step, elections will be held for the Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies. For this, no ratification by the states will be required for the Constitutional Amendment.
In the second step, elections to the municipalities and the panchayats will be synchronised with the Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies in such a way that municipal and panchayat elections are held within 100 days of holding elections to the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies. This will require ratification by not less than one-half of the states.
The committee also recommended the preparation of a single electoral roll and electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) or voter IDs for use in elections to all the three tiers of government and amendments in the Constitution of India are recommended to enable the Election Commission to prepare a single electoral roll and EPIC in consultation with the state Election Commissions.
The committee further recommended that in the event of a hung House, no-confidence motion or any such event, fresh elections should be held to constitute the new House of the People or state Legislative Assembly for the “unexpired term” of the House.
The committee on simultaneous elections recommends that for meeting logistical requirements, the Election Commission will plan and estimate in advance in consultation with the state Election Commissions and take steps for the deployment of polling personnel, security forces, EVMs/VVPATs, etc, so that free and fair simultaneous elections are held in all three tiers of the government.
On the need for simultaneous elections, the committee further noted that frequent elections burden the government exchequer with additional expenditure and if the expenditure incurred by political parties is also added, these figures will be even higher.
“Disruption of government machinery due to asynchronous elections causes hardship to citizens. Frequent use of government officials and security forces adversely affects discharge of their duties. Frequent imposition of the model code of conduct causes policy paralysis and slows down the pace of the developmental programmes. Staggered elections induce "voters’ fatigue" and present a significant challenge in ensuring their participation,” the committee noted.
