The Government of India on 1 September formed the 8-member committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind that will “examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections” to the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.
- Apart from Kovind, the committee comprises Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Ahir Ranjan Chowdhury (declined to join), former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, Senior Advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari.
Key points
- Simultaneous elections for the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha were held till 1967. However, in 1968 and 1969 some legislative assemblies were dissolved prematurely followed by the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 1970. This forced a change in electoral schedules for the states and the country.
- From the first elections in 1952 until 1967, elections were held simultaneously across the country.
- In 1957, Kerala elected the first non-Congress state government when the Communist Party of India came to power. It was the only state in which a regional party won more Lok Sabha and Assembly seats than the Congress. But Kerala’s Assembly was also the first to be dissolved in 1959 after being placed under President’s Rule, breaking the synchronised cycle of elections.
- Fresh elections were held in 1960. In the 1965 elections, after the government completed its tenure, no party was able to form the government. So, the state was again placed under President’s Rule until polls were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha in 1967.
- In the 1967 instability in some state Assemblies led to widespread defections and, eventually, the dissolution of eight state governments. When new elections were held in these states, they were no longer aligned with the Lok Sabha polls.
Arguments in favour
- Simultaneous polls will reduce expenses associated with holding elections and reduce the amount of development time lost during campaigning.
- Simultaneous elections may save time and the government can get five stable years to focus on governance instead of winning polls.
- To ensure that a state government does not fall without an alternative, the Law Commission recommended that a no-confidence motion against a government should be followed by a confidence motion so that if the Opposition doesn’t have the numbers to form an alternative government, the regime in office cannot be removed.
Arguments against simultaneous elections
- They are likely to favour larger parties with a national presence, parties with more resources that can dominate campaigning and push regional parties and local issues to the side.
- Smaller parties with fewer resources are likely to struggle in such a scenario.
- Electronic voting machines (EVMs) which have a life span of 15 years, would only be used three times under the One Nation One Election proposal.
- To implement the new election rules, five articles in the Constitution ( Articles 83, 85, 172, 174, and 356 ) and Representation of the People Act (1951) would have to be amended.
- If the Centre will continue to have the power to dismiss the state government (under Article 356), there cannot be the One Nation One Poll rule eligible.
- Voters may end up voting on national issues even for state polls which would benefit larger national parties and marginalise regional parties.
