Finance
New Delhi: Taking a big step forward on the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, the Centre has set up a committee to study the issue and submit a report. The panel will be headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
The move comes a day after the Centre had announced a special session of the Parliament from September 18 to 22. Ever since the surprise announcement was made, there has been speculation that a bill on ‘one nation, one election’ will be tabled during the session, but no one from the government has confirmed this so far.
‘One nation, one election’ refers to holding the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls simultaneously across the country. The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have spoken on the issue on several occasions, and it was also a part of the party’s manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Conducting polls simultaneously was the norm in India until 1967 and four elections were held this way. The practice stopped after some state assemblies were dissolved prematurely in 1968-69. The Lok Sabha was also, for the first time, dissolved a year ahead of schedule and mid-term elections had been held in 1971.
In its 2014 Lok Sabha Election Manifesto, the BJP had promised to evolve a method for holding Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously.
Page 14 of the manifesto had said, “The BJP is committed to initiate electoral reforms to eliminate criminals. The BJP will seek, through consultation with other parties, to evolve a method of holding Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously. Apart from reducing election expenses for both political parties and Government, this will ensure certain stability for State Governments. We will also look at revising expenditure limits realistically.”
PM Modi had spoken on simultaneous elections in 2016 and, shortly after the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, he had called an all-party meeting to discuss the issue. The meeting had been skipped by several opposition parties.
The Prime Minister has argued that holding elections every few months puts a burden on the nation’s resources and causes a break in governance.
In one of the first political reactions to the setting up of the committee, Communist Party of India General Secretary D Raja told that the BJP is obsessed with one nation, one party and it has been jittery since the opposition united under the INDIA banner.
Dr Ambedkar said Parliament is supreme in our democracy, but the BJP is undermining Parliament. Increasingly, our Parliament is becoming redundant. But they called a special session. Nobody knows what the purpose is. Ever since the opposition parties came together under the INDIA banner, the BJP has been jittery and desperate. Mr Modi is jittery,” he added.
According to experts, making the ‘one nation, one election’ concept a reality will necessitate a constitutional amendment as well as the backing of two-thirds of members in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Assembly elections are scheduled for November-December in five states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram, with Lok Sabha elections scheduled for May following year.
