ONE NATION ONE ELECTION ?

ONE NATION ONE ELECTION ?

Kristi Flora Karki

India is a democratic country. As the word democracy means “rule by the people for the people”, hence, in a democratic system, the power is vested in the hands of people to rule the country through their elected representatives.

For democracy to exist, adult suffrage is essential and to exercise the franchise of people, there must be an election system. That’s how election is essential in a democratic country like India.

 India is a quasi-federal state where the power is decentralized between the union and the state government, later a third tier was introduced. So, each tier needs its own election for forming its government.

          India had its first general election in the year 1952 after independence, under the universal adult franchise where both the voting for Lok Sabha and State Legislature took place simultaneously.

          In our country, there used to be simultaneous elections from 1952 to 1967 for both Lok Sabha and State Legislatives. However, this cycle got disrupted after 1968 due to various reasons, such as, premature dissolution of some State Legislative Assemblies.

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Also, the 5^th Lok Sabha term was extended until 1977 under Article 352 due to the declaration of Emergency which led to the disruption of simultaneous elections’ cycle. Many frequent elections followed after this, which further disrupted the simultaneous election cycle resulting in the current staggered electoral schedules in our country.

But democracy does not only mean elections, it has other important aspects as well, like safeguarding individual rights, ensuring social justice, fostering economic and social development and achieving national and international peace.

This disruption in the simultaneous election cycle has given rise to a number of problems, such as, conducting an election is a monumental task for the Election Commission (EC), which requires meticulous planning, mobilization of intense men power and resources to conduct fair elections.

It also comes with a significant cost for conducting a Lok Sabha election, the expenses have risen steadily over the years. For instance, during India’s first election in 1951-52, the cost was Rs 10.5 Cr, whereas, the 2024 election cost approx. Rs 10,00,000 Cr.

This surge in costs can be attributed to various factors like increase in the number of eligible voters, evolving campaign strategies needed in recent times, the rising expenditure onsocial media campaign to name a few.

Due to the scattered elections happening in the country, other aspects of democracy are overshadowed. As elections keep on happening, MLAs and Ministers remain busy on the election campaigns and cannot focus on other important topics of national interest.

Infrequently held elections, a sizeable number of Government employees and almost all the teachers / staffs are assigned election duties. This practice effectively prohibits them from doing their normal work. Education of students is most suffered due to frequent engagement of teachers on election duties.

When election comes, it brings polarization in the public and the only topic of discussion becomes political parties and their agenda. This creates a polarization among the people and could give rise to communalism and affect the peace and the fraternity in our country.

Frequent elections are leading to expenditure of public money in large amounts and limiting the public money for other important developmental areas, thereby, hindering the overall growth and development of the country.

          These rising issues of asynchronous election have led to the discussions on the need for a more efficient electoral system, and most of the suggestions being for a return to the old simultaneous election known as “One Nation One Election”.

          A simultaneous election will reduce election fatigue, which means frequent election led voters to have the sense of disappointment, thinking that their vote doesn’t have any value, which will eventually decrease the turn out.

          Simultaneous election can streamline the electoral process reducing time and resources required for separate election.

          It can also help in efficient governance as simultaneous election will leave the policy makers enough time to work and make better policies on other important issues of national interest than just election campaigns.

          It also ensures a stable political system as governments are less likely to face frequent elections and change their leaders.

           The present BJP led dispensation at the Centre has been a strong supporter of the “One Nation One Election” concept, which aims to conduct simultaneous election in the country, either on a single day or within a specific time frame.

The government believes this electoral system will ensure a reduced election costs, minimize the workload on the administration as well as speedup developmental work in our country.

In 2014, this issue was advocated by Narendra Modi then Chief Minister of Gujarat stating that it would reduce wastage of the public resources and ensure smooth flow of developmental work.

In September 2023, Union government constituted a committee led by Mr Ram Nath Kovind(former President of India) to examine the feasibility and to suggest a frame work for conducting elections of Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies and the local bodies. The committee has since submitted the report with the recommendations that simultaneous elections be held in the country siting that frequent elections create an atmosphere of uncertainty.

This committee report also observed that simultaneous elections will ensure stability in governance, lead to higher economic growth improved quality of government expenditure etc.

The committee further recommended that to hold next simultaneous elections viz in 2029, all state assemblies and local bodies should be dissolved irrespective of their remaining term, as a one-time measure, so as to synchronize all elections regarding local body elections it recommended to hold within hundred days from the commencement date of the general elections.

Meanwhile, Union Cabinet on December 12, 2024 approved bills to implement “One Nation One Election”. On the other hand, opposition political parties including INC (Indian National Congress), Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, etc. have opposed to the proposed Bill, alleging the Bill to be an unconstitutional and a threat to democracy. They vowed to oppose the Bill in Parliament.

The fate of the “One Nation One Election” depends on the passage in the Parliament.

Kristi Flora Karki is the student of Communication & Journalism, Gauhati University

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