Committee to look into the ‘One Nation One Election’ formed by the Central Government with Ex- President Ramnath Kovind at the head

With the Ex-President Ramnath Kovind at the helm, the Government of India announces the formulation of a committee to study and submit a report on the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal.

The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ essentially translates to holding Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls simultaneously across the country. As history testifies, the ‘one nation, one election’ theory was prevalent in India up until 1967, with four elections conducted under its ambit. This norm came to a standstill after some of the state assemblies were prematurely dissolved in 1986-87. The Lok Sabha too was prematurely dissolved in 1970, followed by a min-term election in 1971. The ruling BJP Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have on several occasions spoken about the re-introduction of this polling system, it was even a part of their party manifesto ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. They had promised to the people of India to formulate a way of conducting Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls together, in tandem.

Stating that holding elections every few months apart is a cumbersome task and it puts a severe burden on the Nation’s resources, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi had harped on the need of simultaneous elections during several meetings. .He even called for an all-party meeting after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, to discuss on the plausibility of the same. However, that meeting was boycotted by majority of the Opposition parties.

Taking a swipe at the Union Government’s decision of formulating a ‘one nation, one election’ committee, CPI General Secretary D Raja said to NDTV, "One nation, one election is not a new issue. It has been discussed for several years. Ever since the BJP came to power, it has been obsessed with one nation, one culture; one nation, one religion; one nation, one language; one nation, one tax; now one nation, one election; then one nation, one party; one nation, one leader. That is the obsession the BJP is suffering from.” Raja stated that the Union Government and the Prime Minister are apprehensive and jittery about the progress of the INDIA Alliance."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”, added the CPI General Secretary.

This comes at a time when five states of India, namely Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh and Telangana are poll-bound. Moreover, the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections are due. It is important to note that driving the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal to fruition will a constitutional amendment and the support of two-thirds of the members of both houses of the Parliament.

The formulation of the committee headed by Ramnath Kovind comes a day after the Union Government announced a ‘special session’ of the parliament from September 18 to 22 without mentioning the agenda. There is a possibility of the ‘one nation one election’ bill being tabled during this session, however, it has not been confirmed by the authorities.