00:00 The Indian government has formed a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind
00:06 to explore the possibility of a one-nation, one-election.
00:10 The move comes a day after reports said that the government may introduce a one-nation,
00:15 one-election bill in the special session of Parliament scheduled to be held from September
00:20 18 to 22.
00:22 Reports said that a notification on the members of the panel will be issued later.
00:27 Reports also suggested that the setting up of the panel opens up the possibility of Lok
00:32 Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with a string of Assembly elections
00:36 to be held later this year.
00:44 Now let's understand what exactly is one-nation, one-election.
00:48 The idea of one-nation, one-election refers to holding simultaneous elections across the
00:53 country.
00:54 This means that elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies across India will
00:59 be held simultaneously, with voting presumably taking place around the same time.
01:05 Currently, elections to the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha are held separately after
01:09 the five-year term of the incumbent government ends or if it is dissolved due to various
01:14 reasons.
01:20 One of the major reasons to hold simultaneous elections would be to cut down on the costs
01:25 involved in separate elections.
01:28 As per reports, a whopping Rs 60,000 crore was spent on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
01:34 The amount includes what was spent by the political parties fighting the polls and the
01:39 spending by the Election Commission of India or ECI to hold the elections.
01:44 Further, supporters of simultaneous polls argue that it will increase efficiency in
01:49 the administrative setup throughout the country since it slows down considerably during the
01:54 polling.
01:55 Normal administrative duties are affected by elections as officials engage in polling
01:59 duties.
02:00 It will also help ensure continuity in the policies and programs of the central and state
02:05 governments.
02:06 Currently, the model code of conduct is imposed whenever elections are set to take place,
02:11 putting a ban on the launch of new projects for public welfare for that period.
02:16 Further, the law commission said that holding simultaneous elections will boost voter turnout
02:21 as it will be more convenient for them to cast votes at once.
02:28 Holding simultaneous elections would require constitutional amendments to sync up the terms
02:32 of the state legislative assemblies with that of the Lok Sabha.
02:35 Further, the Representation of the People Act and other parliamentary procedures will
02:40 also need to be amended.
02:42 The major fear of regional parties over simultaneous elections is that they would not be able to
02:47 raise their local issues strongly as national issues take centre stage.
02:51 They would also be unable to compete with national parties in terms of election expenditure
02:55 and election strategy.
02:57 Further, a study conducted by IDFC Institute in 2015 found that there is a 77% chance that
03:04 voters will choose the same winning political party or alliance in the state assembly and
03:09 the Lok Sabha if elections are held simultaneously.
03:12 However, if elections are held months apart, only 61% of the voters would choose the same
03:17 party.
03:18 There are also fears of challenges posed by simultaneous elections to the country's federalism.
03:27 Simultaneous elections for the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha were the norm in India till
03:32 1967.
03:33 However, things changed when some legislative assemblies were dissolved prematurely in 1968
03:38 and 1969 and the Lok Sabha in 1970.
03:42 A decade later, the Election Commission in 1983 proposed to bring back simultaneous elections.
03:47 However, in its annual report, the Commission said that the then government decided against
03:52 it.
03:53 The 1999 Law Commission report also pushed for simultaneous elections.
03:57 The recent push came from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which said in its election manifesto
04:02 for the 2014 Lok Sabha election that it will seek to evolve a method of holding the elections
04:07 simultaneously to ensure stability for state governments.
04:11 The idea was floated once again by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
04:15 The following year, the Niti Aayog prepared a working paper on the proposal for simultaneous
04:19 elections.
04:20 In 2018, the Law Commission said that at least five constitutional recommendations would
04:25 be required to hold simultaneous polls.
04:28 Nearly a month after he assumed office for the second time in 2019, PM Modi met with
04:33 the heads of various political parties to discuss simultaneous elections.
04:37 Several opposition parties including the Congress, Srinamul Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi
04:42 Party and Ravidha Munnetra Karakam stayed away from the meeting, while the Aam Aadmi
04:47 Party, Telugu Desam Party and Bharat Rashtra Samiti sent representatives.
04:54 In 2022, the then Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said that the Election Commission
04:59 is fully prepared and capable of conducting simultaneous elections.
05:03 However, he said that to implement the idea, there needs to be a change in the constitution
05:07 and it should be decided in the Parliament.
05:09 In December of 2022, the Law Commission sought the opinion of stakeholders including national
05:14 political parties, the Election Commission of India, bureaucrats, academicians and experts
05:19 on the proposal to hold simultaneous elections in the country.
05:27 Ever since PM Narendra Modi started pushing for a one-nation, one-election, opposition
05:32 leaders have opposed the idea, calling it unconstitutional and against the principles
05:36 of democracy.
05:37 In January of 2023, AAP alleged that the BJP was proposing simultaneous elections to replace
05:43 the parliamentary form of government with a presidential system.
05:47 Other parties who are part of the India bloc including the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata
05:51 Dal United and the Samajwadi Party also opposed the idea.
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