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'ONE NATION, ONE ELECTION'
Team SoOLEGAL 21 Oct 2024

'ONE NATION, ONE ELECTION'

The Union Cabinet's recent affirmation of the high-level committee's recommendations for carrying out the "One Nation, One Election" policy marks a crucial point in India's electoral and legal environment. This proposal, also known as simultaneous elections, aims to simplify India's complicated and sometimes staggered electoral process. If fully implemented, considerable changes will be needed to current laws, the introduction of new constitutional provisions, and the defeat of strong political resistance. Here's a thorough look at the policy, the legal issues involved, and the repercussions for India's democracy.

 

Background and Purpose of "One Nation, One Election"

This notion of "One Nation, One Election" has not been something new in India. From the years 1951 to 1967, elections to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and State Legislative Assemblies took place simultaneously in the country of India. Political developments, though, such as both state assemblies getting pre-emptively dissolved along with the Lok Sabha, snapped this rhythm. Electoral disengagement made India face nearly continuous elections. At any one time, there is an ongoing or imminent state or national election that exerts intense pressures on apparatus of government, security agencies, and the treasuries of the nation.

Proponents of simultaneous elections claim that it generates a cycle of continual elections, destabilising governance and encouraging excessive use of public resources. Every election necessitates the widespread implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which temporarily halts governmental activity and frequently causes developmental initiatives to stall in anticipation of the code's lifting. Furthermore, the elections require a large deployment of security personnel and administrative resources.

 

The rationale behind making these necessary elections for Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and local bodies (panchayats and municipalities) concurrently is to minimize these disruptions and resultant costs. This policy would be two-phased: first, the elections for the national and state legislatures, and secondly within 100 days after the first phase, the elections for local bodies.

 

Key Legal Provisions and Constitutional Amendments

Constitutional and legal provisions require tremendous changes before the "One Nation, One Election" policy is implemented. The main amendments or insertions in these provisions are as follows:

1. Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament)

• Current Status: Article 83 mentions that the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved sooner, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting.

• Proposed Change: Article 83 should be upgraded through constitutional amendment to make sure the Lok Sabha term runs parallel with State Legislative Assemblies except in exceptional circumstances.

 

2. Article 172 (State Legislatures' Duration)

• Present Scenario: Article 172 speaks about the tenure of the State Legislative Assemblies which also has the same term of five years.

• Changes Propose: Just as Article 83, this article would be amended so that the terms of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies be so brought in line. For example, the term of Lok Sabha ends in 2029; so, does the state assembly, which is constituted after 2024 elections so that their term gets curtailed so that it end in the same year, Lok Sabha goes to polls again.

3. Article 356 (President's Rule)

• Current Status: Article 356 of the constitution allows President's Rule in a state when its governance fails according to constitutional provisions. This normally results in dissolution of the State Assembly.

• Proposed Change: To facilitate coordination, any such new constitutional provisions would have to permit the dissolved state governments that are dissolved before time to continue to exist under some form of central or caretaker administration till such time the next coordinated election is held. This calls for amending Article 356 or inserting temporary provisions within Article 356 to deal with the phases of dissolution of assemblies during uncoordinated periods.

4. Article 85 Dissolution of Lok Sabha

• Present Scenario: Article 85 accords the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha to the President.

• Proposed Amendment: This article needs to be amended in a manner that Lok Sabha elections can only be dissolved under some synchronised conditions so that, other than a national emergency or constitutional crisis, Lok Sabha should not be dissolved mid-term.

5. Article 82A Proposed New Article

• Proposal: The High-level committee has proposed the introduction of a new Article 82A that would be introduced to provide legislative sanction for the process of harmonization of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. This article would delegate authority to the election commission to make recommendations regarding the harmonization process and would elaborate upon the procedure for dealing with exceptions including dissolution before term or the calling of mid-term elections.

 

Role of Election Commission

The "One Nation, One Election" policy will essentially be carried out by the Election Commission of India. A single authority is expected to undertake these elections, just as it will also be responsible for conducting the exercise of synchronizing of elections. ECI may require additional powers under new constitutional provisions, including Article 82A, with the intention of advising rescheduling elections or partial elections if a state assembly is dissolved prematurely.

A vast and diverse country like India, would also function smoothly under such an electoral scenario wherein multiple elections are held simultaneously, reliant on improvements in logistics, technology, better coordination with state electoral offices, and streamlining of voter rolls across all elections: national, state, and local.

 

Challenges and Criticisms

While being hailed by sections of the government and administrative experts alike, the idea of "One Nation, One Election" has been most severely criticized by opposition parties and legal experts.

1. Concerns over Federalism

Critics also argue that simultaneous elections go against India's federal framework. Indian democracy works on the strength of its diversity, and the regional orientation of state elections provides for different political manifestations. The Rashtriya Janata Dal and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) have both argued that simultaneous elections would concentrate political power and make regional parties politically irrelevant.

2. Burden on Voters

Multi-elections at the same time would bewilder voters so that national and local issues become fuzzy. Besides, elections conducted simultaneously would result in a "nationalization" of state elections wherein local concerns will easily be buried under national political debates. Opposers believe that the conduct of separate elections makes it easier for voters to concentrate on the campaign issues of states and locals during their respective elections.

3. Effects on Governance

In the event of hung assemblies or no-confidence motions that result in the early dissolution of legislatures, new elections would be required only for the remaining term of the assembly, which could be logistically difficult. Such scenarios were one of the high-level committee's recommendations, in which temporary governments or the President's Rule were required to keep the boat afloat, albeit those suggestions have raised worries about governance and democratic responsibility.

 

Conclusion

The recommendations of the high-level committee have now been cleared by the Union Cabinet, but they will require broad-based discussions and amendments to the Constitution before they can be implemented. Such amendments must be passed by a two-thirds majority in both the houses of Parliament and, after that, ratified by at least half of the states as they impact the composition of both Lok Sabha and state legislatures.

The government has promised to organize national consultations as a step toward building a consensus on the issue. It comes with the assurance of Union Minister Amit Shah that the move will not only ease the financial and administrative burden of holding elections frequently but also ensure smoother governance.

While this may be a lengthy process, political parties must express strong resistance to the ability to sustain federalism. And it is here that the administration must overcome these obstacles to determine whether India can revert to the system of simultaneous elections that existed in the early decades following independence.

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Stephen Allan   24 Oct 2024 4:27am
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