What Is The Debate Around ‘One Nation, One Election’?

Relevance: GS2 - Indian Constitution, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act, Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

(Source: The Hindu, 09/04/2023)

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Why in the news?

Recently, the Union Government set up a committee under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind to consider the feasibility of implementing the “One Nation, One Election” initiative.

What is the ONOE plan?

• The One Nation One Election plan is based on the synchronization of the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all states.
• Such simultaneous elections aim to reduce the frequency of polls in the country.
• The first general elections to Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies were conducted simultaneously in 1951-1952 following the enforcement of the Constitution on January 26th, 1950.
• Thereafter simultaneous elections were held in the three subsequent Lok Sabha elections until 1967.
• The cycle of simultaneous elections was first broken in 1959 when the Union government invoked the provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution to dismiss the government of Kerala.
• Since the 1960s, there have been numerous defections and counter-defections in Indian politics which led to the dissolution of several Legislative Assemblies.
• As a result, separate elections needed to be held for the Lok Sabha and for the state Assemblies.
• Presently, legislative assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha coincide with the Lok Sabha elections.

What do reports say about ONOE?

Law Commission Report, 2018

• In August 2018, the Law Commission of India, chaired by Justice B. S. Chauhan, released a draft report on simultaneous elections, that analyzed the constitutional and legal questions related to simultaneous elections.
• The Law Commission observed that simultaneous elections are not feasible within the existing framework of the Constitution.
• The Constitution, the Representation of the People’s Act 1951, and the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies would have to be amended in order to implement the concept of One Nation One Election.
• It recommended that the proposal be ratified by at least 50% of the States.
• Advantages:
  • Saves public money
  • Reduces strain on the administrative setup and security forces,
  • Timely implementation of government policies
  • Administrative focus on development activities rather than electioneering.

Law Commission Report, 1999

• The LCI headed by Justice B. P. Jeevan Reddy advocated for simultaneous elections.

Parliamentary Standing Committee (2015)

• The 79th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, (2015) recommended the implementation of simultaneous polls in the country.
  • This recommendation was reiterated in a paper released by the NITI Aayog in 2017.

Election Commission Report

• In 1983, the Election Commission of India had recommended reverting to simultaneous polls.

What are the concerns?

Feasibility

• According to Article 83(2) and 172 of the Constitution, the tenures of the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies respectively will be five years unless they are dissolved earlier.
• Article 356 mentions situations where the legislative assemblies can be dissolved ahead of the end of their term.
• It is unclear whether elections to all the states and the Union would have to be held mid-term if one government collapses.

Anti-federalism

• The idea of simultaneous elections is based on the idea that the entire nation is “one”.
• This is directly contradictory to Article 1 of the Constitution according to which India is declared to be a “Union of States”.

Anti-democratic

• Recurrent elections are considered to be beneficial for democracy as they offer an opportunity for citizens to express their opinions.
• As the issues on which national and State polls are contested are very different, the present system prevents issues from being blended, and local-level issues are not overshadowed by national issues.

Accountability

• In India’s Parliamentary Form of Government, the government is accountable to the Lower House i.e. the Lok Sabha at the center and the Legislative Assembly at the state.
• This means that the government could fall before the completion of its term necessitating elections.
• If the government is assured of a fixed tenure without the fear of recall, it could lead to autocratic tendencies and political welfarism to influence the voters.
• This also ensures greater accountability among the governments at the state level.

Costs

• A major argument made by advocates of the ONOE plan is the substantial costs associated with frequent elections.
• However, a recent report revealed that the Election Commission‘s expenditure for elections over a five-year period was ₹8,000 crores.
• This amounted to annual expenses of ₹1,500 crores or ₹27 per voter which is not a substantial amount.

Need to amend the Constitution

• In order to implement simultaneous elections in India, Article 83 (duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 85 (dissolution of the Lok Sabha), Article 172 (duration of the State legislatures), Article 174 (dissolution of the State legislatures), and Article 356 (President’s Rule) have to be amended.
• This would require extensive consideration of various situations and provisions.
• Critics have also expressed concern that such amendments could set a precedent for amending other provisions.

Logistical Challenges

• At present, only one voting machine is used at each polling station but to implement simultaneous elections, a greater number of EVMs and VVPATs would be required.
• This will also lead to requirements for additional staff, equipment, and vehicles to transport materials to the polling stations.
• Consequently, the security arrangements will have to be enhanced as it will become more difficult to safely store EVM machines until the counting process, counting of votes, etc.

What are the pros associated with ONOE?

Reducing expenses

• Simultaneous elections can help reduce the expenses borne by the parties and the government in connection with elections.
  • The first elections to the Lok Sabha (1951-52) were contested by 53 parties and 1874 candidates with expenses amounting to ₹11 crore.
  • In 2019, the elections were contested by 610 political parties and around 9,000 candidates with poll expenses of nearly ₹ 60,000 crores.
• As a result, smaller parties with less money for election expenditure may not be able to compete with larger parties, thereby impacting the equity and equality of the democratic process.

Governance

• Simultaneous elections will reduce the administrative burden on the bureaucracy and security forces.
• It will also ensure the timely implementation of government policies and put an end to the tendency of politicians to delay making sensitive decisions on account of short-term electoral gains which may affect national interests.
• In the present system, the administrative machinery is regularly engaged in electioneering which adversely affects governance.
• In contrast, simultaneous elections would ensure the focus of the administrative machinery is developmental activities.
• It will also improve the delivery of services as government staff are deployed for election duties multiple times at present.

Better decision-making

• Simultaneous elections will allow voters to judge the policies and programs of the state and central governments.
  • This would make it easier for the public to assess which political parties have delivered on their promises.

More efficient conduct of elections

• Simultaneous elections held once in five years for all parts of the country will ensure that all stakeholders i.e. political parties, the Election Commission of India, paramilitary forces, and civilians are prepared for the conduct of the elections.

Impact on the social fabric

• Elections are polarising events that have accentuated casteism, communalism, and corruption.
• Therefore, regular conduct of elections could damage the ideals of equality, and fraternity expressed in the constitution.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following statements:

1. In India, there is no law restricting the candidates from contesting in one Lok Sabha election from three constituencies.
2. In the 1991 Lok Sabha Election, Shri Devi Lal contested from three Lok Sabha constituencies.
3. As per the existing rules, if a candidate contests in one Lok Sabha election from many constituencies, his/her party should bear the cost of bye-elections to the constituencies vacated by him/her in the event of him/her winning in all the constituencies.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 Only

(b) 2 Only

(c) 1 and 3

(d) 2 and 3

Question: The main advantage of the parliamentary form of government is that (UPSC CSE 2017)

(a) The executive and legislature work independently.

(b) It provides continuity of policy and is more efficient.

(c) The executive remains responsible to the legislature.

(d) The head of the government cannot be changed without an election.