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Current Relevance of One Nation – One Election

20 Jan 2024 Current Relevance of One Nation – One Election

Posted at 13:29h in Daily current-affairs by
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Source – The Hindu and PIB.

General Studies – Governance and Polity, One Nation One Election, Federal character of the Indian Constitution and Centre-State relations.

Why in the News?

  • Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has written a letter to the high level committee constituted by the government on the subject of ‘One Nation – One Election’, saying that the concept of simultaneous elections has no place in a country adopting the parliamentary system of governance and his party ‘ Strongly opposes the idea of ‘one nation, one election’.
  • In the suggestion sent to committee secretary Niten Chandra, Kharge also said that the idea of holding simultaneous elections is against the basic structure of the Constitution and if the system of simultaneous elections is to be implemented, then there is a need for substantial changes in the basic structure of the Constitution. Will happen.
  • A letter was written to the Congress President on 18 October 2023 last year for suggestions on the concept of ‘One Nation One Election’ by the committee headed by former President of India Ramnath Kovind. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge regarding One Nation One Election. A four-page letter has been written to Nitin Chandra, secretary of the formed committee, on January 17. The committee had sought suggestions from Congress on October 18, 2023 regarding holding all the elections in the country simultaneously. In response to this, Mallikarjun Kharge has written this letter to the secretary of the committee.
  • In his letter, Congress President Kharge has sent his reply with 17 points. In this he has said that to maintain democracy in the country, it is necessary that the idea of holding simultaneous elections should be abandoned.
  • The Congress President has sent his suggestions on 17 points to the committee.
  • The Congress President said, “The Indian National Congress strongly opposes the idea of ‘One Nation: One Election’. To maintain a thriving and strong democracy, it is important that this entire idea be abandoned.”

6 main points of objection in the letter sent by Kharge :

  • The high-level committee that was formed on ‘One Nation – One Election’ is biased because it does not include any representative of the opposition parties.
  • The government has already expressed its views regarding simultaneous elections. She wants to conduct similar elections in the country. Forming a committee is just a show.
  • The head of this committee is former President Ramnath Kovind. In the year 2018, he had said in Parliament that holding elections again and again stops the development work. Congress wants to say that development is not happening because Prime Minister Modi keeps taking elections instead of working.
  • The committee argues that if elections are held simultaneously in India, expenses will be saved. This is absolutely baseless. The expenditure incurred in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was Rs 3,870 crore, which the committee claims is very high. On the contrary, BJP had received donations of Rs 10,122 crore during 2016-2022, out of which Rs 5271.97 crore are benami bonds. If the said committee and the present government are really serious about election expenses then make the process of electoral bonds transparent.
  • The argument that imposition of code of conduct affects development work is also baseless. Already existing schemes and projects continue during elections.
  • Holding simultaneous elections would require the dissolution of many assemblies that are still at half (or less) of their terms. This would be a betrayal of the voters of those states.

One Nation – One Election Introduction :

  • In India, the issue of simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies has been discussed for many days in favor and against it. Prime Minister Modi has also supported this idea and taken it forward. The Election Commission of India, NITI Aayog, Law Commission and Constitution Review Commission have considered this issue. Recently, the Law Commission had organized a three-day press release (conference) to gather the opinions of various political parties, regional parties and administrative officials on the issue of holding simultaneous elections in the country. Some political parties had expressed their agreement regarding “One Nation – One Election” in this press release (conference), but most of the national and regional political parties of India had opposed it. In this context, he argued that the idea of ‘one nation one election’ is against the Indian democratic process and the federal structure of India. Therefore, unless a consensus is reached on this idea, it will not be possible to implement it.

Current Relevance of ‘One Nation – One Election’ :

  • A healthy and fair election process is the cornerstone of any democracy. Elections are an essential process in any vibrant democracy. Conducting uninterrupted and fair elections in a huge country like India has always been a challenge. If we look at the elections held in the country, we find that every year elections are held in some state or the other. Due to this continuity of elections the country is always in election mode. This not only affects administrative and policy decisions but also puts a huge burden on the country’s exchequer. To avoid all this, policy makers had proposed the idea of holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
  • Apart from these, Panchayat and Municipal elections are also held in India but these are not included in ‘One Nation – One Election’.
  • In India, ‘One Nation – One Election’ is an ideological initiative to hold simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. There can be a never-ending debate on how right this would be for the country and how wrong it would be. But to bring this idea to the ground, it is important to know its characteristics.

Current rationale of ‘One Nation – One Election’ in India :

  • At present in India, the state assembly and the country’s Lok Sabha elections are held at different times. One Nation One Election means that Lok Sabha and Assembly elections should be held simultaneously in the entire country. That is, voters will cast their votes on the same day, at the same time or in a phased manner to elect members of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
  • After independence, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were held simultaneously in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967, but in 1968 and 1969, many Assemblies were dissolved prematurely. After that the Lok Sabha was dissolved in 1970. Because of this, the tradition of one country, one election has been broken in India at present.

Background of One Nation – One Election :

 

  • In India, ‘One Nation – One Election’ has happened in the general elections of 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967. Therefore, ‘One Nation – One Election’ is not a unique experiment, because the elections of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies were conducted simultaneously by the then governments of that time. This sequence was broken when the Legislative Assemblies of some states were dissolved prematurely for various reasons in 1968–69. In 1971, the Lok Sabha elections were also held ahead of schedule. Therefore, when elections like this have been conducted before, what problem can arise in conducting them now?
  • On one hand, some analysts believe that at present the population of India is very high, hence it is not possible to hold simultaneous elections in India, while on the other hand, some analysts believe that if the population of the country has increased then technology and Other resources have also developed. Therefore the possibility of ‘one nation – one election’ cannot be ruled out. But all this does not prove its significance. Therefore, we should form our opinion only after paying attention to both its pros and cons arguments.

Arguments in favor of ‘One Nation – One Election’ :

  • The concept of ‘one nation – one election’ is a development-oriented idea in India. Due to frequent elections, Model Code of Conduct has to be implemented again and again in the country. Due to which the government is not able to take necessary policy decisions and problems arise in implementing or implementing various schemes. Due to which the development work happening in the country keeps getting affected. The ‘Model Code of Conduct’ or ‘Model Code of Conduct’ was created only to maintain the fairness of elections.
  • In India, announcement of any project, launch of new schemes or financial approval and appointment process by the ruling party is prohibited after the election notification is issued by the Election Commission. The underlying objective behind this is that the ruling party does not get additional advantage in the elections. Therefore, if elections for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are held in the country at once, then the Model Code of Conduct will remain in force for some time, and after that the development works can be completed uninterrupted.
  • Having ‘One Nation – One Election’ will reduce the huge expenditure on repeated elections. It is worth noting that due to frequent elections in India, there is additional financial burden on the government exchequer. The continuous increase in expenditure on elections is proof that it is not good for the economic health of the country.
  • Having ‘One Nation – One Election’ will help in curbing black money and corruption. Black money is used openly by political parties and candidates during elections in India. Although a limit has been set on the expenditure incurred by candidates in elections in the country, no limit has been set on the expenditure incurred by political parties. Some analysts believe that frequent elections provide an opportunity to politicians and parties to disrupt social harmony, which creates situations of unnecessary tension. Such problems can be avoided by holding simultaneous elections.
  • By holding elections in the country in one go under ‘One Nation – One Election’, there will be no need to put government employees and security forces on election duty again and again. This will save their time and they will also be able to perform their duties properly. To conduct elections in India, the services of teachers and government employees of the respective states are taken, due to which their work is affected. Not only this, a large number of police and security forces are also deployed to conduct uninterrupted elections and apart from this, frequent elections also affect the normal life of the people.

Arguments against ‘One Nation – One Election’ :

  • In India, some analysts in opposition to ‘One Nation – One Election’ are of the opinion that the Constitution has given us a parliamentary system/format. Under which the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies are elected for five years, but the Constitution of India is silent on the issue of holding simultaneous elections. Because there are many provisions in the Constitution which appear to be completely contrary to this idea. Under Article 2 of the Indian Constitution, the Parliament can include a new state in the Indian Union and under Article 3, the Parliament can also create a new state, where it may have to hold separate elections.
  • According to Article 85(2)(b) of the Indian Constitution, the President can dissolve the Lok Sabha and according to Article 174(2)(b) the Governor can dissolve the Legislative Assembly even before five years. Under Article 352, the tenure of the Lok Sabha can be extended by imposing national emergency in the event of war, external aggression or armed rebellion. Similarly, under Article 356, President’s rule can be imposed in the states and in such a situation, the possibility of re-election increases due to an unexpected reversal in the political equation of the concerned state. All these circumstances are completely contrary to one country one election.
  •   The concept of ‘One Nation – One Election’ would be contrary to the federal structure of India and could prove to be a fatal step for parliamentary democracy. Therefore, if elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies are held simultaneously, the tenure of some assemblies will be increased or reduced against their wishes, which may affect the autonomy of the states. The federal structure of India is inspired by the parliamentary system of governance and the frequency of elections in the parliamentary system of governance is an irrefutable fact.
  • Due to ‘One Nation – One Election’, if elections for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are held simultaneously, then there is a high possibility that regional issues may become secondary to national issues or on the contrary, national issues may become secondary to regional issues. Issues lose their existence. In fact, the nature and issues of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are completely different. While Lok Sabha elections are held to form the national government, Assembly elections are held to form the state government. Therefore, while issues of national importance are given priority in the Lok Sabha, issues of regional importance are given priority in the Assembly elections.
  • One argument against ‘One Nation – One Election’ is that democracy is called people’s rule. Being a parliamentary system in the country, elections are held at different times and the public representatives have to remain continuously accountable to the public. Apart from this, no party or leader can act autocratically after winning an election because it has to face some election at short intervals. Some constitutional experts/analysts are of the opinion that if both the elections are held simultaneously, the chances of this happening will increase.
  • India is the second largest country in the world in terms of population. Therefore, due to the large population and lack of infrastructure, it does not seem logical to hold elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies simultaneously. Therefore, it does not seem possible to conduct ‘one nation – one election’ in India

Conclusion/ Way forward :

  • The way ‘One Nation – One Election’ is being opposed by the political parties of India, it seems that it is not possible to implement it in the near future. There is no major flaw or shortcoming in the concept of one country, one election, but there is no doubt that India, the world’s largest democracy, seems to be surrounded in the maze of electoral battle all the time.
  • There is a need to carry out a comprehensive electoral reform campaign in India at present. This includes improving the Representation of the People Act, curbing black money, stopping increasing criminalization in politics, creating political awareness among the people etc. so that inclusive democracy can be established in India.
  • If ‘one country one tax’ i.e. GST or one country – one ration card can be implemented in the country then why can’t there be one country one election? Therefore, it is the need of the present time that all the national and regional political parties of India should debate and discuss with an open mind the current relevance of this issue so that it can be implemented at the grassroots level in India.

Practice Questions for Preliminary Exam :

Q. 1. Consider the following statements in the context of ‘One Nation – One Election’ in India.

  1. In 1971, the Lok Sabha elections were held ahead of schedule.
  2. In India, ‘One Nation – One Election’ has happened in the general elections of 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967.
  3. If the system of simultaneous elections is to be implemented in India, then substantial changes will be required in the basic structure of the Constitution.
  4. Under Article 2 of the Indian Constitution, a new state can be included in the Indian Union by the Parliament.

Which of the above statement/statements is correct?

(A) Only 1, 2 and 3

(B) Only 2, 3 and 4

 (C )  None of these.

 (D) all of which .

Answer – (D)

Practice Questions for Main Exam :

Q.1. “The character of India’s governance system is federal and unitary. “In the light of this statement, discuss how ‘one nation – one election’ will create conflict between center – state relations in India? Present a logical explanation.

 

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