Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 14: The high-level committee headed by the former president Ram Nath Kovind on the “one nation, one election” principle to recommend measures to facilitate simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and all the State Assemblies in the country as well as all local bodies, submitted its report to the President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.
The panel – set up in September – said it backed the idea, but calls for a legally sustainable mechanism that can break and re-align existing electoral cycles. The panel submitted its report after studying “best practices from other countries,” and consulted 39 political parties, economists, and the Election Commission of India.
“The committee is of unanimous opinion that simultaneous polls should be held,” the report, submitted to President Droupadi Murmu, said, noting that Lok Sabha and Assembly polls could be held together with local body elections (also synchronised) 100 days later.
The ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal was part of the BJP’s manifesto in 2019, but has drawn heavy criticism from the opposition, who have red-flagged constitutional issues. Simply put, it means all Indians will vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections – to pick central and state representatives – in the same year, if not at the same time.
The panel recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. The report comprises of 18,626 pages, and has been prepared after extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days.
Simultaneous polls will spur development and social cohesion, deepen “foundations of democratic rubric” and help realise the aspirations of “India, that is Bharat,” the panel said. The committee recommended that fresh elections could be held to constitute a new Lok Sabha in the event of a hung House or a no-confidence motion, or any such event.
Where fresh elections are held for the House of the People (Lok Sabha), the tenure of the House will be “only for the unexpired (remaining) term of the immediately preceding full term of the House,” it said.
When fresh elections are held for state legislative assemblies, then such new assemblies — unless sooner dissolved — shall continue up to the end of the full term of the Lok Sabha. To bring into force such a mechanism, Article 83 (duration of Houses of Parliament) and Article 172 (duration of state legislatures) need to be amended, the committee said.
“This Constitutional amendment will not need ratification by the states,” the committee said. The panel also recommended preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India in consultation with state election authorities.
It said Article 325 dealing with voters’ list may be suitably amended for the purpose. At present, the ECI is responsible for Lok Sabha and assembly polls, while local body polls for municipalities and panchayats are managed by state election commissions.
The panel recommended several constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by states. “Now, several elections are being held every year. This casts a huge burden on the government, businesses, workers, courts, political parties, candidates contesting elections, and civil society at large,” the panel said.
It said the government must develop a “legally tenable mechanism” to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections. An official statement said the committee crafted its recommendations in such a way that they are in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and would require bare minimum amendments to the Constitution.
The Kovind panel included Home Minister Amit Shah, former leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission chairman N.K. Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash Kashyap and senior advocate Harish Salve. The Committee was constituted on 2 September, 2023 and was mandated to examine and make recommendations with regard to holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is a special invitee to the panel.
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury opted out of the panel after stating that the entire exercise was an “eye wash” since the panel was in favour of recommending simultaneous polls even before the start of the consultation process. The 22nd Law Commission, that has examined the issue in detail, had also suggested holding simultaneous polls from the general election of 2029. The Law Commission, that has already submitted its views to the Kovind panel, is also likely to submit its final report to the Law Ministry soon.
“One Nation, One Election” move means all Indians will vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections – to pick central and state representatives at the same time. At present, there are a few that vote for a new state government at the same time as the country selects a new union government. These few are Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha, who are scheduled to vote at the same time as the April/May Lok Sabha election.
Maharashtra and Haryana will vote later this year, as will Jharkhand, while the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir must hold its first Assembly election in six years before September 30, in line with the recent Supreme Court order on restoration of statehood. The rest follow a non-synced five-year cycle; Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, for example, were among those voting at different times last year.
Unsurprisingly, there are several challenges to shuffling and syncing electoral cycles, ranging from logistical and financial to conceptual, constitutional, legal, and even practical, given the size of the country and vast topographical and cultural differences between regions.
Of the total of 47 parties which made submissions before the Kovind panel, 32 parties, all close allies of the BJP or present or former constituents of the NDA have supported simultaneous polling supporting BJP’s stand that separate elections drain on the government exchequers and disrupts government functioning, while the remaining 15, all major opposition parties opposed stating that it would destroy the federal structure of the country.
In its submission, dated February 20 this year, and interaction in person with the high-level committee, the BJP noted that simultaneous elections “worked seamlessly between 1952 and 1967”, and that in several reports subsequently, the Election Commission and other panels backed One Nation, One Election.
The party talked about “significant loss of up to 800 days in five years” due to the coming in force of the model code of conduct on announcement of elections in one state or the other and said this adversely affected developmental work and governance efficiency; as well as about the repeated diversion of security forces from crucial internal security duties. The BJP proposed a single electoral roll for all three tiers of government.
The party specifically gave the example of Maharashtra, where it said 307 days had been lost to the MCC in a specific year. The only other national party to support simultaneous polls, the ruling Meghalaya party and an NDA member said in its letter to the Kovind panel on January 28 that while it agreed with the idea in principle, separate consultations should be held with regional parties in the Northeast.
The Congress said implementing simultaneous elections would result in “substantial changes to the basic structure of the Constitution”, went against “the guarantees of federalism” and would “subvert parliamentary democracy.” The Congress also dismissed the argument regarding expenses saved on the cost of conducting repeated elections as “baseless”, saying that “people will be willing to consider this small amount as the cost of free and fair elections.” According to the Congress, which did not meet the Kovind panel in person, there is “no place for the concept of simultaneous elections in a country that has adopted a parliamentary system of government.”
Of the 15 parties opposing the simultaneous polling at this juncture, five are parties outside the NDA umbrella which are in power in states, including the Congress.
In all, while 26 parties which are part of the NDA are in support of one nation, one election, only 1 (Naga People’s Front) is opposed. All the 10 parties part of the INDIA bloc opposed the move. Of the parties not attached to any of the two fronts, 6 are in favour, and 4 against.
Only two of the 32 parties in support are national parties – the BJP and the Conrad Sangma led National People’s Party (NPP), which is part of the BJP-led NDA and in power in Meghalaya.
The 15 parties that are opposed include all the remaining four parties recognised as national by the Election Commission – the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and CPI(M). Of these 15, the Congress, AAP, DMK, Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) are in power in states; the others include the AIUDF, AIMIM, CPI, Naga People’s Front (NPF), Samajwadi Party (SP), the MDMK and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi of Tamil Nadu, the CPI(M-L), and Social Democratic Party of India.
Apart from the BJP and NPP, the 32 parties which support simultaneous elections include BJP allies All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU), Apna Dal (Soneylal), Asom Gana Parishad, Lok Janshakti Party (R), National Democratic Progressive Party (of Nagaland), Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (in power in Assam), Mizo National Front and United People’s Party Liberal of Assam; JD(U), which recently returned to the NDA fold; Shiv Sena (a faction of which is with the NDA); the ‘friendly to BJP’ Biju Janata Dal (BJD),and the Akali Dal and AIADMK, which were in alliance with the BJP till recently.
The remaining 15 of the 32 parties in support are small, unrecognised parties.
In terms of electoral representation, the 32 parties supporting simultaneous elections together account for 347 MPs in the Lok Sabha (including 290 from the BJP), 1,947 MLAs across states (including 1,482 of the BJP), and together got 48.3% of the vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The combined political strength of the 15 parties opposed to simultaneous polls stands at 117 MPs, 1,460 MLAs and 35.9% of the vote share in 2019. Of this, the INDIA bloc members account for 104 MPs, 1,424 MLAs and 31.6% of the 2019 vote share.
The parties which did not respond to the panel were the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (which was in power till recently in Telangana), IUML, J&K National Conference, new BJP ally JD(S), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Kerala Congress (M), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), RJD, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), YSRCP (the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh); TDP and RLD (both of which are BJP allies now); Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann); Rashtriya Loktantrik Party; and Sikkim Democratic Front.
The high-level panel on simultaneous elections sought opinion from 62 political parties in all, of which 47 sent their replies, 15 did not respond, while voluntary responses came from others. Eighteen parties also held in-person interaction with the panel.