ONE NATION-ONE ELECTION: PROS AND CONS

CONTEXT: As we are heading for Lok Sabha elections of 2024, the concept of "ONE NATION-ONE ELECTION" is making rounds around the corner. There are pros and cons regarding this concept which we will discuss further in the context of India.

This system was prevalent in our country earlier during the period of 1952-1967, but since then elections are held separately,

Elections are held at three levels, that is Central, State and Local; and at all these three levels different types of elections are held for various posts. 

The central level consists of elections for the posts of:

• President of India, 
• Vice- President of India,
• Members of Lok Sabha,
• Members of Rajya Sabha,

The State level consists of elections for the posts of:

• Members of State Legislative Assembly,
• Members of State Legislative Council (at present in 6 out of 28 states),

And the Local level consists of elections for:

• Municipalities(in urban areas) and Panchayats(in rural areas)

Among these, only the elections for Members of Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Local Bodies are conducted directly through the system of adult suffrage.

"One Nation-One Election" means the conduction of simultaneous election for these three bodies only.

Why was the concept of "One Nation-One Election" was dropped in India after 1967?

• Dissolution of The Lower House: The Constitution provides for the dissolution of the Lower House(Lok Sabha/State Legislative Assembly) on the recommendation of the leader of the lower house(Prime Minister in case of Lok Sabha/Chief Minister in case of State Legislative Assembly).
• Vote of No Confidence against the ruling government at Central or State level
• Defection of politicians from one party to another leads to losing the majority in the lower house.
• Article 356: This article deals with the imposition of President's Rule in the states. 
•  In all the cases, either if the house is dissolved, the ruling government loses majority in mid-term or the proclamation of President's Rule in a state, the problem with "One Nation, One Poll" is that you cannot have mid-term elections if the rest of the States and the Centre have to go to the polls together. Therefore, the only option would be to either continue with a minority government headed by a Chief Minister/Prime Minister who has lost the confidence of the House or to impose President’s rule for the rest of the term.

Recent Developments:   A committee was established by the Central Government in October,2023, headed by Shri Ram Nath Kovind "to examine the issue and make recommendations for the simultaneous elections".

Three reasons were cited for considering to reinstate the concept of "ONE NATION-ONE ELECTION", and these are:

1. Massive Expenditure incurred by the Government and other stakeholders on separate elections,
2. Diversion of Security Staff and other electoral officers from their primary duties,
3. Disruption of development work due to the prolonged application of "Model Code of Conduct"

Arguments in Favor:    There are several benefits  of conducting simultaneous elections, which are as follows:

Better Governance:  Due to continuous elections, politicians remain in election mode throughout their tenure and could focus less on development work.

No new development scheme could be announced once the schedule of elections are made available until the results are declared due to the application of "Model Code of Conduct"

Financial Reasons: As per the reports of "NITI Aayog", approximately Rs. 4000 crore was spent during the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections alone, which was increased upto Rs. 9000 crore in 2019.

Political parties, candidates and other stakeholders also spend thousands of crores in each and every election.

Corruption can also be reduced: Separate elections require more funding and increase the corruption by political parties to meet their electoral campaigning expenses.

To meet their funds political leaders encourage "Crony-Capitalism" as well.

To secure the social fabric: There's a famous poetry by poet late Rahat Indori, which says: 'सरहदों पर बहुत तनाव है क्या, कुछ पता तो करो चुनाव है क्या'  

During elections some politicians ignite the issues of communalism, regionalism, nationalism, casteism, et cetera to lure their targeted voters.

Logistical Reasons: Security staff, Teachers and other electoral officers are diverted from their primary duties for each and every election.

Simultaneous elections will lead to "Better Voter Turnout", as continuous elections don't excite voters much to cast their votes. 

Arguments in  Against:

No Specific Provision in Constitution: Many amendments need to be done in the Constitution, Representation of People's Act, 1951, et cetera.

Threat to Federal Structure: 

• Regional issues will be overpowered,
• Weaker sections' issues will be overpowered,
• One Nation-One Election may lead to "One Nation-One Leader",
• A popular leader may influence the choice of voters even for the local and states' representatives.

Model Code of Conduct does not debar from implementing previously announced developmental schemes.

What Alternatives Do We Have?

1. No Change: In a large Democracy like India, "FEDERALISM" is the basic structure of India and hence securing it should be the topmost priority.
2. Yearly Synchronization: Elections held in a year at any level could be synchronized. This would also save a lot of cost and electoral officers' time and efforts.
3. Simultaneous Elections for Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies but not for Local Bodies: As the elections for Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies are conducted by the Central Election Commission, whereas the elections of Local Bodies are conducted by State Election Commission.
4. Simultaneous Elections for State Legislative Assemblies and Local Bodies but not for the Lok Sabha: By doing this the National issues may not overpower the regional issues.
5. Elections in Every 2.5 Years: USA being the oldest federal structure in the world conducts the elections simultaneously in every 2 years, that is, simultaneous occurrence of presidential and Congressional elections every four years, with the intermediate Congressional elections taking place every two years, commonly referred to as midterm elections.

Conclusion:  

Overall the concept of "One Nation-One Election" could be a progressive approach only if the federalism of India remains intact. It could be implemented  gradually step-by-step with the consensus  of all the states considering all the alternatives we have.