Bhubaneswar: With the Union Cabinet Thursday accepting the recommendations of the former Prez Ram Nath Kovind-led high-level committee on holding simultaneous polls, reports suggest that the Cabinet has given its nod to two Bills.
The Bills are
- To conduct elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies together
- Another to align elections for assemblies in Delhi and other union territories.
Even as hardly a week left for the current winter session to end, it seems the Modi-led NDA govt will introduce the two Bills in the winter session of the Parliament. The government target the upcoming Budget sesion to pass the 2 bills.
As the Union government has set the ball rolling on the much talked One Nation One Election agenda, how it will affect the upcoming elections are explained below.
At present, the cost of holding elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies of the State and UTs have been pegged at Rs 4500 cr by the ECI, the HLC report underlined. The HLC observed the cost will see a sharp pruning by half, if elections are held simultaneously.
Let’s first analyse the report of the High Level Committee.
HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE REPORT
- The HLS took 191 days to prepare the report.
- The HLC in its report stated that 80% of 21,558 responses received by the HLC were in favour of simulataneous elections.
Of 47 political parties in India, 32 supported simultaneous elections.
- India had simultaneous elections in 1960s.
- The indiscriminate use of Article 356 to dissolve State Assemblies, along with Hung parliament or state assemblies led to the practice of separate elections.
The HLC recommended that at the time of the next election for Lok Sabha, all state assemblies and local bodies should be dissolved, irrespective of the remaining term as a one-time measure.
- This will synchronise all elections.
- The Committee recommended holding elections for Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies at the same time,
- And that of local bodies within 100 days from then.
- Currently, a legislature is elected for the term of five years.
- Hence, a hung legislature at any point of time would render them out of synchronisation for the next simultaneous election.
- To address this, the Committee recommended that fresh election should be held for a hung legislature or a local body for a reduced term.
- The reduced term will be equivalent to the remaining period of the five-year cycle for the simultaneous election.
- This implies that if fresh election for a state assembly or Lok Sabha is held two years after the simultaneous election,
- Its term will be only three years.
- This will synchronise all elections every five years
The Committee recommended that a single electoral roll should be adopted.
- At present, in some states Sate Election Commission prepare separate electoral rolls for the elections to the local bodies.
- In One Nation One Election, electoral roll prepared by Election Commission of India will be accepted.
- The HLC recommended that ECI and SECs should carry out planning and estimation for logistical arrangements around the time of the rollout.
However, experts have suggested need of amendments to the constitution to synchronise the elections.
- The Committee observed that constitutional amendments in relation to terms of Parliament and state assemblies will not require ratification by states.
- However, constitutional amendments in relation to local bodies will be required to be passed with ratification by at least half of the states
- To give effect to this single electoral roll, a constitutional amendment will be required.
- The Committee observed that these amendments will also require ratification by at least half of the states.
THE AMENDMENTS NEEDED
A clause A to be inserted under Article 82 – that deals with allocation of Lok Sabha seats after every census.
- ARTICLE 82 A : The president of India may by notification issued on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election, bring into force the provision of this article , and the date of the notification shall be called the Appointed Date.
- Notwithstanding anything contained in Art 33 and 172, all the Legislative Assemblies constituted in any general election held after the appointed date shall come to an end on the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha.
- For aligning local elections, the HLC recommended new insertion of provision in Article 324. The new amendment will be known as Article 324 A.
WILL LOCAL ELECTIONS BE HELD WITH LOK SABHA?
- In the first step simultaneous elections will be held for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
- In the second step, the polls for local bodies will be synchronized.
ONE NATION ONE ELECTION – IS IT PM MODI’S AGENDA?
The answer is a BIG NO. The reason is given below.
- The Law Commission of India studied various issues involved in the conduct of elections and recommended in its reports of 1999, 2015 and 2018 (draft) the adoption of th eparctice of simultaneous elections.
- This shows the foundation for One Nation One Electionwas laid during the then NDA government headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1999, when DMK, TMC were part of the govt.
BOTTOMLINE: A glance at the above recommenddation of the HLC report, the One Nation and One Election may roll out from 2029 elections, as the Modi govt has inititated the process in 2024 itself.
