The high-level committee on “one nation, one election” had approached 62 parties out of which 47 responded — 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Published Dec 12, 2024 | 4:15 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 12, 2024 | 4:31 PM
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The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 12 December, cleared the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, aimed at conducting elections simultaneously across the country.
This bill is expected to be introduced in the ongoing winter session of Parliament and sent to the Parliamentary Committee afterwards.
Once the bill becomes law, elections for both the Parliament and state Assemblies will be held simultaneously. However, Opposition parties have raised concerns that this could undermine state representation.
The Cabinet had approved the bill on 18 September this year.
The Union government believes that the bill’s key features, benefits, and necessary steps to conduct simultaneous elections across the country would be thoroughly discussed during debates.
The government is hopeful of reaching a consensus by addressing the challenges in the bill.
Currently, Lok Sabha and various state Assembly elections are held separately, leading to frequent elections every year. The ruling BJP argues that this results in higher costs and affects people’s welfare programs.
Earlier, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Union Cabinet unanimously approved the report of the high-level committee, chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
The panel had recommended conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as the first phase, to be followed by local body polls within a 100-day period.
BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been advocating the “One Nation One Election” plan claiming that it would streamline India’s electoral process by reducing the frequency of elections. It is also claimed to be a cost-saving measure, to significantly reduce the financial and administrative burden of frequent elections.
The Kovind-led committee recommended that there should be a common electoral roll for all elections and proposed discussions throughout the country. It also demanded the constitution of an implementation group.
The high-level committee on “one nation, one election” had approached 62 parties out of which 47 responded — 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it. According to the report of the panel submitted to President Droupadi Murmu on 14 March, 15 parties did not submit a response.
Among the national parties, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the CPI(M) opposed the proposal, while the BJP and National People’s Party supported it.
“Responses were received from 47 political parties. Barring 15 political parties, the remaining 32 political parties not only favoured the system of simultaneous elections, but also advocated its adoption for saving scarce resources, protecting social harmony, and stimulating economic development,” the report said.
“Those who opposed simultaneous elections raised apprehensions that its adoption could violate the basic structure of the Constitution, be anti-democratic and anti-federal, marginalise regional parties, encourage the dominance of national parties, and result in a presidential form of government,” it said.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from K Nitika Shivani.)
