Simultaneous Election: Need of the hour
After tasting the flavour of 'one nation and one tax policy' (Goods and services tax) the idea
of “one nation and one election” is being hovered over the horizon of India. It's noteworthy
that in initial two decades after independence India has witnessed simultaneous general
elections for the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies. After 1967, pre-
dissolution of assemblies in various states paved the way for disruption of cycle of
synchronized polls.1 In the present scenario, one or another part of country is going through
the process of election. The country witnesses approximately 5-7 State Assembly Elections
on an average every year that keep the country in the election mode all the time. These
frequent polls are producing grave repercussion on the economy and administration of the
nation. Thus, the issue of simultaneous election has gained currency in constitutional and
political arena. First Annual Report of Election Commission of India 19832, 79th report of
Parliamentary committee, 20153 NITI Aayog report 20174 and recent report of law
commission5 have endorsed the idea of simultaneous election.
Concept of simultaneous election:
General and Populist understanding is that simultaneous election means holding election of
all three tiers of government (Central government, State government and Local level
government) together and in a synchronized manner. However, it is evident that number of
third tier institution is too large and the election to the third tier comes under the state
subject and it is being conducted by the respective state election commission, hence
synchronization of Panchayati raj and municipal elections with parliamentary and state
assembly election is very cumbersome and not viable. 6 As a result, Simultaneous election
ideally signifies synchronisation of elections of Parliamentary election and state election. It
implies that the voter would go and cast his/her vote to elect members of Lok sabha and state
legislature at the same time.7 This necessarily doesn’t mean that election across the nation is
to be held on a single day. This can be conducted in a stage astute way according to the
current practice provided electorate in a particular constituency cast their vote for both State
legislature and Lok Sabha the same day.8
Fragmented election process: A political curse
Staggered and fragmented elections are the root of various political, financial, civic and
social turmoil and disruptions. It is proven fact that frequent election brings about massive
1
Law Commission of India Draft Report (30 Aug 2018).
2
Election commission of India, First Annual Report 1983 (Apr 1984).
3
79 Parliamentary Standing Committee Report (2015).
4
Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai, Analysis of simultaneous elections : The ,”What” , “Why, And “How”.
http://www.niti.gov.in/content/analysis-simultaneous-elections-what-why-and-how (last accessed on Oct 14)
5
Supra note 1.
6
Ibid at 1.
7
Supra note 4.
8
Ibid.
expenditure and leads to extravagant use of public fund for conducting, controlling and
supervising each election. Frequent deployment of security personnels in large number
during polls also causes security threat to national borders.9 Moreover, staggered election
causes time to time imposition of model code of conduct (Niti Aayog finds four months per
year till 2021) .Eventually, it brings to a standstill of announcement of all developmental
works and progress of government's schemes and projects. 10 Furthermore, frequent polls keep
all political parties including ruling parties at the centre and the states in campaigning mode
all the time. Therefore, they go on spending their time and energy more on the elections and
campaigning to woo people instead of focussing on their core issues of good governance and
development.11 It is also argued that frequent elections instigate political leaders to prove the
loyalty towards their party and push political parties to adopt populist measures instead of
issues of national interest.12
Why Simultaneous Election?
Simultaneous elections will pave the way for drastic revolution and massive transformation in
all spheres of political state of affairs. Shri H S Brahma, former Chief Election
Commissioner, remarks that simultaneous election would reduce socio-political and civic
disruptions and huge expenses (approximately Rs.3500-4000 cores).13 Moreover, it is well-
known that voter-turnout is the hallmark of representative democracy and it has been
observed in various studies that simultaneous election will increase voter-participation.
According to a study on Indian elections conducted by Mr Csaba Nikolenyi, a professor of
Concordia University, who applied basic formulae to calculate voter motivation, it was
observed that separate elections were likely to decrease number of people from participating
in the democratic process.14
Furthermore, Former Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Quraishi asserts that all the polls
revolve around casteism, communalism, corruption and crony capitalism. Only synchronized
elections can help to overcome and reduce these problems.15 It is found that simultaneous
elections took place in Ukraine and Indonesia has contributed to greater national integration
within regional agenda.16
9
Smita Gupta, One Nation One Poll And The Quest For Political Hegemony ,THE HINDU CENTRE, Mar 05
2018 https://www.thehinducentre.com/the-arena/current-issues/article10088579.ece (last accessed on Oct 26)
10
Supra note 4.
11
Supra note 1 at 13-14.
12
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Frequent Elections Impacting Governance, OUTLOOK INDIA, Jul 09, 2003
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/frequent-elections-impacting-governance/220697 (last accessed on
Oct 14)
13
Supra note 1 at 102.
14
Sai Manish, One Nation One Election: Why Modi Govt Wants To Go For Simultaneous Poll, Business
Standard, Jan 25,2018 https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/one-nation-one-election-why-
modi-govt-wants-to-go-for-simultaneous-polls-118012500184_1.html (last accessed on Oct 20)
15
SY Quraishi, Holding LS, Assembly Polls Together Is Desirable But Not Feasible, THE QUINT, May
05,2016,https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/holding-ls-assembly-polls-together-is-desirable-but-not-
feasible
(last accessed on Oct 23)
16
Supra note 1 at 97
Simultaneous election would also reduce the frequency of imposition of model code of
conduct from time to time. Thus, ruling parties would be able to focus more on governance
and developmental programs rather than elections. So, simultaneous election would reduce
frequency of elections, excessive use of black money, financial expenditure, and other hustle
and tussle. Issues concerning to public at large and national interest will start gaining
prevalence.
Constitutional and statutory huddles:
It is axiomatic that holding simultaneous election requires certain modifications in election
process and legal framework, for example reduction and extension of terms of the House of
the People/ State Legislative Assemblies, amendment to related provisions of constitution and
the Representation of People Act (1951) and The ratification by the States to these
Constitutional amendments. The provision related with 'no confidence motion' given under
Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha also needs
amendment.
A. In India, it is well-known that constitutional is the fundamental law of the land and
considered to be 'grundnorm'.17 There are numbers of provisions that need to be dealt to
comprehend the roadblocks while conducting simultaneous polls smoothly.
(I) Article 83(2)18 and 172(1)19 talk about the period of Loksabha and state legislature. It
provides that the maximum span of loksabha and state legislature is 5 years “unless sooner
dissolved”.
It is suggested to be amended to allow for extension and reduction of the terms of the
Houses.
(II) Article 85(1)20 and 174(1)21 discuss the sessions, prorogation and dissolution of Lok
sabha and state legislature respectively. They stipulate that the mediating time frame between
the last session of the Parliament/State Legislature and the first Session of the subsequent
Parliament/State Legislature shall not surpass six months.
(III) Articles 75(3)22 and 164(2)23 stipulate that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively
responsible to the parliament and the State Legislature, as the case may be. These provisions
require certain modification for providing more power to the President/Governor.
(IV) Anti-defection law (10th schedule) deals with disqualification of a member of the
House/Assembly on the ground of defection.
17
Vikas v. State of Rajasthan, (2014) 3 S.C.C. 321
18
India Const. art. 83, cl. 2.
19
India Const. art. 172, cl. 1
20
India Const. art. 85, cl. 1
21
India Const. art. 174 ,cl. 1
22
India Const. art. 75.cl. 3
23
India Const. art. 164,cl. 2
Paragraph 2(1) (b) should be amended to avoid stalemate in the Lok Sabha/State Assembly in
case of Hung Parliament/Assembly.
B. Representation of the People Act, 1951
Sections 14 and 15 of the Act, 1951 deal with notification for general election to the House of
the People and the State Legislative Assemblies.
Part IX of the Act, deals with bye-elections to the House of the People and State Legislative
Assemblies.
Simultaneous polls: a flop idea or a constructive challenge
The idea of one nation and one election although sounds highly eye-catchy but, on the
ground, the implementation of it requires massive transformations. Even many legal
luminaries and political analysts opine that simultaneous election is not feasible in Indian
scenario and it's also unconstitutional. Synchronization of election violates the principles of
federalism and democracy as the facets of basic structure in general and tinkers 'basic
structure' of Indian constitution in particular as it goes contrary to the spirit of the
constitution.24 It is contended that in simultaneous election right choice of a voter cannot be
reflected in a real sense and hence it infringes their right to freedom of speech and
expression. It also leads to long spells of imposition of president rules in different states and
during hung assembly it will collapse.25 Furthermore, Justice P.B Sawant opines that
simultaneous poll will pave the way for union government to interfere into the matter of state
governments. It will devalue the position of the states in the national scheme of things and
would turn the federal structure of constitution into unitary one.26
The concern which is highly raised by opponents of synchronized polls is that this idea is
contrary to the concept of no confidence motion. Furthermore, it is argued that in
synchronized elections, the ruling party can turn out to be authoritative and the choice of
voters can be drastically shrunk.27 Moreover, another contention is that it would be
advantageous to the national parties and national issues might cast a shadow on the local
concerns. Regional and local parties would be marginalized and the idea of 'one nation and
one election' would reduce to 'one nation and one rule'. 28 Additionally, it is not feasible to
conduct synchronized election on such a large scale due to possibility of chaos, lack of
management and resources.
24
Jagdeep S chhokar, Simultaneous Polls Idea Naïve, THE TRIBUNE, May 7,2018
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/simultaneous-polls-idea-naive/585371.html
(last accessed on Oct 22)
25
Supra note 9.
26
Supra note 24.
27
V Krishna Ananth and C, Rammanohar Reddy, ‘Simultaneous Election’ Or ‘Centralisation Of Power, THE
WIRE, Feb 23, 2018 https://thewire.in/government/simultaneous-elections-centralisation-power
(last accessed on Oct 22)
28
N Bhaskara Rao, Are Simultaneous Polls Good for Governance ,THE TRIBUNE, Apr 20,2018
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/are-simultaneous-polls-good-for-governance/576674.html
(last accessed on Oct 15)
But, all these contentions have been more or less refuted to a large extent. On the issue of
federalism, it is argued that India is not a federal country in a strict term as its unitary
structure has been water downed in accordance with the various necessities. 29 All the political
and administrative matters have been adjusted accordingly. Thus, simultaneous polls can be
harmonized with the concerns of the states without violating the federal structure of the
constitution. On the issue of non-confidence motion, Justice K L Sharma suggests
replacement of no-confidence motion with 'constructive no-confidence motion' and before 3
years of expiration no such motion should be permitted to be tabled. 30 The idea of
constructive no confidence motion is prevalent in Germany to provide stability to the
government and prevent frequent elections.
In the situation of hung house/assembly, president/governor should endeavour to find ways
for establishment of stable government by providing an opportunity to the largest party or
pre-poll alliance/post-poll alliance and holding an All-Party meeting.
If mid-term polls become impossible to be avoided so elections would be conducted only for
remaining periods (needs amendment of art. 83 and 172).31
Moreover, it is not true to assert that the vote share of regional parties decreases when
simultaneous elections takes place. The BJD increased its vote share from 37.23 to 44.77 in
2014 elections in Orissa, despite the nationwide wave of BJP. Therefore it can be
conclusively said that the wave at the centre might not necessarily produce an effect at the
state elections. NITI Aayog in its report also endorses this view that various factors play vital
role during Indian elections such as stand of parties on different national and State issues,
political alliances between parties and incumbency of government. Therefore, it would be
over simplification of situation that local parties will have no say in simultaneous elections.32
Conclusion:
In Indian politics, simultaneous elections would bring far-reaching transformations in the
electoral scenario. It will put an end to being country always in election mode and reduce the
huge investments on staggered elections.
As every coin has two aspects, simultaneous election too, suffers from various drawbacks. It's
the time to analyse the inherent shortcomings and after a deep deliberation parliament should
strive to remove all the underlying challenges in its implementation. The proposed idea of
Election Commission that all election during a calendar year should be held simultaneously is
very pragmatic at this juncture that shall further pave the way for synchronized polls.
Analysing the policy of simultaneous polls in the all-encompassing perspectives, the decision
for conducting simultaneous election should be taken after building a consensus of all the
citizens in general and all the regional and national political parties in particular. Only
29
State of Rajasthan v. Union of India, A.I.R. 1997 S.C 3161.
30
Supra note 1 at 96.
31
Ibid.
32
Supra note 4.
political consensus will lead to ensure Fix term for houses/assembly and stable government
at national and state level. A law akin to Fixed-term Parliaments Act, 2011 of the UK needs
to be formulated to ensure completion of full term of the Lok sabha without any pre
dissolution.
Overall, “democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people” and it
is self-evident that to make certain adjustments and fine-tunings are indispensable to achieve
anything greater in national interest.
Review report
Grammar: - 2.5
Presentation of ideas: - 8
Persuasion: - 9
Flow: - 4
Content/Legal Idea: - 9
Format and related compliances: - 8
Total: - 40.5/50
In grammar section there are common mistakes related to usage of the word, comma,
hyphen, spellings, the verb form, punctuation, capitalization, and especially articles.eg: there
is no use of the before government, constitution, public, extravagant in some places.
Wrong spellings of personnel, synchronization etc.
