One nation, one election:
The idea of one nation-one election is to synchronize the Lok Sabha elections conducted
pan-India and the State Legislative Assembly elections so that they take place together once
in every five years and saves the nation from being drained of money, resources and
manpower due to frequent elections.
General elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are held at the gap of 5 years in
India.
But in addition to this elections for the different State Assemblies are held in some states
separately which put huge burden on the government exchequer. (treasury)
The idea of “One Nation One Election” is not new for India. India had the system of One
Nation One Election and implemented it during the general elections held in 1952, 1957,
1962 and 1967.
This practice was discontinued in 1968-69, because some Legislative Assemblies were
dissolved earlier due to various reasons.
Merits:
Money Saving:
o If the country goes for “One Nation One Election” it will save huge money.
o There are 4120 MLAs in the 31 states & UTs.
o If all the states & UTs go for one time election then its total cost would be around Rs.
11 billion.
o When elections happen separately, the Lok Sabha elections itself cost 600 billion.
o The money saved can be used by the government for the welfare of people.
Speedy Development Work:
o It is observed that when the election Model Code of Conduct is in force then the
inauguration of new projects does not take place.
o So one time election will ensure continuity in policies and programmes of the central
and state governments.
Effective Governance
o If elections are not held frequently, the administration will go ahead with
worthwhile plans and development based projects instead of election season
focused plans.
o Even state and central government need not prepare lucrative budget with sops
every year and they can take decisions for the development of economy.
Demerits:
Local issues will fade out:
o It is observed that elections for state assemblies and Lok Sabha are fought on
different issues.
o Regional parties target local issues while national parties target national issues.
o So there is a possibility that regional parties will not be able to raise the local issues
strongly.
Hard time to Regional Parties:
o Regional parties will not be able to compete with national parties in terms of
election expenditure and election strategy.
o Assembly elections are closely associated with the local issues and local voters.
o Hence one time election will not be accepted by the regional parties.
Delay in Election Results:
o At present when almost all the regional parties are demanding to conduct elections
through ballet papers.
o If elections are conducted in one time mode then the elections results will be
declared very late.
Accountability of the government
o Since elections will be held once in five years, it will reduce the government's
accountability to the people.
o Repeated elections keep legislators on their toes and increases accountability
How will it work?
There were two proposals to conduct simultaneous elections along with 17th Lok Sabha
elections. However, both didn't materialise.
One proposal was to make the shift to simultaneous polls in a phased manner, where
general elections, 12 State Assemblies (which by themselves face elections in late 2018 or
2019) and a Union Territory may be synchronised in 2019, as the rest of the states are in
the middle of their five-year term.
These 12 states were Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana,
Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and
Rajasthan. NCT of Delhi (Union Territory with Legislature) also faces polls in 2019. For such
a synchronisation to happen, besides political consensus and extension of term up to six
months in some states, amendments to the Constitution have to be made. Elections to the
remaining State Legislative Assemblies and Union Territory with Legislature (Puducherry)
will be synchronised by the end of 2021. Thereafter, elections to the Lok Sabha, all the
State Legislative Assemblies and Union Territories (with legislatures) will be held
simultaneously from 2024.
The second option involved synchronisation in two batches. First, elections to the 12 State
Legislative Assemblies and one Union Territory would be synchronised with elections to
the Lok Sabha in 2019. Next, elections to the remaining State Legislative Assemblies will be
synchronised with that of one Union Territory by the end of 2021. This makes elections
across the country synchronised in such a manner that they will be held twice every five
years.
