SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS

Subject: Polity

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday again pitched for ‘One Nation, One Election’, at the concluding session of the 80th All India Presiding Officers Conference via videoconference.

Concept:

• ‘Simultaneous Elections’ is defined as structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner such that elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are synchronized together.
• Elections to Local bodies, which is a state subject, are not included in it.

Advantages

• Frequent elections impose a burden on human resources.
• They also impede the development process due to the promulgation of Model Code of Conduct.
• The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ will drastically cut the election expenditure.
• The government will be able to focus on legislation and governance.
• Now, they are deviated in the campaign mode periodically.

Concerns and Challenges:

• Tenure – Synchronisation would involve curtailment or extension of the tenure of a House.
• It is proposed that the Assemblies would be bunched into two categories.
• This will be based on whether their terms end close to the 2019 or the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
• The legal validity of this process is however questionable.
• Constitutional – The move requires amendment to the Representation of Peoples’s Act 1951.
• But attempting to draft a constitutional amendment would highlight the hollowness of the whole idea.
• Discussions with the public, political parties and all other stakeholders would have to be reflected in the bill.
• Significantly, it requires changes to the Constitution’s basic structure, posing a challenge.
• Difficulties – The Election Commission sometimes holds elections to even one state in many phases.
• Given this, holding simultaneous elections for the whole country has many practical difficulties.
• Dissolution – It is possible for Lok Sabha to be prematurely dissolved on account of a vote of no-confidence.
• It is still uncertain if all Assemblies would also be dissolved in that case.
• And in case of a mid-term election, the term of such a House would only be for the remainder of its tenure.
• Defection – Allowing a one-time waiver of the anti-defection law in the event of a hung House is another proposal.
• This is to enable the House to elect a leader.
• However, these reforms can be adopted even without simultaneous elections.