ONE NATION ONE ELECTION ….. Our honourable prime minister stresses about it way too often citing Convenience and Smoothness in the system as there is not a single 6 month smooth run in the Country without an Election going on by side . But what is this idea and can it be implemented is what we are going to discuss . This basically means merger of General and Assembly Elections , i.e. elections to the Lok Sabha and all the state legislatures will take place simultaneously .

Here you will be very surprised to know that this system actually existed in our Country till 1967 and all previous elections (1952, 1957 , 1962 , 1967) took place in this format only . But after the dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies and then of Lok Sabha in 1970 departed them and from then on we are having separate elections . If we look up to our Constitution , it’s not very clear onto it . But according to Article 83(2) tenures of both Lok Sabha and state assemblies should be upto 5 years until dissolved earlier .

Though there are few specific provisions for dissolving State assemblies before 5 years in Article 356 ; but dissolving it for having simultaneous polls will violate them . There have been instances when this idea was mooted ; in 1983 Report of ELECTION COMMISSION and 1999 Report of LAW COMMISSION but didn’t . After recommendations by NaMo , NITI AAYOG also prepared a Working Paper about its implementation which stated that at least 5 Constitutional Amendments are required to make this happen .

Points in FAVOUR :

• REDUCED COSTS : There are huge costs involved with Elections which is nothing else than Taxpayer’s money . Having just one election will considerably reduce that cost .
• FOCUS OF GOVERNMENTS : It’s just the habit of almost all governments to be very active during Elections (especially in States) irrespective of how they have performed in the whole tenure . If there is just one election they will be compelled to showcase their performance throughout the country .
• VOTING RATIO : Simultaneous Polls will surely witness higher turnout ratios as people have only one election to Vote for so they will come out for it . It will benefit the country as a whole .

Points AGAINST it :

• DIFFERENT ISSUES : National and State issues are different . Having simultaneous elections will affect voters attitude .
• REDUCED ACCOUNTABILITY : Since elections take place repeatedly it keeps Governance at the toes and compels them to work while just one election will reduce consumer accountability and they will have to focus on work just once in five years .
• NON-FEDERAL : If no party secures majority or election is postponed , President’s rule will be imposed throughout the country which will blow Democracy and hamper our Federal structure .

So for the purpose to be fulfilled a constitutional amendment is required . Basically it’s BJP which is highly in favour of this , reason being they have a very strong National Face as NaMo so, if simultaneous polls occur it will give BJP a Super-High majority . But it’s also seen in state assemblies that BJP doesn’t achieve that high a majority and sometimes even lose out , reason they being Ineffective on ground and regional levels . On the contrary INC and other regional parties don’t have that strong a face to compete with NaMo but they do push above their Weights in state elections and sometimes even go on to form the Government . If this idea really comes under existence it will be highly beneficial for BJP more than the citizens but will be a LOSING BET for other parties .

For examples we can see it lost in RAJASTHAN , MADHYA PRADESH , PUNJAB and CHATTISGARH and victory numbers in BIHAR , KARNATAKA , HARYANA and MAHARASHTRA were not very great . So , this is one aspect which compels us to think over this idea again . Is having smooth single run of elections that important that we can sideline regional and local issues for just having a strong face as our National Leader . NaMo can best represent our nation , no doubt in that but he is not a Super-Hero to reach out all corners of country . Can we trust BJP or any other party who comes to power that it will not waste it’s power by neglecting important local issues ?

But whenever we think that way , we are suddenly struck with the other argument MONEY ….. which is Sweeter than Honey ….. HA HA . I mean to say having one poll will reduce too much burden from our Government Treasury . Holding and conducting an election is not that easy as it seems on News Channels , it requires a lot of Manpower and Financial costs . So this idea will save a lot of money which can surely be used for some other productive purposes . Also , elections taking place so frequently also affects policy making of Government as it brings such policies or rules that may please the people of that particular state where elections will take place . Just one poll will compel them to work normally like humans .

If you would ask my personal opinion I was strongly in favour of this Idea as points in Favour are outweighing those against it for Me personally . But , after studying about it in detail I am myself left in dilemma . We can’t just have a TOSS to decide whether we want a reduced cost or we want concern at Local level . So let’s see whether BJP which is on a fire to bring on new amendments will be able to bring this on or not . Irony is that a decision which will be affecting all the Parties will not require consent of all ; actually BJP itself is able to pass it ….. so wait and watch and hope that whatever happens is in the best interest of our country .

JAI HIND

ARUNESH SINHA

NAAM TO SUNA HI HOGA