The Union Cabinet is learnt to have cleared the proposal to hold simultaneous elections in India, as recommended by a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The report of the high-level committee on ‘one nation, one election’ was placed before the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The bill regarding ‘One Nation One Election’ is expected to be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament. The committee on the ‘One Nation, One Election’, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, had submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on March 15 this year, shortly before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections 2024.
The panel had recommended that the government take a “one-time transitory measure”, which would require the Union government to identify an “appointed date” immediately after a Lok Sabha election. All state assemblies that go to poll after the said date would have their terms expire with the Parliament.
This would synchronise the electoral cycles of the central and state governments and bring back simultaneous elections. Then, as the second step, municipality and panchayat elections should be held within 100 days of the Lok Sabha and state elections.
To ensure that synchronicity is not disrupted due to the premature dissolution of the Parliament or a state assembly due to a no-confidence motion, a hung House or any other event, the committee has suggested that fresh elections should be conducted only for the remainder of the term, or the “unexpired term”, until the next cycle of simultaneous polls is due.
The panel had recommended 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by state assemblies. However, these would require certain constitutional amendment bills that would need to be passed by Parliament. At least half of the states would need to ratify some proposed changes regarding the single electoral roll and single voter ID card.
According to sources, the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of the government – Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies like municipalities and panchayats – starting 2029, and a provision for unity government in cases like hung house or no-confidence motion.
