Explained: What 'One Nation, One Election' Means And Why It's Being Done

The Central government has constituted a panel to explore the possibility of 'One Nation One Election' in the country. A notification about the members of the panel, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, is likely to be issued soon.

This comes alongside a special Parliament session called by the government from September 18 to 22. The surprise announcement of the session has led to speculations that the government is planning to introduce a bill on "One Nation, One Election".

The concept refers to holding simultaneous polls across the country. The proposal is to conduct elections for Lok Sabha and all state assemblies at the same time. In India, the general elections to elect the members of Parliament and state assembly polls are held separately when the tenure of the incumbent government comes to an end or it gets dissolved for some reason.

The Positives

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been advocating the One Nation, One Election idea for a long time now. In fact, it was one of the components of the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha Polls.

The supporters of 'One Nation One Election' often underline that once implemented, it would bring down the overall expenditure on the electoral process. With so many states, there's always an election in some or the other part of the country, leading to excessive expenditure in the process both by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and contestants.

Another argument favouring the One Nation One Election is that it will lead to a more efficient administration. During elections, the entire state machinery focuses on conducting a free and fair electoral process, which impacts the everyday administration because officials are engaged in polling duties. Simultaneous elections will likely boost voter turnout, making it convenient for the electorate to cast the ballot at once.

The idea of One Nation, One Election is expected to bring consistency and continuity in policies and programmes of the Central government and states. During the Lok Sabha polls, once the model code of conduct is enforced, no state can launch new projects or schemes until the polls are concluded.  

Challenges

The biggest challenge in the way of the 'One Nation One election' is to sync the terms of the various state legislative assemblies with those of Lok Sabha. There is also no clarity on dealing with situations like midterm polls or the President's rule in case any party fails to get the majority. Regional political parties argue that having the two elections simultaneously would hamper their prospects because they won't be able to highlight local issues prominently. Furthermore, they fear they can't compete with national parties in money and election strategies either.