Even in a competitive democracy where political rivals joust fiercely and yet maintain a semblance of informed and civil discourse, it is a difficult task to push through legislation on contentious issues. When a competitive democracy becomes deeply polarised, to the extent that civil discourse is replaced by bitterness, abuse and mistrust, legislation of any kind becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible. At this point in time, the planned law on One Nation, One Election (ONOE) could become a victim of such a situation.
There could be competing views on the need for ONOE and its impact on polity in a federal democracy like India. But in the absence of sagacity and pragmatism, hyperbole, rhetoric and polemics have ended up destroying both the discourse and the process of legislation for an amendment for simultaneous elections that the NDA regime proposed during the “washed out” winter session of the Parliament. As expected, the Bill has been referred to a select committee. It is anybody's guess whether the NDA regime will manage to cobble together a two-thirds majority of “present” members to be able to pass the Bill.
No Time To Govern
However, what about the idea of ONOE? On the face of it, there is some merit to the argument in favour of simultaneous elections. There can be no dispute that the political landscape in India is littered with elections the way the Indian calendar is littered with festivals. Look at what has happened over the last year. There were elections to state assemblies in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Soon after that came the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. When political parties, voters and analysts had barely even begun to digest the import of the verdict, assembly elections became due in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir (after a gap of 10 years). Even before one could delve deeper into the surprise verdicts, elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand were announced. Just as India starts the new year in 2025, elections to the Delhi assembly will be announced. For Indian voters, pollsters, pundits and assorted debaters alike, the year 2025 will be a relatively dull year as only Bihar will go for elections towards the end of the year. But 2026 will see a flurry, with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam being the major states that will elect new governments. That will be followed in 2027 by shenanigans in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and some others. There will be another series of assembly elections soon after, and then the 2029 Lok Sabha elections will be due before you can pause to take a breath.
This is clearly not a healthy situation. National-level parties are perpetually in campaign mode because of this never-ending stream of assembly elections. Purely regional parties don't suffer as much as their footprint normally doesn't extend beyond one state. For instance, Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK chief M. K. Stalin and his son-cum-inheritor Udaynidhi Stalin couldn't care much about elections to West Bengal and Assam, which will be held along with Tamil Nadu in 2026. Perhaps even neighbouring Kerala won't be too important for them.
A Case For ONOE
Yet, there is an impact on governance because elections mean the Model Code of Conduct, a period when policy decisions are paralysed. In a rapidly changing and evolving geopolitical scenario, this doesn't augur well. Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the centre, it cannot announce significant policy decisions in 2026 as they could impact voter behaviour in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam. Any window for serious governance and policymaking would be brief because soon it would be time for elections in Uttar Pradesh et al. Besides, there is the issue of costs, the diversion of human and other resources for the conduct of elections, and the question of organising paramilitary forces every few months.
These factors do suggest that there is a case for simultaneous elections. On the other hand, what could be the reasons that present a case against it? There are some who argue that a single burst of elections to Parliament and all the state assemblies would give an unfair advantage to resource-rich national parties like the BJP, which would outgun and steamroll opponents who can't match its resources, particularly at the regional level. That's simply not true. The year 1967 was the last time India saw simultaneous polls. Even then, while Indira Gandhi led the Congress to a victory in the Lok Sabha, she lost about 10 states to various opposition groups and alliances. Even in contemporary times, the Narendra Modi-led BJP has won massive victories in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections, to be followed soon by massive victories for the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in assembly elections. The Indian voter is astute and knows how to distinguish between national and local issues. In any case, many regional parties have publicly announced their support for ONOE.
Give And Take
The problem is not the idea but the deeply divisive and polarised nature of Indian politics. The Janata Dal (United) (JD-U), an NDA ally, is in favour of simultaneous polls. On the other hand, its rival, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is also largely confined to Bihar, is fiercely opposed to it. Both support and opposition don't seem to stem from merits but from political divide and a deep mistrust. The manner in which the recent winter session of the Parliament was conducted reveals how bitter and deep this gulf is. In such a situation, it would take an extraordinary level of pragmatic give-and-take politics to make ONOE a reality.
It is possible, the contentious GST Bill was passed in 2017 despite deep divisions. But for the sake of pragmatism, the authors would suggest two solutions. First, start with One Nation, Two Elections, wherein assembly elections are divided into two separate bunches. Second, and more important, the government should seriously consider a law that would enable referendums in India, as held in other major democracies. Why not have a national vote where citizens deliver a verdict on ONOE and other major issues?
(Yashwant Deshmukh is the Founder & Editor-in-Chief of CVoter Foundation and Sutanu Guru is Executive Director)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
