One Nation One Election gets Cabinet approval; bill to be introduced in Parliament winter session

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the implementation of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ in India. The decision follows the presentation of a comprehensive report by a high-level committee on the proposal. The bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament during the upcoming winter session.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the Union Cabinet has unanimously accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee on ‘One Nation, One Election’.

Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Vaishnaw said, “Elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of States were mostly held simultaneously from 1951-52 to 1967. ”

Citing the Law Commission report, Ashwini Vaishnaw said the criminal justice system suffers due to multiple elections being held in a year. He said several policemen and other security personnel are deployed in areas where elections are held, thereby causing a scarcity of manpower to handle the law and order situation.

Vaishnaw also noted that multiple election process hinders smoother development in terms of infrastructure.

The panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind had submitted the report in March ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha elections.

Placing the report before the Cabinet was a part of the law ministry's 110-day agenda.

The high-level committee had recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. The Panel had recommended a 2-phase polls to be conducted inn India.

The panel for ‘One Nation, One Elections’ had also proposed setting up of an 'Implementation Group' to look into the execution of the recommendations made by the committee.

The panel also recommended the preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in consultation with state election authorities.

At present, the ECI is responsible for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, while the local body polls for municipalities and panchayats are managed by state election commissions.

According to a PTI report, the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of government -- the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies and local bodies like municipalities and panchayats -- starting with 2029 and a provision for a unity government in cases like hung House.

The Law Commission, in its 170th Report on Reforms of the Electoral Laws in 1999, observed, “This cycle of elections every year, and in the out of season, should be put an end to. We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once."