Mains Practice Questions

Approach

• Introduce the answer by defining One Nation One Election
• Highlight the advantages of One Nation One Election
• Delve into its disadvantages
• Conclude in balanced manner

Introduction

The concept of "One Nation, One Election" involves holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and local bodies across the country.

• This concept has been widely discussed recently, leading to the establishment of a high-level Committee on Simultaneous Elections in September 2023.

Body

Potential Advantages and Disadvantages of Simultaneous Elections:

• Advantages:
  • Cost-effectiveness: According to estimates, the cost of holding general elections to the Lok Sabha alone is around ₹4,000 crore.
    • Conducting multiple elections at different intervals substantially increases the overall expenditure.
    • Holding simultaneous elections could lead to significant cost savings for the government and political parties.
  • Efficient Utilization of resources: Simultaneous elections would optimize the deployment of administrative machinery, paramilitary forces, and other resources required for conducting elections.
    • This would prevent disruptions in governance and administrative efficiency caused by frequent elections.
  • Reduction in the Campaign Mode: Under the current system, political parties and leaders remain in a perpetual campaign mode due to frequent elections, hindering policy-making and governance.
    • Simultaneous elections could provide a relatively longer period of stable governance without electoral distractions.
  • Social Cohesion: High-stake elections each year in various states often lead to polarizing campaigns by political parties, exacerbating social divisions along religious, linguistic, and regional lines.
    • Simultaneous elections could potentially reduce the frequency of such divisive campaigns, promoting greater social cohesion.
  • Voter Fatigue Mitigation: Frequent elections can lead to voter fatigue, potentially resulting in lower turnouts and diminished participation in the democratic process.
    • Simultaneous elections could help mitigate this issue, fostering greater engagement from the electorate.
• Disadvantages:
  • Compromise on Federal Principles: India is a diverse federal country with states having unique regional and local issues.
    • Simultaneous elections could overshadow these specific concerns, giving an advantage to national political parties over regional parties, potentially undermining the federal structure.
  • May Not be so Cost Effective: Various estimates by the Election Commission show that the costs of conducting all State and parliamentary elections in a five-year cycle work out to the equivalent of Rs. 10 per voter per year.
    • In the short term, simultaneous elections will increase the costs for deploying far larger numbers of EVMs and VVPATs.
  • Constitutional Challenges: The Law Commission, under Justice B. S. Chauhan, reported that simultaneous elections are not feasible within the existing constitutional framework.
    • Implementing simultaneous elections would require significant constitutional amendments, particularly to Articles 83, 85, 172, 174, and 356, which deal with the duration and dissolution of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
    • Such amendments could have far-reaching implications for the parliamentary democratic system.
  • Vulnerability to Systemic Failures: In the current system, even if one state or region faces logistical or security issues during elections, the remaining states can proceed with the process.
    • However, in the case of simultaneous elections, any significant systemic failure or disruption could potentially jeopardize the entire electoral exercise, raising concerns about the resilience of the system.

Conclusion

Any decision on implementing "One Nation, One Election" should be based on extensive consultations with all stakeholders to ensure that the principles of federalism, democracy, and constitutional propriety are upheld while reaping the potential benefits of simultaneous elections.