Cabinet clears ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal; government seeks to build consensus
- In Reports
- 07:06 PM, Sep 18, 2024
- Myind Staff
The Narendra Modi Cabinet yesterday cleared a proposal for "one nation, one election". The plan seeks to bring national and state elections under the same time bracket. According to India's government, this will save on election costs and ensure a smoother voting process in India, the world's largest democracy.
Government sources stated that the Centre is eager to forge an agreement before introducing the bill in the House, despite rumours that it might be introduced during Parliament's winter session. There is no pressure on the government to introduce "one nation, one poll" (ONOP) as a bill by the end of the winter session, the sources stated.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that India is moving towards major electoral reforms, as the Union Cabinet has approved the recommendations of a high-level committee on "One Nation, One Election".
In his post on X, Shah wrote, “Bharat has been witnessing transformative reforms. Today, in this direction, Bharat takes a giant stride towards landmark electoral reforms with the Union Cabinet accepting the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on One Nation One Election. This reflects Modi Ji’s iron will to bolster our democracy through clean and financially efficient elections and accelerate economic growth through more productive allocation of resources.”
Meanwhile, the opposition hit back at the government. Criticising the One Nation, one Election move, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We don’t stand with this. One nation, One election cannot work in a democracy. Elections need to be held as and when required if we want our democracy to survive.” The bill will be defeated on the House floor, added the party spokesperson Manickam Tagore.
Congress ally, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), emphasised that his party would expose the "flaws" of the proposal and accused the government of failing to recognise the nation's priorities. Additionally, the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) stated that the government ought to clarify how enacting ONOP would benefit the nation as they were "confused" about the matter.
Parliamentarian Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress attacked the central government, stating, "One nation, one election is just another cheap stunt from the anti-democratic BJP."
Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), wrote on X, saying, "I have consistently opposed #OneNationOneElections because it is a solution in search of a problem. It undermines federalism and jeopardises democracy, both of which are essential components of the constitution”.
Under ONOP, election expenses would be reduced, and the logistical challenges of conducting a national election in a nation with 28 states and 8 Union Territories would be mitigated, the BJP emphasised. For its stance on the proposal, the BJP also referred to the Congress as "desh virodhi" (against the nation). According to sources close to Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), Nitish Kumar, the party's leader, "has always been in favour" of ONOP. Support for the initiative was expressed by the BJP ally.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw declared that the government would carry out the One Nation, One Poll, or ONOP plan. There will be two phases to this: in the first, state and Lok Sabha elections will be held concurrently, and in the second, local body elections, including those for municipalities and panchayats, will be held within a hundred days of the general elections. Additionally, all elections will use the same electoral roll, and a special group will be established to provide better oversight during its implementation.
The Kovind committee, which also held in-depth discussions on the matter, had suggested a two-stage implementation and called for the creation of such a group. The Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Trinamool Congress, the AIMIM, and the Samajwadi Party, among others, opposed the proposal in their discussions with the panel. 47 political parties responded, 32 of them saying they were in favour of simultaneous elections and 15 saying they weren't.
The idea of "one nation, one election" was first mooted in the 1980s. The Justice BP Jeevan Reddy-headed Law Commission said in its 170th Report in May 1999 that "we must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once". In 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967 Lok Sabha and the state assemblies were elected together. However, because of the premature dissolution of assemblies, the cycle of state assemblies was broken. The Lok Sabha also suffered the same fate when it was prematurely dissolved in 1970.
Image source: Telangana NavaNirmana Sena
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