The Journey of One Nation - One Election

ONE NATION - ONE ELECTION

The bill for ONOE (One Nation - One Election) has been passed in the Loksabha. 

There is no need to explain the importance of elections in democracy. They are the vital step in sustaining democracy and the way they are conducted demonstrates the health of democracy. 

What does this mean for the common man? This means that India has moved one step ahead in implementing ONOE. So, what is ONOE?

To answer this, we have to look at the type of elections being conducted in India for electing legislative bodies. ECI conducts elections for three types of legislative bodies. They are: 

1. Local bodies - Panchayats and Municipalities.

2. State Legislative Assemblies.

3. Parliament  (Lok Sabha or House of People).

As we all know, we are having elections for these bodies at different times. 

ONOE proposes to conduct elections for all three types of legislative bodies simultaneously and not at different times. This clearly doesn't mean that the whole nation is going to vote on a single day. For a huge country like India with a nearly 96 crore voter base, the only way to conduct elections is in multiple phases. Then what is the change with ONOE and how far is that feasible for a country like India?

As mentioned above, ONOE proposes simultaneous elections for local bodies, state legislative assemblies and Lok Sabha. There will be three EVMs in the same booth and we vote for a corporator, an MLA and an MP simultaneously.

So, why are we looking at this aspect of elections after 77 years of independence and 75 years of implementing the Constitution? Didn't we (Indians) discuss this at the time of drafting the Constitution or in subsequent periods till now?

The answer is, yes, the debate on ONOE raised multiple times in the past. Let's look at them. 

Going back to the days of drafting our Constitution, our constituent assembly didn't discuss ONOE especially. However, the deliberations on Article 298 of the draft constitution about the need for a permanent election commission suggest that the discussion didn't come for a reason. 

The members of the constituent assembly already concluded the discussions about the consequences of dissolving a state assembly in the middle of the term. In such an event, the state in question or the country will go into governor or president rule and for an interim election. So, the members of the constituent assembly opined that conducting elections for all three legislative bodies is not possible. Hence, they stressed the need for a permanent election commission.

This makes it clear that the constitution drafting committee didn't vote for ONOE. 

So, didn't we have simultaneous elections at any time in the past 75 years? The answer is yes. 

Elections for state legislative assemblies and Lok Sabha happened simultaneously in 1952, 1957, 1962 & 1967. The flow got disrupted as some state assemblies were dissolved in 1968 and the Lok Sabha was also dissolved prematurely in 1971. From then onwards, we are conducting elections for states and LS as and when they complete the term of 5 years or when they are dissolved.

Didn't we try to set the order again? The answer is No. But there are certain recommendations Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Law Commission of India (LCI) from time to time.

ECI mentioned the phrase "simultaneous elections" in 1983, in its first annual report. LCI, in its 170th report, in 1999, about a report on electoral reforms stated that conducting elections for state assemblies separately should be considered as an exception and not as a rule.

Again, in 2002, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) emphasized the need to streamline the election process and even suggested ways to handle hung and no-confidence scenarios in state assemblies.

As the government changed in 2004, the matter was kept aside and was brought to the forefront in 2015. In 2015, the Parliamentary Standing Committee proposed simultaneous elections. Subsequently, on 16th April 2018, GOI (Govt of India) asked LCI to conduct a preliminary study and identify the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections (One Nation – One Election).

On 30th August 2018, LCI submitted the preliminary study report and recommendations for the implementation of simultaneous elections.

In its report, LCI emphasized certain reasons for recommending ONOE:

1. It reduces the need to be in a constant election mode for the nation.
2. When there are simultaneous elections, the expenditure for the elections can be split between the centre and states.
3. It reduces the repetitive costs of logistical issues like setting up voting booths, maintaining security for elections, and managing human and technical resources (EVMs and other equipment).
4. It reduces the administrative delays in funding and approval of new projects for states and constituencies where elections occur.

So, with all these benefits, are we ready to implement ONOE? The answer is NO.

There are certain articles in the Constitution, Acts, and Laws to be amended to transform the existing election and legislative procedure to handle emergency situations and to suit the proposed simultaneous elections.

As per my understanding from various documents and the Constitution of India, the following articles need to be amended:

Articles 83 and 172 of the Indian Constitution mention the maximum duration of Parliament or state assembly as five years unless sooner dissolved.

Articles 85(1) and 174(1) – deal with sessions, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament and state assemblies.

Articles 75(3) and 164(2) state that the Council of Ministers will be in power till the time they enjoy the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House(s).

The tenth schedule of the Indian constitution deals with the disqualification of members of the house/assembly on the grounds of defection.

Article 243U deals with the elections, duration of municipalities and duration of newly constituted municipalities on their premature dissolution.

Article 326 – Voting rights.

Article 327 – Power of Parliament to amend laws about the conduct of elections to legislatures and the Representation of People Act, 1950.

Article 328 – Power of state assembly wherever there are no laws by the Parliament.

Part XVIII – emergency provisions.

Does India need to explore and innovate methods to handle all the above amendments? The answer is yes and no. 

Yes, India needs to study certain things that are specific to its geography, demographics, and election procedures.

Since India is not alone or the first country to implement ONOE, India can learn certain things from countries like South Africa, Sweden, Belgium, Indonesia, Germany, the Philippines, Brazil, Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. 

So, where are we in the journey of ONOE?

We are still not even in the middle of implementing ONOE. Till now, the matter has been handled very carefully and critically by ECI and LCI in identifying the benefits and hurdles. Now, the matter is with the states and central legislature (Parliament). They have to facilitate and handle the amendments of various articles, laws and acts to create a proper framework for the implementation of ONOE.

As common citizens, we have to watch carefully for meaningful discourses on this matter and hope that any amendment and change make our democracy more vibrant, strong and mature.