One Nation, One Election: Highlights of the Kovind panel’s recommendations

What is meant by simultaneous elections?

Simultaneous elections, popularly referred to as “One Nation, One Election”, means holding elections to Lok Sabha, all state Legislative Assemblies, and urban and rural local bodies (municipalities and panchayats) at the same time.

Currently, all these elections are held independently of one another, following timelines dictated by the terms of every individual elected body.

Is this the first time that simultaneous elections are proposed to be held in India?

No. Following efforts made by the central government, state governments, and political parties along with the Election Commission of India, simultaneous elections were held in the seven states of Bihar, Bombay, Madras, Mysore, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal in 1957.

Simultaneous elections were by and large in vogue until the fourth general elections of 1967. However, as successive central governments used constitutional provisions to dismiss state governments before the end of their term, and as coalition governments in the states and the Centre kept collapsing, a country came to see elections at different times through the year.

According to the HLC report, the country now sees five to six elections in a year — if municipalities and panchayat elections are also included, the number of elections will increase manifold.

So what is the need for holding simultaneous elections?

There has been discussions on this issue in various public for a, especially since 2014, when the current government came to power, and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw his weight behind the idea.

The government’s FAQs list the following reasons in favour of holding simultaneous elections:

(i) Frequent elections burden the government exchequer with additional expenditure. If the expenditure incurred by political parties is also added, these figures will be even higher.

(ii) Asynchronous elections cause uncertainty and instability, thwarting supply chains, business investments and economic growth.

(iii) Disruption of government machinery due to asynchronous elections causes hardship to citizens.

(iv) Frequent use of government officials and security forces adversely affect discharge of their duties.

(v) Frequent imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) causes policy paralysis and slows down the pace of the developmental programmes.

(vi) Staggered elections induce ‘voters’ fatigue’ and present a significant challenge in ensuring their participation.

Who took up the job of studying this issue?

The HLC, popularly known as the Kovind panel after its chairman, former President Ram Nath Kovind, was constituted in September 2023, to go into the issue. The panel had as its members Home Minister Amit Shah, former Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N K Singh, Senior Advocate Harish Salve, and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal was a Special Invitee to the Committee.

The Kovind panel held a total of 65 meetings at Jodhpur Officer’s Hostel in New Delhi. The final meeting was held on March 10. The committee referred to a number of reports and studies, and met a wide range of stakeholders.

What has the committee recommended?

According to the FAQs, the committee has made the following recommendations:

(i) AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION: The Constitution should be amended to enable simultaneous elections in two steps.

In the first step, simultaneous elections will be held to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. For this, no ratification by the states will be required for the constitutional amendment.

In the second step, elections to municipalities and the panchayats will be synchronised with elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies in such a way that local body elections are held within 100 days of the elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. This will require ratification by not less than one-half of the states.

(ii) SINGLE ELECTORAL ROLL AND ELECTION ID: For the purpose of preparation of single electoral roll and electoral photo identity cards for use in elections to all the three tiers of government, the Constitution should be amended, so that the Election Commission of India can prepare a single electoral roll and election ID in consultation with the State Election Commissions. These amendments will require ratification by not less than one-half of the states.

(iii) IN CASE OF HUNG HOUSE, ETC.: In the event of a hung House, a no-confidence motion, or any such event, fresh elections should be held to constitute the new Lok Sabha or state Assembly for the unexpired term of the House.

(iv) MEETING LOGISTICS REQUIREMENTS: The committee has recommended that for meeting logistical requirements, the Election Commission of India will plan and estimate in advance, in consultation with the State Election Commissions, and take steps for the deployment of manpower, polling personnel, security forces, EVMs/VVPATs, etc., so that free and fair simultaneous elections are held in all the three tiers of the government.