Cabinet clears two Bills to kickstart simultaneous polls, focus first on Lok Sabha and State Assemblies

A top source in the government said there would be “extensive deliberations” on the Bill both inside and outside Parliament. Apart from the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the ruling BJP will also conduct an awareness campaign over the idea of ‘one nation one election’.

On Thursday, the Union Cabinet did not consider any draft legislation to align local panchayat and municipal polls with Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. This indicates that the Centre has opted for a step-by-step implementation of simultaneous elections.

At the meeting, the focus was solely on aligning national parliamentary (Lok Sabha) and state assembly elections, leaving local elections (panchayat and municipal) for a later phase. This approach aligns with the first phase of recommendations made by the Kovind Committee in March. The committee had proposed a two-stage process: first, combining national and state elections, followed by local body elections within 100 days of the combined polls.

The Bills to hold simultaneous polls for all state and UT assemblies along with parliamentary elections can be passed by Parliament without consultation with state governments or ratification by state assemblies. However, if the government introduces a Bill to align local body polls or create a Single Electoral Roll through the Election Commission of India (ECI), it would require ratification by at least half of the state legislatures before being enacted.

The Kovind panel had recommended a “one-time transitory measure” to facilitate the shift to simultaneous polls. This would involve identifying an “appointed date,” defined as “the date of the first sitting of the House of the People after a general election.” All state assemblies going to polls after this “appointed date” would have their terms synchronized with the Lok Sabha, thereby aligning electoral cycles at the central and state levels.

Given that the first sitting of Parliament after this year’s Lok Sabha elections has already taken place and that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra are also complete, it remains unclear how the Bills will address the terms of these newly-elected assemblies to align them with others.

Formed in September last year, the Kovind Committee conducted extensive consultations with stakeholders, including political parties, before submitting its report to President Droupadi Murmu on March 14. Of the 47 political parties that submitted their views, 32 supported the proposal, while Opposition parties, including the Congress, raised strong objections.

Apart from NDA constituents, other supporters of the plan included the BJD, Akali Dal, and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party. Opposition parties such as the Congress, AAP, DMK, CPI, CPM, BSP, TMC, and SP were among those who opposed it.

Despite the BJP’s reduced tally in the Lok Sabha, the NDA government has reiterated its commitment to implementing simultaneous polls.

BJP leaders pointed out that ‘One Nation, One Election’ has “always been among the top priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government,” and their return to power for a third consecutive term has emboldened the government to push for its implementation in the first year of the new term. Sources said both the party and the government have been “encouraged” by their stunning victories in the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.

Sanjay Jaiswal, Chief Whip of the BJP, said the idea is to ensure governance runs smoothly. “The Bill is important for the nation. Every three months, we have an election, and the efficiency of the government decreases by 50 percent. Even if a particular state is not having elections, senior officials from those states are called for duties in election-bound states. Everyone gets busy with elections. By implementing ‘One Nation, One Election,’ governance can take place peacefully for more than four and a half years,” Jaiswal told The Indian Express.

Jaiswal also pointed out that independent India initially had simultaneous elections. “It was the system until 1971. The idea was coined by our forefathers, the founders of the Constitution, but it got interrupted in the 1970s. We are now going back to the practice we had when the Constitution was first implemented,” he added.