Introduction
India, being the world's largest democracy, has a very elaborate form of an electoral system where in at every five yearly intervals, its citizens elect their representatives at three levels, namely as the national or Lok Sabha level, the state or Vidhan Sabha level, and the local bodies consisting of Panchayats and Municipal Corporations. Elections in India happen just about every year since such bodies have variable tenures. As holding simultaneous elections, popularly known as One Nation, One Election has emerged as one of the hot topics of recent times. The paper explores conceptual initiation, rationale, benefits, and challenges that the idea of One Nation, One Election faces, coupled with its larger implications for Indian democracy.
One Nation, One Election
The concept of One Nation, One Election now advocates holding, together and preferably on a single day or within a specific period, elections to the Lok Sabha, the House of People, along with all state legislative assemblies (Vidhan Sabhas). Elections would no longer be held according to different times in different states; instead, all elections that happen in India, both national and state, would fall on the same day. Also, India presently follows a staggered electoral calendar whereby different state assemblies go to polls at different times in view of the five-year cycle. In the same way the elections to the Lok Sabha are held every five years, but state and national elections are hardly recognized. The best example is when the national elections may take place in 2024, state elections in certain States would fall in 2023 or 2025. Emerging India this always keeps the country in permanent electioneering mode with some part of India voting nearly every year.
Historical Background:
Simultaneous elections are not some new thing which India is trying to introduce. Firstly the historical background starts from the first four general elections which were held in 1952, 1957, 1962, and 1967 and they were held simultaneously for both the Lok Sabha as well as for the State Assemblies. But the pattern was breached in 1968 to 1969 when several legislative assemblies were dissolved prematurely leading to mid-term elections. The subsequent decades, as the political alignments, defections, and imposition of President's Rule in the states took place, the electoral cycles came out of joint vis-a-vis that of the Center.
The rationale behind One Nation, One Election The demand for this is for stems from a few critical issues related to the current electoral system of India:
Cost of Conducting Elections:
Elections in India are a huge organizational thing which takes time as well as money and it is not financially stable. The Election Commission of India spends huge amounts in conducting elections all over the country. More elections translate to multiple deployments of security forces, election personnel, and all other resources associated with the exercise. To be sure, simultaneous elections may save billions in public expenditure.
Frequent Interruptions in Governance: During any election, it is very common to forcibly apply the Model Code of Conduct upon all. The immediate aftermath, therefore, bypasses the announcement of any new policy or even the government starting a project so as not to give an undue advantage over other candidates. Thus, with frequent elections, governance ponying between state and national level is usually crippled as the governments become busier campaigning rather than governing.
Election Fatigue:
Both citizens and political parties suffer from election fatigue due to the almost nonstop electoral cycle. Since each state has a schedule of elections, politicians and parties are always on the campaign trail, which withdraws time from governing.
Uniformity of Voter Comportment:
The comportment of One Nation One Election might be uniform as far as the voter is concerned. The voters frequently vote in a different manner in state and national elections, which makes it hard to determine the national sentiment at any point in time. Simultaneous elections may lead to a more coherent electoral verdict.
Better Utilization of Resources:
Holding elections together could make the process smoother with resources like EVMs, polling staff, and security forces used in a far more efficient manner.
Merits and Demerits of One Nation, One Election
Economy in Costs:
According to estimates, elections are costing the exchequer an awful lot of thousands of crores. Simultaneous elections would most definitely reduce such costs since the resources like EVMs, security personnel, and administrative infrastructure are utilized in a far more judicious manner. Instead of having fragmented elections, ONOE could integrate all this into one comprehensive and full election cycle.
Smooth functioning of Governance:
Since both elections would be conducted jointly, the MCC would be implemented only once in five years. It would ensure smoother and continuity in governance. It would allow the central and state governments to take strategic decisions for the long term without bothering that election cycles would prompt the other governments to intervene in policy implementation.
Less Politicization of Issues:
Frequent elections tend to see populist and short-term measures as governments seek to appease voters in time to sit before the polls. With ONOE, house parties will have a more stable five-year period in which to focus on long- term governance rather than constant campaigning.
Increased Voter Turnout:
Some argue that simultaneous elections might lead to further voter turnout. It could turn out in favor of higher degrees of participation due to the fact that voters would have the distinctions focused on only once during five years, instead of repeatedly for different elections. At present, the voter turnout for Lok Sabha elections is higher than that for state elections.
Strength and Federalism:
This could also strengthen the federal structure of this country by aligning state and national elections and creating a sense of political unity. Some even believe that this may lead to a more integrated and coherent governance at both the state and national levels.
Obstacles and Issues with One Nation, One Election Despite some potential gains from the concept of ONOE, there is quite significant practical and constitutional issues that will arise upon its implementation.
Issues and Amendments
Federalism Problems:
Perhaps the most crucial objection to ONOE is the impact it may have on the federal character of Indian democracy. India is essentially a union of states in such a manner that every state has its own government, which is direct and answerable to the people of that state. Simultaneous elections may blur the lines of demarcation between state and national issues, corroding the autonomously occurring state governments. Voters may focus entirely on the state-level issues and not on the state governments' performance, which will corrode the significance of local governance.
Logistical Issues:
India is too vast and diverse to conduct simultaneous elections in one go because it has more than 900 million eligible voters across 29 states and union territories and this will be a huge managerial issue for the Election Commission with regard to coordinating elections across all these regions, providing enough EVMs, polling booths, security personnel, and enough election officials for the general elections without any glitches. Premature dissolution of assemblies or Parliament is yet another important challenge with ONOE: What happens if a state government or the national government falls before completing its five-year term? Under the prevailing system, midterm elections are held in such cases. However, if these were simultaneous elections, this could create complications in keeping the cycle going. Would midterm elections be avoided? How, if at all, would the states or the national government operate without an elected government?
Effects on Voter Behavior:
Some are concerned that concurrent elections could have an impact on voter behavior in ways that may distort the results of state elections. National issues and personalities might crowd out the political agenda and cause voters to neglect state issues and candidates. This would have the effect of making the state governments less responsive which could translate into issues of politics across India becoming generic.
- Constitutional Amendments: The adoption process of ONOE is so extensive that it requires a series of constitutional amendments. The terms of the state legislatures and Parliament have to be coordinated, which would call for amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951 along with other such laws. The process might be long and politically contentious.
- Political Opposition: Even political parties, especially regional parties, have opposed the idea of ONOE as they feel that broad elections would one day be a disadvantage to them as regional issues might be belabored in depth, and on such days, such issues tend to take a back seat. Most regional elections have been won due to localized issues, and the parties fear that ONOE would dilute their strength, with power resting in more central parties.
- One Nation, One Election: Government big push the Narendra Modi government has been at the forefront of pushing ONOE. Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly called for a national debate on the issue, citing the advantages of less electoral expenses and disruption of governance. Even the Law Commission of India, in its 2018 report, recommended holding simultaneous elections but with certain conditions. Recently, in 2023, the government of India even established a committee led by former President Ram Nath Govind to examine the possibility of doing ONOE. It asked the committee to study the constitutionality and logistics part of the concept and to propose a framework for its implementation.
Global Examples of Simultaneous Elections There are many parts of the world where simultaneous elections occur. Countries like Sweden, South Africa and Belgium conduct national and local elections on the same day. While each of the above examples is, of course, conducted in contexts different from India's - political, social or economic - they do demonstrate that simultaneous elections are neither a new nor untried idea.
Conclusion
The suggestion of One Nation, One Election represents an ambitious and complex proposition that has thrown up a national debate in India. While promising savings in terms of costs, stability of governance, and reducing the fatigue of the electoral cycle, it faces issues pertaining to logistics, federalism, and voter behavior. Equilibrium on these conflicting parameters is essential for deciding whether ONOE can be feasibly implemented as useful in strengthening Indian democracy. Further evolution as a democracy, India will, for sure, see greater debate and discussion around ONOE. For the time being, the idea is still in its infancy and surely requires a long-drawn discussion, deliberations, studies, and consensus among political parties and states before any concrete steps are taken. Only time will reveal if India takes a leap.