Context: The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced to implement “One Nation One Election,” have been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for detailed examination.
Constitutional and Legal Provisions at Stake
- Article 83 and Article 172 fix five-year terms for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies respectively, ONOE requires amending both.
- Article 356 (President’s Rule) and Article 85 (dissolution of Lok Sabha) create scenarios where simultaneous elections can break down mid-cycle.
- Implementation requires constitutional amendments under Articles 368, along with ratification by at least half of the state legislatures, a demanding political threshold.
- Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule) and the Representation of the People Act would also require corresponding amendments.
Arguments in Favour
- Massive cost reduction: India spends thousands of crores per election cycle; simultaneous polls would sharply reduce expenditure on security, logistics, and administration.
- Policy continuity: The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) freezes government schemes repeatedly; ONOE would reduce governance disruption caused by perpetual election cycles.
- Reduced burden on security forces: Central forces are repeatedly deployed across states, stretching capacity and diverting them from core duties.
- Voter fatigue reduction: Citizens face elections almost every year across different states, lowering democratic engagement over time.
- Administrative efficiency: Officials are repeatedly diverted for election duty, disrupting routine governance at district and block levels.
Arguments Against
- Federal concerns: Forcing state elections to align with central timelines undermines the independent democratic mandate of state governments.
- Hung Assembly problem: If a state government falls mid-term, either fresh elections or President’s Rule becomes unavoidable, thus both problematic under ONOE design.
- Voter psychology: Simultaneous elections may cause national issues to overshadow local concerns, benefiting larger national parties at the expense of regional ones.
- Logistical challenge: India would need approximately 30 lakh EVMs and VVPATs simultaneously i.e. procurement, storage, and maintenance pose enormous challenges.
- Undermines accountability: Frequent elections, despite their cost, keep governments continuously accountable to citizens between five-year cycles.
Way Forward
- A phased synchronisation approach as recommended by NITI Aayog and the Law Commission as it offers a more constitutionally and politically feasible path than abrupt implementation.
- Broad political consensus is essential before any constitutional amendment is introduced, as the ONOE directly affects the federal balance of power.
- Strengthening EVM infrastructure and Election Commission capacity must precede any attempt at simultaneous national polling.
- A pilot model at the cluster level by synchronising a few proximate states which could generate practical data before nationwide rollout.