Introduction:
On November 26, 2020, the Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi emphasized on the necessity of one election for the entire nation, while virtually addressing the 80th All India Presiding Officers Congress[1]. The phrase ‘One Nation, One Election’ simply means that instead of separate elections for the various Panchayats, State Assemblies, and the House of People, members of these bodies will be elected by the people through a single election. The debate on the applicability of ‘One Nation One Election’ to India is a long-standing one and the Prime Minister’s recent speech has reinforced a need to study this debate.
The scope of this article extends to understanding ‘One Nation One Election’ clearly, exploring examples of other countries where this system is prevalent, and then focusing on the arguments for and against this system in the Indian context and making suggestive conclusions thereof.
What is One Nation One Election?
Presently in India, separate elections are held to elect members for the State Assemblies (Vidhaan Sabhas) and the House of People (Lok Sabha). The tenure of both MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) and MPs (Member of Parliament) is five years after which fresh elections are held for the particular state or the nation on the whole. Though the tenures are similar, there happen to be cases where different states have their respective elections at different times and the general election (Election for the House of People) is also at a different time. Take for instance the case of Rajasthan, which had its elections in 2018, while the general election was in 2019 and Tamil Nadu has its elections upcoming in April-May, 2021.
Through the system of ‘One Nation One Election’ the discrepancies in the election dates are sought to be resolved and the separate costs incurred by both the States and the Centre in conducting different elections are sought to be minimized through one consolidated election[2]. In other words, simultaneous elections can be defined as a process through which “elections to all the three tiers of constitutional institutions take place in a synchronized and coordinated fashion”[3]
One Nation One Election in India: History and Recent Developments
In India, simultaneous elections were held up till 1967, after which the dissolution of a few State Assemblies in the next two years and the subsequent dissolution of the House of People itself three years later led to the conduct of separate elections. Since then, the need to adhere to the system of simultaneous elections was reiterated by the Election Commission (1983 report), the Law Commission (1999 report), and recently, by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its manifesto for the 2014 general elections.
Following one of the Prime Minister’s speeches in 2016 in which he spoke about simultaneous elections, a working paper was prepared by the national think-tank, NITI Aayog in 2017[4]. In 2018 Law Commission published a working paper that recommended five constitutional adjustments that are pre-requisite to make simultaneous elections into a reality.[5] Since the Law Commission’s 2048 draft is more recent, it would be pertinent to study the recommendations made in the report.
Since elections to local bodies fall under the State List, the Law Commission has omitted from taking into consideration these elections within the ambit of ‘simultaneous elections’ and also because the number of these bodies is too large for simultaneous elections to apply to them. The draft report enumerated the Constitutional provisions relating to tenure of members of Legislative Assemblies (Article 172(1)) and the House of People (Article 83(2)); instances where an Assembly or the House is immediately dissolved including no-confidence motion[6], President’s rule, etc.
Furthermore, the report recommended a one-time measure, whereby the states having elections close to the 2019 elections could hold their elections along with the general elections while the remaining states whose election is closer to the 2023 general elections can hold their elections during that time. Another measure suggested which was also not adapted then was that the elections to the State Assemblies of all the States be held along with the 2019 general election and subsequent elections can then be held once every two-and-a-half years, as opposed to the current five-year gap. In order to implement these changes, however, amendments will first have to be made to the relevant Articles of the Constitution of India and also the Representation of People Act, 1951.
To avoid further conflict, the report also recommends that ratification of all the States to these recommendations be made a mandatory pre-requisite before the enforcement of the same commences. In this context, eight recommendations were made in the report which dealt with simultaneous elections and also procedures relating to no-confidence motions, election of Prime Minister or Chief Minister, etc. With regard to simultaneous elections, the primary recommendation made in the report was that ‘Simultaneous elections’ be defined under Section 2 of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
International Examples
The Law Commission’s report identifies that systems of simultaneous elections exist in Belgium, Sweden South Africa, etc.
In Belgium, the federal set-up was obtained between 1970 to 1992. This decentralization led to a change in political strategies of the four major political parties of the country including the Socialists, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, and the FDF, of which the initial three are family-run parties. Along with these changes, a change in the electoral processes was also considered necessary and elections in Belgium have been that way ever since.[7]
The national (election to Riksdag) and the municipal elections in Sweden are conducted together and the Swedish elections are based on a proportional system, whereby each party is given several electoral representatives proportional to their vote share. The Swedish electoral system is also one of the main inspirations behind the inclusion of ‘One Nation One Election’ in the BJP manifesto of the 2014 general election.[8] The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice in its 79th report on ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and the State Legislative Assemblies, which is submitted to the Council of States or Rajya Sabha, also gave the example of the Swedish electoral system as a model for simultaneous elections.[9]
When it comes to South Africa, there is a slight difference in the manner in which the norms of simultaneous election are applied. Akin to the Law Commission’s recommendations, the Municipal elections are not included in the South African elections. The provincial and national elections are simultaneously held while the Municipal elections are held two years after these elections[10].
Arguments for Simultaneous Elections in India
As was pointed out by the Prime Minister in his recent address, the main advantage of holding simultaneous elections is the reduction of costs incurred by the Union Government and also the States in setting up of polling booths, manufacture of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Another advantage is that the ruling party shall focus more on governance instead of its focus shifting to election procedures and ensuring it wins in specific states. The Law Commission report states that voter turnout will be boosted as a result of simultaneous elections as separate elections lead to voters being reluctant to vote, which was the result of a study done by Mr. Csaba Nikolenyi, a Concordia University professor who studied Indian elections[11].[12]
Arguments against Simultaneous Elections in India
The main argument against simultaneous elections in India is that it cannot represent accurately the desires of the voters, as something which may be an issue when seen from a national perspective may not necessarily be one when seen from the state perspective. Another disadvantage is the second side of the aforementioned advantage. While it is true that political parties shift their focus from governance-related issues to electoral procedures, it cannot be denied that focusing on election processes leads to some issues being covered.
When elections are held simultaneously, political parties may not need to continuously be on their foot and this may be disadvantageous to the voters. Presently, the President’s Rule is imposed in a state only when there is a failure of constitutional machinery in the state which leads the Governor to believe that Presidential intervention is necessary. When a Legislative Assembly dissolves but there is no impact on the constitutional machinery, a by-election cannot be held as there would be a disturbance of the synchronization which is an integral part of simultaneous elections.[13]
Conclusion
In Subramanim Balaji v. Govt. of Tamil Nadu and Ors.[14], the Supreme Court observed that frequent elections help political parties to look at issues from a populist instead of a nationalist perspective, thereby ensuring to some extent, governmental action with regard to peoples’ issues. In Common Cause (A Registered Society) v. Union of India and Ors[15], the Supreme Court noted that most parries also use black money during the election proceedings and accordingly issued guidelines for all parties contesting an election with respect to disclosures of assets, etc. Despite these provisions, the issue of black money is still rampant in the country and simultaneous elections necessitating more expenditure may proliferate this issue further. The advantages to simultaneous elections are apparent in the aforementioned foreign countries but there is a huge difference between India and these countries with respect to demographic factors including population count, which in India would be tougher to regulate than in other countries.
In conclusion, elections in India are not merely restricted to voting procedures and subsequent results. Factors such as black money, muscle power used by parties, etc. have also to be kept in mind before proceeding with simultaneous elections as the notion of democracy cannot be defeated in the world’s largest democracy.
References:
[1] Special Correspondent, Narendra Modi pitches for ‘One Nation One Election’, The Hindu (26 Nov., 2020) https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/one-nation-one-election-need-of-india-says-pm-modi/article33183867.ece.
[2] Id.
[3] Bibek Debroy & Kishore Desai, National Institute of Transforming India (NITI Aayog) Analysis of Simultaneous Elections: The “What”, “Why” and “How”, A Discussion Paper 4 (2017) https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/Note%20on%20Simultaneous%20Elections.pdf.
[4] Dr. Justice B. S. Chauhan, Law Commission of India, Public Notice- Subject: Simultaneous Elections- Constitutional and Legal Perspectives 2 (2018) https://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/SE-Summary.pdf.
[5] Supra note 1.
[6] Though nowehere specified in the Constitution, Article 75 implies that the Prime Minister should be supported by the various members of the Lok Sabha, who when dissatisfied with him, therefore can pass a no-confidence motion or can put forward an option to change the government, a system which prevails in Germany. Chauhan, supra note 4.
[7] Joanne Bay Brzinski, Changing Forms of Federalism and Party Electoral Strategies: Belgium and the European Union, 29(1) Publius 54-58 (1999) https://www.jstor.org/stable/3330919.
[8] Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, Sweden inspires India for simultaneous elections, Economic Times (17 Apr., 2018) https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sweden-inspires-india-for-simultaneous-elections/articleshow/63792441.cms.
[9] Parliament of India, Rajya Sabha, 79th report on Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and the State Legislative Assemblies 3 (17 Dec., 2015) http://164.100.47.5/newcommittee/reports/EnglishCommittees/Committee%20on%20Personnel,%20PublicGrievances,%20Law%20and%20Justice/79.pdf.
[10] B. Phani Kumar, Reference Note on Simultaneous Elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies http://164.100.47.193/Refinput/New_Reference_Notes/English/Simultaneous_election_to_Lok_Sabha_and_State_Legislative_Assemblies.pdf.
[11] Law Commission of India, Draft Report on Simultaneous Elections 15 (30 Aug., 2018)https://adrindia.org/sites/default/files/Law_Commission_Draft_Report_Simultaneous_Elections.pdf
[12] Supra note 1.
[13] Id.
[14] 9 SCC 659 (2013).
[15] 2 SCC 752 (1996).
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