‘One Nation, One Election‘ Kovind-led Panel Recommends Cutting Short State Assemblies’ Term to Synchronize With Lok Sabha Term.
Ramnath Kovind Committee has submitted the draft of ‘One nation, One Election’ to the President. It is claimed that in this draft the committee has proposed to hold simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies in the country in 2029. It has been suggested to hold Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections in the first phase and municipal corporation level elections in the second phase.
The eight-member committee submitted its 18,626 page-long report to President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday morning, outlining a phased approach to synchronise elections, beginning first with Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and following up with local body polls within 100 days.
But this historic change in the country’s politics will be possible only when the present government i.e. Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to power with two-thirds majority. Also, there is a constitutional obligation that before implementing this law, it will have to be passed by the assemblies of at least half the states of the country. Probably this is the reason why BJP is continuously aiming to win 370 seats for itself and 400 seats for NDA, so that there is no problem in passing this bill in the Parliament after the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
According to political analyst Sanjay Sharma, all the opposition parties including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal are alleging that the government wants to make major changes in the Constitution by getting a bigger public opinion. To get the support of the public, they are alleging that the government wants to end reservation. But now it has become clear that the government is moving ahead with the aim of major changes.
Looking at the commitment of Modi or the government towards Dalits and tribals, it would not be right to say that it can even think of ending the system like reservation.
#WATCH | On ‘One Nation, One Election’, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge says, “How can there be One Nation, One Election when the current regime is not accepting the people’s mandate? Also, it’s completely against the spirit of decentralisation of the panchayats and everything… pic.twitter.com/PQNnQNBX3n
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2024
He said that it should be understood that this is not a new agenda of BJP. Its leaders have already been talking about one country, one election. His reasoning behind this was to save the country from frequent elections and to make economic savings. There may be reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with this. But the truth is that many analysts consider this idea appropriate for the country’s economy and development.
‘One Nation, One Election’ -‘The government is aiming for big changes’
According to Sanjay Sharma, this will be a big change for the country. The people of the country will have to be mentally prepared for this. Also, the success of any such major change depends on the support of the opposition. In such a situation, the government will have to bring it along also. By discussing with all the parties before implementing any major decision, all the apprehensions being expressed regarding it later get eliminated. In such a situation, the government will have to understand the need to bring everyone together or at least discuss before taking any big step.
Political analyst Dhirendra Kumar said that before implementing such a system, these questions will have to be considered that if a government falls in between, then how will a new government be formed in its place. If he is elected, will he be for five years, or for the remaining five years? Even at present, if a by-election is held after the resignation of an MP-MLA, the new public representative is elected only for the remaining term. Such questions have to be considered.
Dhirendra Kumar said that if it is decided to hold elections for all the assemblies simultaneously in 2029, then it may bring opposition from those states where there are opposition governments, but at that time their tenure was only for one or two years. In such a situation, it will be difficult for them to agree to this big change. But since this will be a big change and this step will be in the national interest, the government should try to get everyone’s consent for this.