ONE NATION ONE ELECTION-Bane or Boon?

“Law is social engineering which means a balance between the competing interests in society” -Roscoe Pound

The concept of “One Nation-One election” or “simultaneous elections” has been a matter of debate for the past several months. To this end, the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill was introduced in Parliament recently. In this article, we will look at what the Bill intends to enact ultimately and weigh the pros and cons of “One Nation-One election”.?

Before delving into the Bill, it is important to keep in mind Articles 83 and 172 of the Indian Constitution.

Article 83(2)?provides,?inter alia, that “The House of the People, unless sooner dissolved,?shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer and the expiration of the said period of five years shall operate as a dissolution of the House”

Article 172(1)?provides, inter alia, that “Every Legislative Assembly of every State, unless sooner dissolved,?shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer and the expiration of the said period of five years shall operate as a dissolution of the Assembly”

Currently therefore, an elected State Legislative Assembly continues for 5 years (unless dissolved earlier) irrespective of whether the Lok Sabha is dissolved or not. ?

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill seeks to introduce a new Article 82A containing sub-articles (1 to 7).?

Article 82A(1)?indicates that the President can bring into force the proposed changes on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha.

Article 82A (2)?says that the terms of all state Assemblies elected after the appointed date and before the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha “shall come to an end on the expiry of the full term of the House of the People”. This means that some Assemblies will have their five-year terms curtailed to pave the way for simultaneous elections.

Article 82A(3)?provides that the Election Commission of India(ECI)“shall conduct general elections to the House of the People and all Legislative Assemblies simultaneously”.

Article82A(4)?defines simultaneous elections as?“general elections held for constituting the House of the People and all the Legislative Assemblies together”.

Article 82A(5)?gives the ECI the option of not holding any particular Assembly election along with the election to Lok Sabha.? Article 82A(5) clearly indicates that “If the Election Commission is of the opinion that the elections to any Assembly cannot be conducted along with the election to the House of the People, it may make a recommendation to the President, to declare by an order, that the election to that Legislative Assembly may be conducted at a later date.”?

Article 82A(6)?provides that if a State Assembly election is deferred, the full term of that Assembly will also end with the full term of ?the Lok Sabha elected in the general election.

Article 82A(7) further provides that the Election Commission shall at the time of notifying the election to a Legislative Assembly declare the date on which the full term of the Legislative Assembly shall come to an end.

How will this be achieved-Constitutional amendment under Article 368

An amendment of the Indian Constitution may be initiated by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament. When the Bill is passed in each House by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting, it shall be presented to the President who will give his assent to the Bill. On receiving the assent of the President, the Constitution will stand amended in accordance with the terms of the Bill.

Other lingering questions

What will happen if the Central Government or a State Government falls before the completion of its five-year term

To address these scenarios, amendments have been proposed in Articles 83 and 172.

The revisions to Article 83 clarify that if the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the end of its full term, the next Lok Sabha will only be for the unexpired term.? For example, if Lok Sabha is dissolved after two years and two months of its term, the next election will only be for a Lok Sabha that will function for thirty-four months.

Similarly, for State Assemblies, the revisions to Article 172 clarify that in case of dissolution of a State Assembly before its full term, the election would be held for the unexpired term of the preceding Assembly.

Article 327 of the Indian Constitution which empowers the Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures has also been proposed to be amended by the inclusion of the power to conduct “simultaneous elections”.

Key Observations ?

·?????????As of now, simultaneous elections are only for Parliament and State Assemblies, and not municipal corporations (which would have required ratification by the legislatures of at least half of all states).

·?????????Secondly, these changes can at the earliest be effected in the 2034 election cycle. The Constitution amendment Bill states that the “President may by a public notification issued on the date of the first sitting of the House of the People after a general election, bring into force the provision of this article, and that date of the notification shall be called the appointed date”. The earliest date of the first sitting of Lok Sabha will be in2029, and the next election cycle will be in 2034, assuming that both the 18th?and 19th?Lok Sabhas complete their full five-year terms.

It has been argued that the “One Nation-One Election” provides advantages such as cost reduction, long-term governance, less voter fatigue, and efficient use of security forces.

On the other hand, the “One Nation-One Election” Bill has drawn criticism on the ground that it will present synchronization challenges, favour larger national parties, potentially disadvantaging regional parties and most importantly attack the federal character of ?the Constitution which has been held to be a “basic structure of the Constitution” by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the landmark judgments of Kesavananda Bharati Vs State Of Kerala?and S.R. Bommai Vs Union of India.??

?It will indeed be interesting to see how the competing interests in society are balanced in this highly delicate matter. ?

?**This article is for academic purposes only. Views are personal.