ONE NATION, ONE ELECTION

ONE NATION, ONE ELECTION

Author:- Dipti Roy; Department of Law, Calcutta University

The country like- India, where the two separate legislation (Central and State) is there, the election often happen on different time. But, in the concept of ‘one nation, one election’ is suggests that the vote of the Central and the State will be conducting in the same time or within specific time limit. 

It is not the first time in India. After the independence, the same system was going on. The election of center and state happened together. The system broke in 1959. The present government of India raises the discussion of the same. A committee has been held, headed by the former Indian President Sri Ramnath Kovind. The committee will analyze the present situation, advantages, disadvantages etc.  

The advantages behind the concepts are-

*Decrease the cost of publicity in the time of election: A large amount is spent in the time of election by both center and state. The amount increases day by day. According to the news of the ‘Times of India’, 252 crore was spent during the campaigning of election in 5 states by BJP in 2023. Such a large amount is spent in every election. If the state and the center election happen in the same time, there will be no need to spend the amount twice. Thus, the amount of money in the time of election is decreased.   

*Speedy development: A lot election takes place (center, corporation, panchayet) throughout the whole year. The projects are stopped in the mean time. If all the election happens then there should be the development in time. Only for a particular time of a year (once), the project will be stopped. Thus, the speedy development will be possible.

*Reduce the harassment of the citizen who the out of the country: Citizens who are out of the country may face problems as they need to come to the country for such time. But in the case of one election they have to come once, thus the number of voters can also be increased.  

*To save the time: Time can be saved if the concept applies. A lot of time takes for publicity and the completion of voting procedure. The time is spent for several terms in year. 

*Beneficial for the economy: The huge amount of money which is used for the publicity in the voting time can be saved. The same can be used in the developmental purpose. The problems like- poverty, illiteracy, mal nutrition etc. can be reduced in number by using the same amount.   

But there are a lot of hindrances to implement the concept. Such, problems or the disadvantages are:

*Problem to reach the agenda towards the people: The agenda of the state election and the central election is quite different. The people may get confused if the campaigning of the same happens together. The wrong decision might be taken by the people. The country (like- India) where people have all power to decide the government, where the democracy is the main pillar, a wrong decision may make a lot of trouble. 

*Problem in infrastructure: If the vote for the state and the center can take together there should have separate machine to take the vote for the same. To purchase that amount of machine and to take of the same needs money. The infrastructure is also not there in India. So, it is one of the most important problems to imply the concept. 

*Central becomes more powerful: The central power (especially money) cannot get compared with the state. The state will always be overlooked. Thus, the decision can take place.  

*Problems regarding present scenario and lack of development: Another problem is how the present scenario can mixed up with the concept. Also the government feels more relaxed in the tenure. There will be no fear to lose vote. Thus, the demand of the people gets neglected.    

Along with all the above reason the constitutional issues are other hurdles before the idea. It needs a lot of legal framework and constitutional amendments to constitute state assemblies. In the history, the same system broke down. Apart from the disadvantages, there are a lot of reasons to take the initiatives which cannot be looked down upon. Time can only decide whether the concept of ‘one nation, one election’ is taken or not.