वन नेशन-वन इलेक्शन: 3 बिल ला सकती है सरकार, दो संविधान संशोधन कराने होंगे; नवंबर-दिसंबर में बिल आएगा

First Constitution Amendment Bill- Will be related to making provision for holding Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections simultaneously. It also has provisions relating to dissolution of assemblies and amending Article 327 to include the words ‘simultaneous elections’. It will not require ratification by 50% of the states.

Second Constitution- Will propose to amend the constitutional provisions relating to preparation of voter list by the Election Commission in consultation with the State Election Commissions for elections to local bodies.

Third Amendment- This bill will be a general bill to amend the provisions of three laws related to Union Territories.

Cabinet approval on September 18, bill will come in November-December On September 18, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal to hold assembly elections (One Nation One Election) along with the Lok Sabha in the country. The bill will be presented in Parliament in the winter session i.e. November-December.

On September 17, Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the government will implement ‘One Nation One Election’ during this tenure. On August 15, the Prime Minister had said that frequent elections were hindering the country’s progress.

The committee headed by former President Ramnath Kovind, formed to consider One Nation One Election, had submitted its report to President Draupadi Murmu on March 14. The report is of 18 thousand 626 pages.

The panel was created on 2 September 2023. This report is the result of 191 days of research after discussions with stakeholders-experts. The committee has suggested extending the tenure of all the assemblies till 2029.

This picture is from March 2024. In the report, the target of simultaneous elections has been set in 2029. Based on that, the model of elections for assemblies and urban bodies has been given.

5 suggestions of Kovind panel…

1. The tenure of all state assemblies should be extended till the next Lok Sabha elections i.e. 2029.
2. In case of a hung assembly (no one has a majority), and a no-confidence motion, fresh elections can be held for the remaining 5-year term.
3. In the first phase, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections can be held simultaneously, after that in the second phase, local body elections can be held within 100 days.
4. The Election Commission will prepare a single voter list and voter ID card for Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body elections in consultation with the state election authorities.
5. The Kovind panel has recommended advance planning of equipment, manpower and security forces for holding simultaneous elections.

Right now the possibility of One Nation-One Election is like this To implement one country, one election, the tenure of many state assemblies will be reduced. In states where assembly elections are held by the end of 2023, their tenure can be extended. The report also says that if all parties agree to the Law Commission’s proposal, it will be implemented from 2029 only. Also, for this, assembly elections will have to be held in 25 states by December 2026.

First phase: 6 states, voting: in November 2025

• Bihar: Present term will be completed. The latter will last only three and a half years.
• Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry the current tenure will be reduced by 3 years and 7 months. The tenure after that will also be 3 and a half years.

Second phase: 11 states, voting: in December 2026

• Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand: The current tenure will be reduced by 3 to 5 months. After that it will be two and a quarter years.
• Gujarat, Karnataka, Himachal, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura: Current tenure will be reduced from 13 to 17 months. The latter will last for two and a quarter years.

After these two phases, the tenure of all the assemblies of the country will end in June 2029. According to sources, the Kovind Committee will ask for another proposal from the Law Commission, in which it will also be asked to include local body elections.

Kovind Committee prepared a report after researching the electoral process of 7 countries.

What did the opposition leaders say on One Nation One Election? Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge: ‘Congress Party opposes the proposal of ‘One Nation, One Election’. We believe that elections should be held whenever necessary to keep democracy alive.

Kerala CM P Vijayan: ‘Sangh Parivar is making secret efforts to take India’s electoral politics towards the presidential system. The slogan “One Nation, One Election” has been coined to destroy the diverse nature of Indian parliamentary democracy.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi: ‘You cannot work on the basis of your convenience. The Constitution will work on the basis of constitutional principles. This has always been the ideology of BJP and RSS. They do not want regional parties to exist. We have opposed this and will do so also.

BSP chief Mayawati: We support the approval given today by the Union Cabinet to the proposal to hold simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies in the country under the system of ‘One Country, One Election’, but its objective must be in the interest of the country and the public. ‘

AAP MP Sandeep Pathak: ‘This is another new slogan of BJP because some time ago elections were to be held in 4 states but they conducted elections in only two states (Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir), leaving out Jharkhand and Maharashtra. If a government falls in two and a half years, will President’s rule be imposed in two and a half years?

RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha: ‘There was one nation one election in this country, Modi ji is not bringing any rare diamond. The reason why he left after 1962 was because the dominance of a single party started ending. I will see the draft first. Suppose elections are held and the government formed in Uttar Pradesh falls, then what will happen? Will you impose President’s rule?

What did BJP and allies say…

Home Minister Amit Shah: ‘India is taking a big step towards historic electoral reforms. This reflects Modi ji’s strong will to strengthen our democracy through clean and fiscally efficient elections and accelerate economic growth through more productive allocation of resources.’

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav: ‘From 1961 to 1957, elections were held simultaneously. In 1999, the Law Commission had recommended separate Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. During our consultation process, 80 percent people across the country have given positive response to One Nation One Election. Especially the youth have supported.

JDU spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan: ‘This changing picture of India will become even better. The huge size of election expenses can be controlled to a great extent. A large number of people will stand in queue at the polling stations…security forces will be deployed on time and in a better manner.

The committee has 8 members, was formed in September 2023 An 8-member committee was formed under the leadership of former President Kovind on September 2 last year. The first meeting of One Nation One Election Committee was held on 23 September 2023 at Jodhpur Officers Hostel, Delhi. It has 8 members including former President Ramnath Kovind, Home Minister Amit Shah and former MP Ghulam Nabi Azad. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has been made a special member of the committee.

What is One Nation One Election? At present in India, state assembly and country’s Lok Sabha elections are held at different times. One Nation One Election means that Lok Sabha and Assembly elections should be held simultaneously in the entire country. That is, voters will cast their votes on the same day, at the same time or in a phased manner to elect members of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

After independence, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were held simultaneously in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967, but in 1968 and 1969, many Assemblies were dissolved prematurely. After that the Lok Sabha was also dissolved in 1970. Because of this, the tradition of one country, one election was broken.

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