Know what is the ‘One Nation, One Election’ bill on which the opposition and the government are at loggerheads, what are its advantages and disadvantages?
The BJP government, which has been in power at the Center for 10 years, has made its stand clear on ‘One Nation, One Election’. To implement this process in the country, ‘One Nation, One Election’ bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha on the 13th of this month. This bill was introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 is known as ‘One Country, One Election’. In this bill tabled in the Lok Sabha, Article 82 (A) (Simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and all the Assemblies of the country) It is contemplated to add and amend Article 83 and the power of Parliament to make provisions regarding the duration of the Houses of Parliament, Articles 172 and 327 regarding elections to the Legislative Assemblies of the country.
In the bill tabled in the Lok Sabha on December 13, it has also been informed that the tenure of the Lok Sabha will be for 5 years and after the appointed date, the term of all the legislative assemblies of the country elected will end with the tenure of the Lok Sabha.
General elections were held simultaneously across the country in the years 1951 and 52.
It is noteworthy that the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950. After the implementation of the Constitution, simultaneous elections were held in the country in the years 1951 and 1952. In the year 1952, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were held simultaneously. The policy makers and politicians of that era were probably aware that holding simultaneous elections in the country not only saves resources but also time. But by the year 1967, the process of holding simultaneous elections became lax.
At some places in the country, Lok Sabha elections were held ahead of schedule and at some places the assemblies had to be dissolved. In such a situation, from then till today, elections are held all the time in some part of the country. With time, the country’s resources also get wasted. Which also hinders the economic development of the country. To overcome these shortcomings, the Modi government at the Center has taken steps in the direction of ‘One Nation, One Election’.
All party meeting was held to build consensus on ‘one country, one election’
The BJP government at the Center had also called an all-party meeting in the year 2019 to reach a consensus on One Nation One Election within the country. However, even in the meeting with all the parties, no consensus was reached on ‘One Nation, One Election’. After this, before the Lok Sabha elections in the year 2024, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of former President of the country Ramnath Kovind in the month of September 2023. Apart from the country’s Home Minister Amit Shah, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, country’s well-known lawyer Harish Salve, Ghulam Nabi Azad, many senior officials were also there in this committee.
On ‘One Nation, One Election’, while the ruling party and its allies point out its merits, other opposition parties, apart from the main opposition party Congress, point out the shortcomings of this law. In such a situation, it can be clearly assumed that the ruling party and the opposition are face to face on ‘One Nation, One Election’.
Kovind Committee has submitted the report to the President in March 2024.
The Kovind Committee, formed under the chairmanship of former President of the country Ramnath Kovind, has submitted its report on ‘One Nation, One Election’ to the President in the month of March 2024. This report of 18,626 pages has been recently approved by the Union Cabinet.
Constitutional amendment will have to be done to pass the bill
To pass ‘One Nation, One Election’ the government will have to amend the Constitution. That Nation One election cannot pass with a simple majority. In such a situation, the Central Government wants this bill to be sent to JPC. In such a situation, everyone should agree on this bill and they should not face any difficulties in getting the bill passed.
The biggest challenge of One Nation One Election Bill is that if this bill is passed in the Parliament and also becomes a law, then it will take at least 10 years to be implemented. The biggest hurdle in the way of this becoming law could be that the government will have to garner two-thirds majority in both the houses to pass this bill in the Parliament and in addition, it will have to get approval from the legislatures of at least 15 states. . After getting approval, this law will be made and implemented with the signature of the President. In such a situation it will take a lot of time.
Not only this, even once it becomes a law, work will have to be done in several phases to implement it. As the Election Commission will require a large number of EVMs and VVPATs, the manufacturing and testing of which will take a long time, so there will be a long wait for this.
What will be the benefits of ‘One Nation, One Election’?
If we talk about the benefits of One Nation One Election, then after the passing of this bill, there will be a huge reduction in the number of elections held every now and then in the country. When elections are held simultaneously, time will be saved. Along with saving time, simultaneous elections will reduce financial expenditure. According to a report, Rs 60 thousand crores were spent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Apart from this, government work comes to a halt during the code of conduct during elections. Which has a direct impact on the development of the country. So once this bill is implemented, all these problems will be solved.
These may be the disadvantages of ‘One Nation, One Election’
After the implementation of ‘One Nation, One Election’, apart from the Lok Sabha Assembly elections, which are fought on different issues, the issues of other smaller elections are different. In such a situation, when the process of ‘One Nation, One Election’ is implemented, there is very little possibility that people’s issues will get priority. Also, ‘One Nation, One Election’ will cause huge loss to the regional parties of the country. This is because smaller issues will disappear in the noise of bigger issues. Only big parties will get direct benefit from them.
