For quite a few years, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP has championed the cause of ‘One Nation, One Election’
If Japan is ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’, India is ‘The Land of Ever-Rising Democracy’! India, the world’s most populous country and its largest democracy—as of December 18, 2024, India’s population is 1,456,931,258 up 0.92 per cent from that in 2023, according to Worldometer—accounts for 17.78% of the world’s population. Understandably, India—with 8 Union Territories, 28 states and almost a billion eligible voters—is almost perpetually in poll mode, with votes being cast continually somewhere or the other in the country.
THE RECENT BILLS IN LOK SABHA
Amid vociferous objections raised by members of the Opposition INDI Alliance, two controversial Bills—which aim to implement ‘One-Nation, One-Election’ (‘The Constitution 129th Amendment Bill, 2024’ and ‘The Union Territories Laws Amendment Bill, 2024’) and which have sparked a lively, often acrimonious, debate over Centre-state power dynamics—introduced in the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) by the Law Minister on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) saw 269 members voting in favour against 198 opposing.
The Opposition MPs gleefully pointed out that the Centre had not managed to secure a two-thirds majority for passing the Bills, although, according to parliamentary experts, the government does not require a special majority to introduce constitutional (Amendment) Bills. Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009 and currently Chairman of the Committee on External Affairs, lashed out at the government, saying voting during the introduction of the two Bills demonstrated that the BJP did not command the two-thirds majority required to pass the constitutional amendment.
His argument was that not only the Congress, but a vast majority of the Opposition parties, too, had opposed the Bills since they were a violation of the Constitution’s federal structure. But, although Opposition MPs profess victory saying the government could not secure a two-thirds majority for introducing the Bills, The Indian Express quotes former Lok Sabha secretary-general PDT Achary as saying that a majority of two-thirds of the members of the House present and voting was not required for introducing a constitutional (Amendment) Bill. A special majority is needed only in the latter stages.
Following the Opposition’s objections, Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, and Arjun Ram Meghwal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister, informed the House that the government was prepared to refer the two Bills to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for studying further.
WHAT’S THE CONCEPT BASED ON?
Indian elections—both central and state—follow a cycle of their own. As a case in point, the central (Lok Sabha) elections, which saw Modi kissing the steps of Parliament prior to his entry to the hot-seat as India’s Prime Minister for the first time, were held in 2014, to be followed by his (and his party, the BJP’s, and alliance NDA’s) second term in 2019 and third term as recently as in 2024.
Prior to that, in the state of West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress had already unseated the 34-year rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front alliance in 2011 in the state (Vidhan Sabha) election of 2011, regained power in 2016, and again in 2021—with the next state elections coming up in 2026.
General Elections choose Lok Sabha members, the Vidhan Sabha elections take their pick of state legislators, and even rural and municipal body polls hold separate votes for local governance. If a sitting MP, MLA or Councillor dies, resigns or is disqualified, by-elections fill the vacancies. These elections held every five years at different times cost the country’s and the states’ exchequer huge amounts of money, which the Centre now wants to sync.
But simultaneous polls are nothing new to India. From the first election in 1951 until 1967, they were a regular feature as political up and downswings for parties, leading to early dissolution of state assemblies, led to staggered polls. The system’s revival has been a hotly debated topic in and out of Parliament for several decades. The Election Commission (EC), Law Commission and government think-tank, Niti Aayog, made several proposals in this regard in 1983, 1999 and 2017, respectively.
THE GENESIS OF THE TWO BILLS?
For quite a few years, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP has championed the cause of ‘One-Nation, One-Election’, which proposes holding both central and state polls simultaneously every five years. Those who support ‘One-Nation, One-Election’ forward the logic that this plan would drastically bring down campaign costs and lessen the strain on administrative resources, thus smoothening the governance process.
According to the BBC, ex-president Ram Nath Kovind, at the helm of a nine-member committee, recommended holding elections at the same time last year, calling it a “game-changer”. They even cited economists who say it could boost India’s GDP by up to 1.5%. In March, a Kovind-led panel, in an extensive 18,626-page report, proposed holding the General Elections along with state polls, also recommending that the local body elections be held within 100 days.
OPPOSITION WAVES A RED FLAG
The committee suggested that if a government lost an election, fresh polls would be held. But its tenure would last only until the next simultaneous elections. Critics of the Bill wave a red flag, saying it could silently erode the Indian structure of federal governance and increase the Centre’s power at the cost of weakening states’ autonomy.
PRO-S AND CON-S OF THE DEBATE
Slashing election costs is the prime concern of the Bills. Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Media Studies said India spent over INR 600 billion on the 2019 General Elections, globally the most costly poll exercise at the time.
But the Opposition, no doubt, has a point! The same aim of reducing costs could backfire! With 900 million eligible voters, ensuring free and fair polls through enough EVMs, security forces and poll officials would require extensive planning and resources.
A 2015 parliamentary committee report by the Law and Justice Department says India already spends INR 45 billion on General and state elections. If synchronized polls are held, INR 92.84 billion would be needed to procure new voting and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, which would require to be replaced every 15 years.
THE OPPOSITION’S CLARION CALL
Congress-led Opposition parties have called this plan to have synchronized polls “undemocratic” and argued that the Centre led by PM Modi would then have a whip to control the parliamentary system of government, giving an unfair advantage to national parties over regional ones.
Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee, who is expected to lead the INDI Alliance some time in the immediate future, has said her party’s MPs will oppose the Bills for synchronized elections in Parliament “till their last breath” and “oppose this draconian legislation tooth and nail”. She said this was not a “carefully considered reform”; “It is an authoritarian imposition designed to undermine India’s democracy and federal structure. Bengal will NEVER bow to Delhi’s dictatorial whims,” Mamata said in a post on social media.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, too, said on Thursday that the Union Cabinet’s approval of the ‘One-Nation, One-Election’ Bill was “not only an assault on parliamentary democracy and the federal structure of India, but also a sinister conspiracy to curb the rights of the states.
(The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com)
(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own and do not reflect those of DNA)