New Delhi2 hours ago
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A committee headed by former President Ramnath Kovind was formed to consider One Nation One Election.
The central government can introduce the ‘One Nation-One Election’ bill in the current session of Parliament itself. According to sources, the government wants to build a consensus on this bill, hence the bill will be sent from Parliament to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for discussion.
JPC will discuss this bill with representatives of all political parties. Apart from this, speakers of all state assemblies and intellectuals and other stakeholders from across the country will also be included in this process. Opinion of common people will also be taken.
Earlier in September, the Union Cabinet had approved the proposal of One Nation-One Election. After the cabinet meeting, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had said that ‘Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in the first phase. After this, civic elections should be held in the second phase within 100 days.
A panel was formed on 2 September 2023 under the chairmanship of former President Ramnath Kovind to consider One Nation One Election. This panel, after discussions with stakeholders-experts and 191 days of research, had submitted its report to President Draupadi Murmu on March 14.
This picture is from March 2024. In the 18 thousand 626-page report submitted to President Murmu, the committee has suggested extending the tenure of all the assemblies till 2029.
Kovind Panel’s 5 suggestions in recommendation…
- The tenure of all state assemblies should be extended till the next Lok Sabha elections i.e. 2029.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Election Commission will prepare a single voter list and voter ID card in consultation with the state election authorities for the Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body elections.
- The Kovind panel has recommended advance planning of equipment, manpower and security forces for holding simultaneous elections.
Will there be any obstacles in making the bill a law?
- The Kovind Committee has suggested 18 constitutional changes, most of which do not require the consent of the state legislatures.
- For some constitutional changes, it will be necessary to pass the bills in Parliament.
- Approval of more than half of the states will be required for single electoral roll and single voter ID card.
- It is possible that the Law Commission may also present its report on the report of the Kovind Committee.
- Sources say that the Law Commission should suggest holding Lok Sabha, Assembly, local bodies and Panchayat elections simultaneously in 2029.
- Apart from this, the Law Commission should demand rules in case of situation like coalition government and hung assembly.
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 last 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.
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 in 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.