Former president Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday announced the first meeting of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ committee to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats will be held on September 23. This came after the Centre on September 2 notified the eight-member committee – headed by Kovind – to make recommendations keeping in view the existing framework under the Constitution of India and other statutory provisions.
“The first meeting will take place on September 23,” Kovind told the media while he was in Bhubaneswar to attend the convocation of a private university.
The committee will analyse and recommend possible scenarios for the simultaneous elections such as a hung assembly or adoption of a no-confidence motion and will suggest a framework and a time frame within which the elections can be held.
The members included in the committee are – Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of the opposition Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chairman of 15th Finance Commission NK Singh, former Lok Sabha general secretary Subash Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve, former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari, and Minister of state (law) Arjun Ram Meghwal – who will attend the meetings as a special invitee.
Chowdhury, however, declined to be part of the ‘One Nation One Election’ panel.
What is ‘One Nation, One Election’?
The discussion of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea began after the central government called a special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22 without citing any reason.
Notably, till 1967 the country held simultaneous elections for state assemblies and the Lok Sabha. However, in 1968 and 1969, some legislative assemblies were dissolved, and in 1970, the Lok Sabha was dissolved – leading to a change in the electoral schedules.
Since Modi became the Prime Minister, he has been pushing for the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. In 2017, then-president Kovind had also echoed his support for the idea. During his address in Parliament in 2018, Kovind had said, “Frequent elections not only impose a huge burden on human resources but also impede the development process due to the promulgation of the model code of conduct.”
