Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has taken a step towards implementing the ‘Ek Desh, Ek Bhot’ (One Nation One Vote) system in India. The proposal was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday after accepting the recommendation of a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. This system is intended to simultaneously elect the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha.
As per the recommendations of the Kovind-led committee, the first round of elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be held simultaneously. The second round of voting will be held in municipalities and panchayats. The maximum interval between the first and second round can be 100 days. The Center has accepted the recommendation to prescribe a voter list for all elections.
According to this move, the assembly elections of the states should be completed with the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2029. But even if the term of Lok Sabha ends in 2029, the term of all state assemblies will not expire.
Assembly polls in West Bengal will be held in 2026. His term is due to expire in 2031 after five years. Many other states have similar problems. In that case, the central government could not clarify how the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be held simultaneously across the country after five years.
After the cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnab said that the government will take initiatives to build a consensus on this issue across the country, discussions will be held with all parties. The legal process to implement the recommendations will then begin. Its responsibility will be given to a special committee. However, Vaishnav could not answer the question of whether there will be a joint vote if the term of all state assemblies does not expire in 2029.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his opinion on the X handle shortly after the Cabinet decision. There he also spoke about the purpose of One Country One Vote policy. It is an important step towards making the country’s democracy more robust and favorable for participation by all, he wrote.
The former president-led committee spoke to 47 political parties. 15 groups have already objected to this. These include Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that this move of the government is against the constitution, democracy and federal structure. The people of the country will not support it. Through this, an attempt has been made to divert attention from the real problem.
Trinamool Member of Parliament Derek O’Brien said this is a surprise of the anti-democratic BJP. This is also an initiative like the false promises made by the BJP earlier.
Other key members of the anti-BJP India Alliance have also rejected the Centre’s proposal. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the BJP should hold all the elections together at their own organizational level first. Then you can think about the country.
The opposition’s question is, where the Center is talking about simultaneous polling, why are by-elections not being held for the assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand along with the assembly elections of Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir?
While the Prime Minister called this move positive for democracy, the opposition expressed concern over it.
Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) West Bengal branch coordinator Ujjaini Halim said, this is an indirect blow to the federal structure. Bad news for regional parties. Research shows that people vote in different elections, on different issues and from different points of view. Concurrent elections increase the tendency of voters to vote for one party, influencing their turnout in one way or another.
Political analyst Shubmoy Maitra said that the government does not always last for five years, it breaks in the middle. A lack of confidence can lead to the fall of the government. The Center is discouraging occasional elections in the new policy. Opponents believe it could reduce the scope of democracy.
Meanwhile, two arguments are being strongly presented by the ruling camp. First, simultaneous elections across the country will greatly reduce costs. The cost of choosing separately is high.
Ujjaini Halim said, the way big parties can spend in elections across the country, where will small parties stand in front of them! Political parties need to be reined in to reduce election expenses. There are many other ways to reduce costs, but one country will not do it in one election.
The second strong argument of the ruling camp is that simultaneous elections will smooth the development process. If different states go to polls at different times, the pace of development may stall for electoral code of conduct.
Political analyst Maidul Islam told Deutsche Welle that development will not stop if there is a separate vote. There was development from 1968-2024, during which there were no simultaneous elections. As a result of the new rules, the national party or the party in power at the center will have more advantages than the opposition and regional parties.
According to Halim, the argument that code of conduct is stopping development is untenable. Look at the electoral history of any state, how many times have polls been held in five years and how much development work has stopped for that? Is the pace of development too slow at other times?
