One year, one election: Election Commission's Plan B for simultaneous polls

The Election Commission (EC) has now suggested “one year one election” as an alternative to the “one nation one election” proposal, according to a report in The Indian Express.

The EC has proposed the new plan in response to a letter from the Law Commission seeking the poll panel’s views on aligning state assembly polls with the Lok Sabha election.

Aligning the assembly polls

The EC has proposed holding of all the assembly polls scheduled to happen in a particular year simultaneously.

Currently, the Commission conducts elections together for states where the term of assemblies end within a few months of each other. Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 bars the panel from notifying elections more than six months before the assembly term expires.

For example, assembly polls in the state of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were all held in 2017. However, polls for Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa were held in early 2017 while polls for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were held in late 2017 because of the act.

According to the report, implementing “one year one election” will be easier as it needs lesser Constitutional amendments than the simultaneous polls, which would require five amendments.

Articles that deal with the duration of Houses of Parliament, dissolution of Lok Sabha by the President, duration of state legislatures, dissolution of state assemblies and President’s Rule will have to be tweaked to enable simultaneous election, the report cites the EC as saying.

Earlier, the Law Commission had earlier asked the poll panel’s view on five Constitutional and 15 socio-political as well as economic issues that will have to be addressed before simultaneous elections can be held in the country.

Support for simultaneous polls

EC had on May 16 reiterated its support for simultaneous polls in a meeting with the Law Commission.

Earlier this month, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s national president Amit Shah had dismissed talks that the 2019 general elections may be preponed and indicated that simultaneous elections may not be feasible due to lack of political consensus.

In January, President Ram Nath Kovind had called for a "sustained debate" on holding simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha and the state assemblies, saying all parties need to arrive at a consensus over the issue.

In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former President Pranab Mukherjee made strong pitches for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

PM Modi has repeatedly spoken in its favour, saying if the proposal was not suitable, it could be rejected, but there should be a debate on it.

NITI Aayog has also favoured synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly elections from 2024 to ensure "minimum campaign mode disruption" in governance.