 |
| The electronic voting machine and the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail |
In India, the talk of having simultaneous elections to both the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) and Assemblies in all 28 states and 8 Union Territories is back.
Not a new idea. India did have simultaneous elections in 1951, 1957, 1962 and 1967. After that, it has never worked out.
The issue is back on the centre stage now because the Union government yesterday appointed a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to look into the feasibility of what is called "One Nation One Election".
The members of the committee were announced today:
- Home Minister Amit Shah
- Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (but he declined to join the panel)
- Former Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad
- Former Finance Commission chairperson N.K. Singh
- Senior advocate Harish Salve
- Former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C. Kashyap
- Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings as a special invitee
Legal Affairs Secretary Niten Chandra will serve as Secretary to the panel
PROS
- Simultaneous elections can cut expenditures. So many processes are repeated for each election, and it costs crores of rupees, affecting the nation's economy on the whole.
- Less disruption. Elections are like a festival in India, with so much excitement, disrupting the normal pace of work in various sectors. Besides that, during the election season, governance pretty much comes to a standstill. No important policy decisions are taken.
- The idea that people have to vote only once in, say, five years might boost the number of people who will turn up to vote.
CONS
- National and State Assembly elections are fought on totally different issues. Holding both elections together will result in a mixing up of both issues during the election campaigning, leading to confusion among voters. The final verdict might not be representative.
- The predictability of elections will bring in a sense of complacency among the elected representatives.
- Presently, individual States have the autonomy to decide when to hold elections. That will cease to be the case. The diversity of different dynamics each State brings to the Union of India will be significantly diminished.
CHALLENGES
- What if the incumbent government loses the majority or is voted out by a no-confidence vote, and no one is able to form a stable government? Who will then rule the country or the State? If it happens close to the end of the tenure of the incumbent government, it might not be a big issue. But if it happens within a year or two of the elections, then it will be a full-blown crisis.
- The One Nation One Election will require a major constitutional amendment that will require ratification by a majority of States of the country. It might not be that easy.
- Considering the vastness of India and the complicated nature and issues each region has, it might not be possible to hold elections on one single day or even a single month. It might have to be spread over at least two or three months to take care of logistic challenges like moving security forces and ensuring the presence of election officials. Whether we have enough resources is a moot point.
HAS IT WORKED ELSEWHERE?
- Only three nations in the world have simultaneous elections - Belgium, Sweden and South Africa.
WILL IT WORK IN INDIA?
It's not going to be easy, though the advantages are very clear and significant. It can work if there is an across-the-board consensus and all the challenges are addressed.