One Nation, One Election – One More Jumla, Diversion!

The Modi government has been surviving on Jumla after Jumla from the days of the PM’s promise of putting Rs 15 lakh in each Indian’s pocket by getting all the black money stashed in Swiss banks

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind. The BJP calls it fulfilment of an election manifesto promise. The One-Nation-One-Election formula falls flats straightaway on its face when you consider the fact that the BJP government does not have guts to hold simultaneous elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Moreover, the claim that this is the fulfilment of an election promise takes away the gas out of the process of appointing Ram Nath Kovind-headed high-level committee that was supposed to have held an extensive process of consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work over 191 days and then come out of report of 18,626 pages. Primarily, the Committee presented what the BJP wanted. And that was expected of it.

Now, let us look at the so-called recommendations. The elections are supposed to be implemented in two phases – first the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously, and then the local body elections such as the panchayats and municipal corporations and councils within 100 days of the earlier phase. The basic question that arises is that how can you call it simultaneous polls, pan-India if you hold them in two phases?

Then you are supposed to have a common electoral roll for all elections. This rules out the possibility of updating the electoral rolls even if people become eligible to vote within those 100 days.

Thegovernment has just accepted the recommendations as per its brief and it has not brought out any draft yet. The Kovind committee itself says detailed discussions will have to be held and then an implementation committee will have to be appointed.

Elections have been held simultaneously between 1951 and 1967. The 170th report in 1999 suggested one election to Lok Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies in five years and the Parliamentary Committee in its 79th Report in 2015 suggested methods for simultaneous elections in two phases.

Prima facie, One Nation One Election makes a good headline and nothing more than that. It serves the Mo-Sha purpose of diverting the attention from burning issues (pun intended) such as Manipur, unemployment, price rise, rising atrocities on women and the weaker sections, farmer suicides and crumbling infrastructure.

PM Modi posted on X platform saying PM tweet: The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. He complemented Ram Nath Kovind“for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders”. This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative, he said.

Participative democracy? Does it exist in BJP’s dictionary? From demonetisation to the Wakf Board amendment, the government has not consulted any political party before introducing. The government’s communication has always been one-way.

Describing the recommendations as landmark electoral reforms, Home Minister Amit Shah said, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, Bharat has been witnessing transformative reforms. “Today in this direction, Bharat takes a giant stride towards landmark electoral reforms with the Union cabinet accepting the recommendations of High-Level Committee on One Nation, One Election,” he said. Transformative reforms? This is a topic for discussion on another day.

But first things first. The participative democracy appears to be an outright rejection of the idea on which the government spent precious resources and Ram Nath Kovind and his committee’s time.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “It is not practical. It will not work”. The BJP raises such issues only during the election time when it wants to divert attention from real issues. In his post on X, Kharge said, “This is against the Constitution, this is contrary to democracy, this is against federalism. The country will never accept this.”

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi stated, “I have consistently opposed #OneNationOneElection because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the constitution”.

Multiple elections aren’t a problem for anyone except Modi & Shah. Just because they have a compulsive need to campaign in even municipal and local body elections do not mean that we need simultaneous polls, Owaisi explained. Frequent & periodic elections improve democratic accountability, he opined.

Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal said, the voter gets a chance to question the leaders only during elections and holding polls once in five years takes away that opportunity.

The Kovind committee has recommended 15 amendments to the Constitution of India — in the form of new provisions and changes to existing provisions — to be carried out through two Constitution Amendment Bills. This appears to a far cry since the maths in Parliament does not match. The NDA government does not enjoy the required 2/3rd majority to get the Constitutional amendments passed. Half of State Legislative Assemblies will have to ratify the changes before sending the amendments for the presidential assent.

Another complication in the Kovind committee recommendations pertains to hung-house scenario or fall of governments necessitating midterm polls. The HLC says fresh elections may be held but the elected body will not be allowed to complete its five-year term as is the current practice. This State or States will again go to pollsalong with the Lok Sabha and Assemblies which complete their five-year term without any break.

On the one hand the government talks of saving on the poll expenditure with simultaneous elections, while on the other it accepts the Kovind committee recommendations for multiple polls. The BJP obviously does not see the inherent contradiction in this.

It doesn’t require rocket science to realise that the Election Commission will require much more electronic voting machines and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) devices than what it has now to manage the existing practice of elections. Once again, the claim of saving “precious resources” falls flat.

The Modi-led government has got used to frequent election culture and as we have discussed over and again the BJP has always been in a poll mode and mood. What will its machinery do if they have to wait for five years for elections?

The Modi government has been surviving on Jumla after Jumla from the days of the PM’s promise of putting Rs 15 lakh in each Indian’s pocket by getting all the black money stashed in Swiss banks. None other than Amit Shah himself described it as an election Jumla. The One Nation-One Election is nothing but another Jumla that may fizzle out.

When will the government and the opposition work on the real issues such as ensuring uniform quality of education and healthcare by working on One Nation – One Education, Ek Rashtra – Ek Chikitsa, Sab Ka Saath-Sab Ka Vikas. Ek Bharat – Sresht Bharat should not be limited to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I am well aware of the fact that it is a tall order and perhaps I am expecting too much. But please do not forget that it is your duty, my duty and our duty to make the government answerable for the taxes that we pay. Let us keep discussing and never give up.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)