Centre forms panel on ‘One Nation, One Election’

Taking a significant stride towards the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, the Central government has established a committee to investigate and compile a report on this matter. The committee will be chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind.

This development follows the recent announcement by the Centre of a special session of Parliament scheduled to convene from September 18 to 22. Since the surprise announcement, there has been widespread speculation regarding the possibility of introducing a ‘one nation, one election’ bill during this session. However, as of now, no official confirmation has been provided by the government regarding this matter.

The concept of ‘one nation, one election’ pertains to the simultaneous conduct of Lok Sabha (national) and state assembly elections across India. This idea has been championed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with it being a prominent feature in the party’s 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto.

Historically, simultaneous elections were the standard practice in India until 1967, with four such elections taking place. This practice was discontinued when certain state assemblies were dissolved prematurely in 1968-69. In a significant departure from tradition, the Lok Sabha was also dissolved a year ahead of schedule in 1971, leading to the calling of mid-term elections.