One Nation One Election:
The report for one country, one election has been submitted to President Draupadi Murmu. In this 18626-page report, the high-level committee headed by former President Ramnath Kovind has recommended amendment in the Constitution for One Nation-One Election.
The committee has mentioned five paragraphs in the report. It has been said that if Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are to be held simultaneously in the country, then these articles will have to be amended.
The reports submitted to the President. It has been prepared by the committee members after long discussions with political parties, constitutional experts and former Chief Election Commissioners. In this, views have been put forward on many issues including governance, political stability, expenditure and voter participation. It also explains why changes are needed in these articles of the Constitution and what changes are proposed.
Article 83
This article of the Constitution has provisions for both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The rule for the Lok Sabha is that its tenure will be five years. There was a provision in Article 83(2) that this tenure could be extended for one year if necessary. Article 83 itself protects the Rajya Sabha from being dissolved, it has a provision that the Rajya Sabha will never be dissolved, as far as possible one third of its members will retire every second year and new members will be elected in their place.
Article 85
It gives the President the right to dissolve the Lok Sabha, in this article there is a provision that the President will have the right to call the session of the House. However, there will not be a gap of more than six months between the two sessions.
Article 172
Under this, provisions have been made for the Legislative Assembly of the states. It says that the Legislative Assembly of the states will continue for the next five years from the first meeting. There is also a provision in this that if there is an emergency, the Parliament of the country can extend the tenure of the Legislative Assembly by up to one year. Not more than that.
Article 174
Just as Article 85 of the Constitution gives the powers to the President in relation to Parliament, Article 174 gives the Governor the right to dissolve the Assembly or call its session.
Article 327
Under this article, provisions have been made from time to time for all matters related to Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It has the authority to ensure preparation of voter list, delimitation and formation of the House.
This will be change
In the report submitted to the President, the committee has also told what the amendment will be. According to the report, the purpose of this change is only to change the tenure of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. It has also been made clear that the purpose of the amendment is not to extend the term of the House by more than five years. The purpose of the amendments in Article 83, Article 85, Article 172 and Article 174 is to ensure that if the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly is dissolved and mid-term elections are held, the second elected government will serve only for a period equal to the completion of five years. is yet to happen. That means, if a government is dissolved after two and a half years, then the next elected government will work only for two and a half years. After completion of five years, elections will be held simultaneously. By amending Article 327, the words ‘simultaneous election’ will be added after delimitation.
Why is there a need for changes in five articles of the Constitution?
The report of the high-level communist committee formed for One Nation-One Election explains why changes are needed in these final amendments, the report notes that assembly elections are held in five states every year. In such a situation, political parties, leaders, central government and leaders, resources are devoted to all the posts. Due to this, work gets disrupted, and expenses also increase. There is a need for One-Nation-One Election in these countries which is not possible without changes in these details. Earlier in 2018, a Law Commission report had also talked about changing these details for One-Nation One Election. .
There used to be one election, so how did the tradition of separate elections arise?
It has been told in the report that earlier assembly elections were held along with Lok Sabha, simultaneous elections were held in 1951-52, for the first time in 1955, elections were held alone only in Andhra Pradesh. Simultaneous elections were again held in 1957. In 1960, the Kerala Assembly was dissolved by the imposition of Emergency, and it became out of sync with the electoral cycle. After this, Nagaland was formed in 1964 and Puducherry became a union territory. Their elections were held in 1964 and they too were out of the electoral cycle. After this, some assemblies were dissolved prematurely, and separate elections were held. In 1970, the Lok Sabha was dissolved prematurely, and new elections were held in 1971, laying the foundation for separate elections in the country.
Who is in the committee?
This committee was formed on September 2 last year to realize One Nation-One Election. Former President Ramnath Kovind has been made its chairman. In this, Home Minister Amit Shah, former Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Nabi Azad, NK Singh, chairman of the fifteenth Finance Commission, Subhash C Kashyap, Harish Salve, Sanjay Kothari are members. Special invitee member is Arjun Ram Meghwal and Secretary is Niten Chandra.