OVERVIEW

Prime role is to ensure good governance and harness the aspirations

of those who have reposed faith in them. However, because of polls
held at different times, the nation is constantly in campaign mode
with long model codes of conduct. These delay implementation of
development decisions.
Combined elections would mean the personnel spend lesser time on
poll duty because elections require proper security measures to be
put in place. These personnel will get more time in their respective
states for a better focus on better policing and security.

1. Why the system needs to be replaced?

The current electoral system is the faultiest, most corrupt and inefficient
one. It’s highly questionable that the Election Commission of India has
not initiated any large or substantive electoral reforms in the last 70
years except switching from physical ballot to Electronic Voting
Machines (EVMs).

Did the voter demographics, economy, politics, electoral ecosystem not

change in the last 70 years? Can the same old system serve the fourth or
the fifth generation of Indians?
Simultaneous elections resulting in better governance is another
argument that has been put forward. The contention is that with multiple
elections, the Model Code of Conduct is in force for much of the time,
which prevents the government from initiating new projects and
ultimately slows down development work.

Reason why youngsters shy away from electoral politics ?

It’s not just the only reason why intelligent, educated, ethical youngsters
shy away from mainstream electoral politics; Indian politics is also
highly unethical, unhealthily competitive, loaded towards money and
muscle, and certainly hateful and divisive.

There is a universal norm that one has to be essentially corrupt to be in

electoral politics of India; by now it’s been also established as a rule
after every other election. The average expenditure of an MLA
contestant has reached Rs 6 crore and that of an MP contestant to around
Rs 15 crore.

Can’t we serve the society?

How can someone who wishes to only ‘serve the society’ spend this
kind of money for an electoral win? Not to mention there might be 3 to 4
serious candidates spending similar amounts in the fray. It’s quite clear
that electoral spends have special interests and are not just serving the
constituents. More the number of elections the merrier it is for those who
benefit from these handouts.
Are voters corrupt? - dignity
. No, there are not demanding their civic rights or funds for their
constituency development.

The voters are demanding a price for their electoral franchise; they are
demanding ‘notes for their votes.’ Social groups, work groups,
professional bodies, caste associations and even residential associations
are seeking electoral bribes from the political contestants openly and
brazenly.

In some states down south, contestants are already spending Rs1,500 per
vote and in a recent
assembly by poll in Chennai there was an open talk of Rs 6,000 per vote
paid to each voter to ensure a perfect win for an independent candidate.

When a democracy gets to this low point, where even the voters demand
money to exercise their franchise, it's certain that we have hit the rock
bottom. Indian democracy is in an abyss and can't sink any further.
Shouldn’t there be a more efficient system which needs to evolve for
conducting elections across the nation?
 One Nation–One Election is not just an electoral reform; it is a
political, social and economic reform too
 Every election is an opportunity to indulge in massive corrupt
practices across the board.

 One Nation–One Election might not instantly deal with this

rampant electoral corruption, but it will certainly kick-start a
change by lowering the frequency of this practice.
 Less number of elections means less corruption. In a democracy
any massive social change is only possible through decisive
political reforms. It’s not the other way round.

Change is necessary ?
Changing the society involves a larger concerted movement, but
bringing change in the way politics is practised and elections are
conducted can be effected quickly through tougher, newer laws and
through implementation of new electoral models and systems.

Why is one nation one elction system neccessary?

 One Nation–One Election is a fool proof system to bring in the
needed social reforms through this one large political and electoral
reform.
 It’s not very hard to assess that if State Assembly and
Parliamentary elections can be conducted simultaneously once
 every 5 years, the human and economic costs for this nation can be
cut down by many times.
 The efficiency of both central and state governments will go up
many notches high, with continuity of governance and welfare
delivery without regular interruptions.

 There are not many metrics to actually assess how much downtime
and how many millions of man hours are lost due to regular and
intermittent elections across the nation..

Rising above ideologies, petty political expediency, prospects of

winning or losing, political parties in India must take a serious look at
this historic opportunity to make a path-breaking reform to the current
colonial, beaten down, self-defeatist electoral system through decisively
supporting ‘One Nation-One Election’ proposed by the Narendra Modi
government.

Advantages:
1. Cost Savings -
The election process is not only tedious and hectic, but also expensive.
Each party spends so much of money in every election. By opting for
One India, One Election, we can save huge amount of money which can
be used for other schemes.
Can be used for trade,marking the rupee at higher position in the
international market,overall increasing the development pace.
2. Time Saving -
Half of the year is spent by the parties to focus for the next election of
one or the other state. Time is wasted on designing strategies and
discussing the actions of the opposition parties.
The name calling and blame game takes a lot of time that could rather be
used for productive policy criticism.
5. Reducing Vices -
Casteism, communalism, corruption and bias is seen almost every
election. This will only stop when the elections are held in common and
the odds of winning or once and for all to lose prevail. The remaining
duration of his career, he would not try to stir up the evil that is
destroying the peace of the nation.
Challenges:
 Lok Sabha elections along with elections to assembly and
panchayats is not as easy as it looks like. It will have various
complications as the villages and the cities together gear for
voting.
 Reducing the number of elections would make them lazy for the
rest of the term and suddenly become hyperactive during the
election year.
 When both the elections are clubbed, national issues may dominate
over state issues and dictate the mood of both state and national
votes. State or local issues may take a backseat, which would
otherwise be crucial.
 Since, elections will be at once, so all political parties will use their
entire treasure in one occasion.Due to rise of political expenditure,
corrupt practices will also rise in same proportion. It will be a
tough task for ECI to hold the election within the prescribed
duration and code of conduct.
 Its an assumption that ruling party is on upper hand in elections. It
can influence the elections with its power and once the mandate is
 influenced, it will alter the mandate for both centre and state and
for a longer nad stable duration.

Constitutional Amendments – major challenge

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly
elections in the country is impractical and unconstitutional, Trinamool Congress
MP Kalyan Banerjee said
"Let us assume that the Centre and all states hold elections simultaneously in 2019.
If a coalition government is formed in the centre and that loses majority then will
elections have to be re-conducted for all states along with the Centre," he asked.

"It is impractical, not possible and contrary to the Constitution. Democracy and
government should be given priority. The financial issue is secondary, first priority
is the Constitution and democracy. Constitution has to be upheld."

To pass these amendments, they require special majorities in Lok Sabha

& Rajya Sabha. This would be a challenging task for the Govt. to build
consensus among various political outfits, which have certain biases.

Parties not in favour – to convince them

Congress
But Opposition parties have been largely opposed to the idea. The
Congress met the Law Commission on August 3 and spoke of the
infeasibility of simultaneous polls. They called for the Law Commission to
“drop the proposal immediately.”
The CPI(M), in its submission, called the proposal inherently “anti-
democratic” for insisting on five-year terms for governments. The parties
that backed the proposals were regional parties in Andhra Pradesh and
Odisha, which for the past few terms, coincidentally have had state
elections along with general elections.

Progress till date ?

The Law Commission's draft paper titled "Simultaneous Elections -
Constitutional and Legal Perspectives" has recommended amendments
to the Constitution and the Representation of People's Act, 1950 to
facilitate and sustain the concept of simultaneous polls.

BJP president Amit Shah wrote to Law Commission chairman Justice B S

Chouhan supporting simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. He said
that it had been successfully tested and tried in the past and was an idea
that could be implemented. Calling objections to the proposal “politically
motivated,” Shah claimed that simultaneous polls would “strengthen the
federal structure.”
In fact, some BJP leaders have suggested that by advancing some state
Assemblies and securing early dissolution of some, as many as a dozen
state polls can, hypothetically, be held along with Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

Solutions:
 Elections can be held over a period of time (two months or so),
this would give ample time to provide staff, security and
equipment. Logistics can also be managed to conduct elections
without any hiccups.
  Politicians’ complacency can be addressed by having mid-term
elections, where voters in a constituency have the right to reject
the minister. This would make them accountable for what they
have promised in the manifesto. Similar solution was proposed
by BJP MP from Philbit, Varun Gandhi. It is also duly addressed
when Zilla Parishad, Mandal Level & Gram Panchayat elections
are held at different times.
 Indian voters are quite intelligent in voting. They wouldn’t do
any mistake in getting carried away by national issues. They
would certainly vote for someone who represents them and
voices their problems effectively.

Conclusion
By successfully passing ‘One Nation – One Election’ bill when
presented in the parliament, India will save not just public money, man-
hours, governance interruptions, and administrative lags but also its core
democratic values.
No matter which party is in rule, this situation presents a challenging
proposition and certainly drives the incumbent government to focus
more on winning state assembly elections sprayed across their 5-year
term than focus on the governance agenda for which they have been
popularly elected.

The resolution adopted at the first plenary of the party after Rahul
Gandhi took over as Congress president also had said, "The idea will
have serious implications, which must be thoroughly inquired into and
a national consensus built".

.
1.Surety that the system will definitely prove beneficial for the
Indian politics?

2.Any specific time till which the system will come in command?
3.What can be the implications of one nation one election ?
One Nation & One Election can be a game-changer for the nation. It can
directly and positively impact welfare, service, growth, governance
delivery and inclusive development.

India is a unique nation. It’s democracy, demographics, politics,

economy, civic problems etc., are quite different from any other nation
on the earth. To continue on the same beaten path adopted from its
colonial past does not serve India and its people well.
4.Does this system has any possibility of being non-effective?