Editor,
This refers to the report, ‘Kovind panel suggests 18 amendments to Constitution, other statutes for simultaneous polls’ (AT, 15 March, 2024). No elected House in a parliamentary democracy can have a fixed expiry date. So, there is hardly any possibility that five years after one-nation, one-election, the Lok Sabha and all vidhan sabha elections will again automatically come into a synchronised joint event.
To meet the challenge, the committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind recommended on Thursday that if a mid-term general election has to be held, the new Lok Sabha’s tenure “will be only for the unexpired term of the immediately preceding full term of the House of the People and the expiration of this period shall operate as a dissolution of the House.”
The only argument in favour of the idea behind one-nation one-election is that it would be cost-effective. However, it would actually become more costly as it may require a general election for a very short period of time instead of the usual five-year full term in case of a mid-term poll as per the recommendation of the committee. Moreover, premature deaths of some elected state assemblies in order to club them under the umbrella of one election would add more cost to it.
Apart from enhancing the cost, concurrent polls can damage the federal fabric of our country. Such a one-size-fits-all approach is incompatible with the principles of our diverse, parliamentary democracy.
Sujit De,
Kolkata