New Delhi: Even as the BJP-led Centre has initiated a move to implement the 'One Nation One Election' policy, senior constitutional expert Satya Prakash Singh on Friday said that the government need not make any amendment in the Constitution to implement the strategy.
He said that Article 327 of the Constitution gives the authority to make simultaneous elections. “According to Article 327 of the Constitution, the Centre can bring a Bill for 'one nation-one election'. The Parliament makes provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with the election process and passes it accordingly,” Singh said.
Referring to the power of the Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to legislatures, Article 327 said that Parliament may from time to time by law make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with, elections to either House of Parliament or to the House or either House of the Legislature of a State including the preparations of electoral rolls, the delimitation of constituencies and all other matters necessary for securing the due constitution of such House or Houses.
Also read: One Nation One Election: Centre forms committee headed by Kovind to explore possibility
Singh said that the elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies were held simultaneously every-time between 1951 and 1967. However, due to the premature dissolution of some state Assemblies in 1968 and 1969, the cycle was disrupted.
While several Union Ministers are calling the proposal the 'need of the hour', Opposition members are accusing the BJP-led government of hatching a conspiracy to advance the general election out of fear of their newly formed INDIA alliance.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi always talks about India being the mother of democracy. "How can the government take a unilateral decision without discussing it with other political parties," quipped D Raja.
The Opposition leaders said that it would pose a threat to the federal structure of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has made a pitch for simultaneous polls on several occasions in the past. PM Modi cited financial burden and continuous election cycles and their negative impact on development efforts as the key factors emphasising the need for a one nation one election.
“If we conduct both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously, there will be one-time expenditure, one-time engagements of government officials for election duty and so on,” said Constitutional expert Singh.
The initiative of the Centre comes just months before the Assembly polls in five states scheduled to be held this year. Elections will take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram.
Sources said that the Centre may go for an early election or the Assembly elections due in five states may be postponed to April-May next year, as the general election is scheduled in February-March. Seven states are also scheduled to go to polls next year including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand.
The Centre on Friday constituted a committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election'. Singh said that the committee can definitely submit its report to the government before the special session of the Parliament that begins September 18.
