Proposals on One Nation, One Election Get Cabinet Nod – Key Highlights
The union government in New Delhi Wednesday accepted the recommendations made by the high level committee headed by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind on “One Nation, One Election” or “onoe”
New Delhi: The union government in New Delhi Wednesday accepted the recommendations made by the high level committee headed by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind on “One Nation, One Election” or “onoe”.
“The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections under the chairmanship of former President Shri Ram Nath Kovind”, the PMO said.
The idea of "One Nation, One Election" refers to holding the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections simultaneously across the country.
The government had announced the formation of the high-level panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to study the proposal of ‘One Nation, One Election’ on September 01, 2023.
Some of the observations made by the committee on simultaneous elections are:
- Elections have been held simultaneously between 1951 and 1967.
- Law Commission: 170th report (1999): One election to Lok Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies in five years.
- Parliamentary Committee 79th Report (2015): suggest methods for simultaneous elections in two phases.
- High Level Committee chaired by Shri Ram Nath Kovind extensively consulted a broad spectrum of stakeholders including political parties and experts.
Some of the recommendations of the committee on simultaneous elections are:
- Implement elections in two phases.
- In first phase: conduct Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously.
- In second phase: Conduct local body elections (panchayat and municipalities) within 100 days of general elections.
- Common electoral roll for all elections.
- Will initiate detailed discussions throughout the country.
- Constitute an implementation group.
The members of the committee are:
Chairman
Ram Nath Kovind (Former President of India)
Secretary of the Committee
Dr. Niten Chandra
Members
Amit Shah (Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation)
Arjun Ram Meghwal (Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Law and Justice)
Ghulam Nabi Azad (Former Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha)
N. K. Singh (Former Chairman, 15th Finance Commission)
Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap (Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha)
Sanjay Kothari (Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner)
Harish Salve (Senior Advocate and Supreme Court Lawyer)
Key Highlights
- The 322-page report in PDF is available on the website "onoe.gov.in".
- The Committee worked on the subject for 191 days and submitted its report in a little over one year after its constitution on September 01, 2023.
- The committee received responses from 47 political parties. Of them 15 political
parties opposed the idea whereas, the remaining 32 political parties favoured the system of simultaneous elections. - Four Former Chief Justices of India, as well as a Former Judge of the Supreme Court, who were invited for consultation supported simultaneous elections.
"Based on the suggestions received from political parties, experts, and other stakeholders, the Committee was of the unanimous view that simultaneous elections will bring fundamental transformation in the electoral process and overall governance", the report said.
"It will result in optimising scarce resources and also encourage voters to participate in the electoral process in larger numbers.
"Disruptions to governance and policy paralysis resulting from the application of the Model Code of Conduct and its adverse impact on economic growth will be mitigated", it added.
Reactions on One Nation, One Election
Prime Minister Modi has hailed the committee report and called the idea a step towards making the Indian democracy more vibrant.
"I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders. This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative", he said.
The Congress Party however called the idea of holding simultaneous elections BJP's attempt to divert attention from the key issues. The Congress also said the move is against the constitution.
"This is against the constitution. This is against democracy, This is against federalism", Congress President Malikarjun Kharge said.
"The country will never accept this", he added.
A Bill on One Nation, One Election is likely to be tabled in the upcoming Parliament session.
Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Post Comments