Union Cabinet clears report recommending ‘one nation, one election’ : Valley Vision

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet cleared a report submitted by a high-level committee that advocates for the “one nation, one election” proposal.

The committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, was set up by the Union government in September 2023 to look into the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections. The report recommended a two-step approach for implementing the plan.

The panel suggested that in the first phase, simultaneous elections could be conducted for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. In the second phase, elections for municipalities and panchayats could be organised within 100 days of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

The proposal will have to be cleared by Parliament for it to be implemented. It will also require a constitutional amendment, which would have to be ratified by the state legislatures.

Holding elections every year “casts a huge burden on the government, businesses, workers, courts, political parties, candidates contesting elections, and civil society at large”, said the report which submitted in March this year.

“The recommendations [of the report] will be discussed at various forums across the country,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday, urging the public to participate in the discussions.

“A implementation group will be created to implement the report through legal processes,” he said.

The Opposition parties have been criticising the Union government, saying that it has acted unilaterally in taking steps to implement the “one nation, one election” plan.