One Nation One Election

Elections are the most important part of any democratic country. Different countries have different methods to elect their representatives to form the government. Unlike the US where Presidential elections are conducted, India has national elections for the formation of a new Parliament (to elect new members of Parliament) to form a new govt at the center headed by the PM with his council of ministers. Similarly, election for formation of new State Legislative Assembly( by electing new members of legislative assembly)to form new govt headed by CM with his council of ministers. But, curiously enough, the above two sets of elections are seldom conducted simultaneously with the result our country happens to witness mini elections round the year causing immense financial strain on exchequer besides causing unwanted and avoidable shifting of manpower from productive deployment to manage these mini elections. So, with the changing demography the countries have their own modus operandi to conduct and choose their leader.

It is a well-known fact that electioneering is a time-consuming exercise besides having huge financial implications. The frequency of the election and the quantum of resources involved in conducting them which raises a question mark on the wisdom of policymaker and ask for the review to conduct election for all assemblies along with parliamentary election thereby giving rise to the concept of, “one nation one election” may be the need of the hour for such a diverse country.

Political parties rather than focusing on their manifesto tend to swerve by because of the upcoming election and stalemate development and all other important tasks. So, rather than getting indulged in the mammoth population frequently in elections, a process of synchronization should be taken into consideration so that national and state assembly elections can take place at the same point in time.

Looking at the demography and the diversity of India, the idea of one nation one election definitely needs a marshall plan to reconstruct and synchronize its election process. Further, the election commission India which conducts these mammoth exercises must have wider experience should tender some positive changes so that policymakers may be able to devise the best frame of legislation by bringing out required amendments. But, before making such a significant decision in this vibrant democracy the government needs to build a national consensus and consider the pros and cons of the proposed amendment in the best interest of the nation. While knowing that the election can be influenced by the sentiments of the denizens and elections taking place simultaneously will not be fruitful for a particular state as different states have their different problems. This can lead to a mismatch of the manifesto by political parties for a particular state.

Yes, it is a true fact that elections imbibe lots of time resources of the country but the imperative question is that can we invest so much of resources for the sake of satisfaction of the voters? The most important concern of any democracy is to elect the leader of its citizens' choice. A lot needs to be done in regulating the elections so that the whole point of elections turns out to be meaningful and satisfactory.