Context:

• The Union government announced a committee to explore the possibility of simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

About Simultaneous election/One Nation One Election:

• One Nation One Election refers to conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, thereby synchronizing the election cycle and reducing the frequency of elections. 
• This would involve holding elections in all states and the Lok Sabha in a gap of five years, allowing voters to cast their votes for both the LS and state assemblies on the same day, either simultaneously or in a phased manner. 
  • By doing so, it aims to address the current situation where elections take place throughout the year due to staggered terms and premature dissolutions.

Benefits of simultaneous elections:

• Reduced Expenditure: It will lead to avoidance of replication of efforts in holding repeated elections and will bring considerable savings to political parties and candidates in their election campaigns.
  • As per annual audit reports of political parties submitted to the Election Commission of India, more than Rs 6,500 crore was spent on elections between 2015 and 2020.
• Issue of model code of conduct:Simultaneous elections can mitigate the issue of the Model Code of Conduct which sometimes hinders the government from announcing projects or policy plans.
• Improved Governance: Simultaneous elections will allow elected governments and ruling parties to concentrate on governance rather than diverting their attention towards frequent election preparations in various regions.
• Disruption of public services: Deputing government employees frequently on election duty can hinder public services resulting in challenges for the smooth functioning of government operations and delivery of services to the public.
• Curbing black money: Frequent elections have been associated with the possibility of black money being turned into white money, leading to the emergence of a parallel economy. Holding one-time elections could help reduce such a possibility.
• Fostering unity: Simultaneous polls promote a national perspective over regional ones, which is important for cultivating unity within the country.
• Recommendations of Law Commission: As per the Commission, simultaneous elections can help prevent the nation from being in a constant election mode and also increase voter turnout.

Views of Reports in favour of Simultaneous Elections: 

• 170th Report of the Law Commission of India, “Reform of Electoral Laws” (1999):
  • The Commission observed that holding of separate elections to State Legislative Assemblies should be an exception and not the rule. The rule must be one election once in five years for LokSabha and all the Legislative Assemblies.
• 79th Report of Parliamentary Standing Committee, 2015: The Committee noted several justifications for holding simultaneous elections:
  • The massive expenditure that is currently incurred for the conduct of separate elections.
  • The policy paralysis that results from the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during election time. 
  • Impact on delivery of essential services.
  • Burden on crucial manpower that is deployed during election time.

Challanges: 

• Against federal structure: It has the tendency of moving the country towards a unitary state rather than a federal one that the Constitution envisages. 
• Fading of local issues: Mixing of national and regional issues will lead to fading of local issues, distorting priorities and giving an unfair advantage to national parties over regional ones.
• Logistic Challenges: Logistical challenges could arise in organizing simultaneous elections once in five years, especially with the deployment of security forces in large numbers for free and fair conduct.
• Scheduling Challenges: Scheduling time slots may be a challenge due to India’s geographical and administrative diversity, including weather, agricultural cycles, exam schedules, religious festivals, and public holidays.
• Controlling mid term dissolution: Ensuring adequate legal safeguards would be a challenge which is necessary to prevent mid-term dissolution of Houses and protecting the simultaneous elections cycle.

News Source: Hindustan times