ONE NATION ONE ELECTION

Introduction:Recently,after 17 lok sabha elections we heard a new term "ONE NATION ONE ELECTION''.The idea behind this term is similar to other terms like one Nation one education,one nation one card,etc.The idea behind this policy is to synchronize the Indian election system and to conduct elections of state and central simultaneously to save valuable money and man power which can be invested for development of country.

Necessity of ONE NATION ONE ELECTION:We are the largest democracy of world and one of the key feature of a democratic country is free and fair election.The election which are conducted in our country involves the use of huge slump of money and the entire government machinery remains busy for conducting the elections.If we closely observe the expenditure in past elections we can notice the trend that after every five years the expenditure rises to a high level and breaks its own record.In 1952 for the first Lok Sabha elections it costs around Rs.10.45 cr.In 2009 Lok Sabha the cost of exchequer was Rs.1,483cr.In 2014 general elections ,the government spent a slump of 3,870cr. (by ECI report )similar amount was spent by Home ministry,Indian railways to ensure that systems are properly in place.

The expenditure done by political parties is exclusive of the above mentioned expenditure and only the expenditure of Lok Sabha election is mentioned leaving behind the huge sum of money invested in assembly electon of state.According to a data published by Delhi based Centre for media studies, this time polling exercise,due start on april 11 and lasted on may19,2019 will cost an unprecedented 50000cr.In such a huge amount an AIIMS can be established in every state of India,we can procure S-400 missile system on spot.

Benefits:The concept of One Nation One Election is also advocated by Law Commission Of India in its report.If the election of nation and state assembly will be conducted simultaneously we will focus on developmental goals for the next five years without disturbing the machineries of stateWe will be able to save a lot of money and energy.

Early Developments related to One Nation One Election:The concept of One Nation One Election was tried during 1952-1967 in this tenure the elections of centre and state were held together.However,due to premature dissolution of some states,the system got disturbed and these non predictable events kept taking place at centre and among state government.

Amendments Required for this system to be implemented :1.Article83{Duration of house of Parliament}

2.Article85{Dissolution of Lok Sabha by President}

3.Article 172{duration of state assemblies}

4.Article174{Dissolution of state government}

5.Article356{President's rule }

Amendment in Representation of Peoples Act 1951 and restructuring the power and functions of Election Commission to facilitate procedures required for simultaneous election

These amendments will be done by 2/3rd majority of parliament.Some state government will have to sacrifice their tenure.

A Question of Law regarding One Nation One Election:Will it undermine our federal structure or not?