What is One Nation One Election- Find its Advantages and Disadvantages?

After the election results and Oath completion, from many days we are finding One Nation One Election in news channels, papers and on social media. As the world knows India is called the largest democratic country in the world because China is the communist country despite most populous country. The general elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies are held at the gap of five years. But the most important thing that must be noted here is it is observed that election is a whole year process in India where many preparations and other planning is done throughout the year. We can clearly see that the government spends a lot of money, time and energy on the conduct of different elections either it could be of corporate, Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. It is the only reason that the government of India is thinking about “One Nation One Election” system in India.

One Nation One Election System

At the initial level, we must understand that General election for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are held at the gap of every five years in India. But in addition to this; elections for the different State Assemblies are held in some states separately which put a huge burden on the government as they have to spend a lot of money, time and other resources on it. Here BJP led NDA government wants to go for just one election in the whole country.

One Nation One Election is not a unique experiment in our country. Before in the past year’s elections have been conducted for the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies simultaneously in India in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967.

This practice was discontinued in 1968-69 because some Legislative Assemblies were dissolved earlier due to various reasons. Since then India is trying hard to adopt the old election system but there is no consensus among the political parties.

Now what are the advantages and disadvantages of “One Nation One Election”

“One Nation One Election”- Major Advantages

1-The biggest logic in favor of the simultaneous election is the saving of government money? “One Nation One Election” it will save huge money.

2. It is an open secret that elections are fought with black money. A huge black turned into white money during elections in the country. So if the elections are conducted throughout the year then there is a possibility that parallel economy will grow in the country resulting in growth.

3. It is observed that when the election Model Code of Conduct is in force then the inauguration of new projects does not take place. So one-time election will ensure continuity in policies and programs of the central and state governments.

4. Concerned government deploys huge manpower and machinery to conduct free and fair elections in the country and states. Schools and colleges open on time; teachers and other officials are allowed to work in their respective departments which ease the life of the general public.

5. If elections are not conducted annually then the government need not woo the general public through lucrative schemes and make caste and religion-based programs. Even State and Central Government need not prepare a lucrative budget every year and they can take tough decisions for the betterment of the economy.

“One Nation One Election”- Disadvantages

1. It is observed that elections for state assemblies and Lok Sabha are fought on different issues. Regional parties target local issues while national parties target national issues.

2. Regional parties will not be able to compete with national parties in terms of election expenditure and election strategy. Assembly elections are closely associated with the local issues and local voters. Hence one-time election will not be accepted by the regional parties.

3. Delay in Election Results as If elections are conducted in one-time mode then the results of the elections will be declared very late.

4. The requirement of Huge Machinery & Resources because India is the largest democracy in the world so it will be a daunting task to conduct the simultaneous election in all the states, UTs, and Lok Sabha.

According to the Law Commission, if the country goes for simultaneous election then the election commission needs to spend Rs 4,500 crore on new EVMs.

In the present scenario, it seems tough to adopt the system of “One Nation One Election” because the regional parties will not agree to adopt this system because they have experienced the worst defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections. So before getting the consensus of all political parties, the central government need to do the required preparation for the “One Nation One Election”. But if we see on all the sides of it we will find One Nation One Elections as a good option in favor of the country.