The Union Cupboard on Wednesday gave its nod to the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, as per the Kovind committee’s suggestion, introduced Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The high-level committee’s report on ‘one nation, one election’ was introduced to the Union Cupboard the identical day. The committee, led by ex-president Ram Nath Kovind, had initially submitted its findings in March, simply earlier than the Lok Sabha election dates have been declared.
The approval of the report was unanimous, Vaishnaw confirmed. The submission of the report back to the Cupboard aligns with the regulation ministry’s agenda for the primary 100 days. The committee steered that the Lok Sabha and state Meeting elections needs to be carried out concurrently as an preliminary measure, adopted by aligned native physique elections inside the subsequent 100 days.
Moreover, the committee proposed the formation of an ‘Implementation Group’ tasked with overseeing the applying of the committee’s suggestions. It additionally suggested the Election Fee of India (ECI), in collaboration with state election our bodies, to arrange a unified electoral roll and voter ID playing cards.
At the moment, the ECI oversees Lok Sabha and Meeting elections, whereas state election commissions handle native physique elections for municipalities and panchayats. The committee’s suggestions embody as much as 18 constitutional amendments, nearly all of which don’t require ratification by state Assemblies. Nonetheless, these amendments will necessitate the passage of particular Structure modification Payments in Parliament.
Sure suggestions, similar to these pertaining to a single electoral roll and voter ID card, would require the approval of at the very least half of the states. In a associated improvement, the Legislation Fee is predicted to launch its report on simultaneous elections quickly, an idea strongly supported by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It’s anticipated that the Legislation Fee will counsel conducting concurrent elections for all three ranges of presidency—the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, and native our bodies like municipalities and panchayats—beginning with the elections in 2029, and likewise suggest a framework for a unity authorities in situations like a hung parliament.
