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Concerns
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Clarification by the committee
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- Unconstitutional- It requires premature dissolution of state Legislative Assemblies, which could be against the people’s will.
- Altering fixed terms for Parliament and Assemblies would violate the Constitution’s basic structure.
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- While Articles 83 and 172 specify a maximum term of 5 years, they do not mandate a minimum term.
- Free and fair election- The committee emphasizes on the Golden Triangle of the Constitution (Article 14, 19 and 21), it says that the simultaneous elections don’t “impinge upon citizens’ rights under Part III or rule of law or any other feature such as a free and independent judiciary
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- Against democratic principles- One Nation, One Election would hamper the electoral process.
- The scheme would also violate the rights of citizens.
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- Resource utilization- It argues that simultaneous elections would optimize the use of time, reduce financial burden which is a major concern of free and fair elections.
- Improve governance- The governments would focus less on populist measures, leading to better governance.
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- Undermines federalism- The simultaneous elections would infringe upon states' rights
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- Article 327- It grants Parliament the authority to make provisions for all election-related matters to both Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures, including electoral rolls and constituency delimitation.
- Article 328- It allows States to legislate on elections to their Legislative Assembly to the extent that it is not covered by Parliamentary legislation.
- It asserts that simultaneous elections do not encroach upon States' constitutional rights in this regard.
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- Failure to address special conditions- The proposal lacks lacks provisions to address the issue of a hung Parliament/Assembly.
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- Sarkaria commission- It talks about this commission which addressed the issue and gave suggestions to address the challenge. The Governor can do the following in the same order of preference.
- Invite pre-election coalition
- Largest party to stake the claim with the support of others, including independents.
- Post-election coalition of parties can be invited
- Post-election coalition with some parties in the coalition form the government, and others support it from outside.
- The report mentions that the government, the leader of the House, and the elected executive must have the confidence of the House.
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