Irfan Hashmi
The move of the Narendra Modi-led Government to have one nation, One election is a development of a historic nature that all should appreciate leaving their petty interests.
A few days back in a major development, and viewed as concrete One Nation One Election the Govt of India constituted an 8-member committee to examine ‘One Nation, One Election’.
As a matter of fact, Former President Ram Nath Kovind is Chairman of the committee. Amit Shah, Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Former Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, and others were appointed as members of the committee.
The political opinion on ground zero is appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lead Government for taking in century initiative that will help in saving misuse of financial resources and make the great democracy of India greatest by having all elections on one day.
The Government of India constitutes an 8-member committee to examine ‘One nation, One election’ is being widely loved by countrymen.
While it was announced a few days back that former president Ram Nath Kovind will head the committee, the gazette notification has announced the names of seven other members. The committee includes Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
An important aspect of the notification is that the committee has not been given any time frame to submit its recommendations. Instead, it has been asked to “commence functioning immediately and make recommendations at the earliest.”
This concept has a rich history and legacy in it. The concept of “One Nation, One Election” in India aims to synchronize elections for the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s Parliament) and all state assemblies. The idea is to hold these elections simultaneously, either on a single day or within a specific time frame. It is to be praised that PM Modi has continuously pushed strongly for the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, and the decision to task Kovind to look into it underscores the government’s seriousness.
The entire Bharat is happy that with the implementation of ‘One Nation, One Election’, the government can focus more on governance rather than being in an election mode, which often kills the vision and policy implementation.
It is a matter of pride that the Chairman of the committee former President Ram Nath Kovind is a personality of par excellence.
He has been an ace politician and lawyer who served as the 14th president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as President of India. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 26th Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. He also served as a Member of Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006. Before entering politics, he was a lawyer for 16 years and practiced in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India until 1993.
It has been observed that Kovind committee’s mandate is to investigate the practicality of the endeavor and devise a mechanism to facilitate the simultaneous conduct of Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, as was the practice until 1967.
The nation of India is feeling confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, since taking the reins of power in 2014, has consistently advocated for the concept of simultaneous elections at all levels, including local bodies. He has cited the financial burden of nearly continuous election cycles and their negative impact on development efforts as the key rationale for this proposal. It will make India great economically as well.
According to the Centre for Media Studies, the Election Commission (EC) pegs the 2019 Lok Sabha polls expenditure at Rs 10,000 crore.
The non-EC estimate is Rs 60,000 crore, including spending by parties and candidates. Simultaneous polls could help save time and money, and governments could get five stable years to focus on governance instead of on winning polls.
One needs to remember that there may be a few challenges but on a holistic level, the move is full of positivity. If India moves towards one nation one election, it will make India a more stable and global leader country.
