Today's Headlines - 02 September 2023
Govt forms committee on simultaneous elections
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)
The government has constituted a committee headed by former president of India Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of “one nation, one election” on 1 September 2023. Over the years, the Prime Minister has pushed for the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.
What are the arguments around holding simultaneous elections?
There are pros and cons here. Making polls simultaneous would address various concerns, such as reducing the cost of holding elections and limiting all elections to a single season.
At present, there is an election in one state or the other at almost any given time, and those who favour simultaneous polls argue that the Model Code of Conduct gets in the way of the government announcing projects or policy plans.
Against the idea, the arguments include the complexity of such an exercise, the widely held view that simultaneous polls would benefit the nationally dominant party at the cost of regional players, and the complications that would arise if any of the governments were to collapse before completing its term. Leave alone state legislatures, even the central government could fall.
Of the Lok Sabhas since 1952, many were dissolved ahead of schedule — such as in 1971, 1980, 1984, 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
There would also be logistical issues, requiring about twice as many electronic voting machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines.
Has the idea of simultaneous polls been explored before?
The Election Commission had suggested back in 1983 that such a system be worked out.
The Law Commission headed by Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, in its 170th Report in May 1999, stated, “We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once”.
In 2003, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took up the issue with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She appeared initially receptive, but the idea did not take off from there.
In 2010, BJP leader LK Advani met with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and then wrote in his blog: “I found both of them (PM and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee) receptive to a proposal I have been advocating for quite some time: fixed term legislatures and simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.”
Sunil Arora also said in 2019, that the EC would be supportive of the idea. “Yes, we would also prefer it. And this is not a bureaucratic statement, just saying we agree in principle, etc.”
#upsc #news #headline #govtforms #committee #simultaneous #elections #polity #india #president #RamNathKovind #onenation #oneelection #primeminister #loksabha #polls #simultaneous #arguments #modelcode #dominantparty #collapse #term #trailmachines #electioncommission #JeevanReddy #AtalBihariVajpayee #Soniagandhi #LKAdvani #primeminister #ManmohanSingh #SunilArora
Govt forms committee on simultaneous elections
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)
The government has constituted a committee headed by former president of India Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of “one nation, one election” on 1 September 2023. Over the years, the Prime Minister has pushed for the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.
What are the arguments around holding simultaneous elections?
There are pros and cons here. Making polls simultaneous would address various concerns, such as reducing the cost of holding elections and limiting all elections to a single season.
At present, there is an election in one state or the other at almost any given time, and those who favour simultaneous polls argue that the Model Code of Conduct gets in the way of the government announcing projects or policy plans.
Against the idea, the arguments include the complexity of such an exercise, the widely held view that simultaneous polls would benefit the nationally dominant party at the cost of regional players, and the complications that would arise if any of the governments were to collapse before completing its term. Leave alone state legislatures, even the central government could fall.
Of the Lok Sabhas since 1952, many were dissolved ahead of schedule — such as in 1971, 1980, 1984, 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
There would also be logistical issues, requiring about twice as many electronic voting machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines.
Has the idea of simultaneous polls been explored before?
The Election Commission had suggested back in 1983 that such a system be worked out.
The Law Commission headed by Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, in its 170th Report in May 1999, stated, “We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once”.
In 2003, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took up the issue with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She appeared initially receptive, but the idea did not take off from there.
In 2010, BJP leader LK Advani met with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and then wrote in his blog: “I found both of them (PM and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee) receptive to a proposal I have been advocating for quite some time: fixed term legislatures and simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.”
Sunil Arora also said in 2019, that the EC would be supportive of the idea. “Yes, we would also prefer it. And this is not a bureaucratic statement, just saying we agree in principle, etc.”
#upsc #news #headline #govtforms #committee #simultaneous #elections #polity #india #president #RamNathKovind #onenation #oneelection #primeminister #loksabha #polls #simultaneous #arguments #modelcode #dominantparty #collapse #term #trailmachines #electioncommission #JeevanReddy #AtalBihariVajpayee #Soniagandhi #LKAdvani #primeminister #ManmohanSingh #SunilArora