From Panchayat to Lok Sabha…will all elections be held simultaneously in 2029? This is because there are rumours that the Modi government will introduce a bill on “One State, One Election” in its third term. If the bill becomes law, then along with the Lok Sabha elections, state assembly elections are also likely to be held in 2029. Not only this, within three months of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections being held simultaneously, Panchayat and Municipal Corporation elections will also be held.
In fact, sources associated with the government say a One Nation, One Election Bill will be brought during the same term of the Modi government.
One nation, one election has always been one of the top priorities of the Modi government. The BJP has also promised this in its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at the Red Fort on August 15, called on all political parties to come forward for one nation, one election.
How will the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections be conducted in the country? For this purpose, a committee was formed in September last year, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The committee had submitted its report to President Draupadi Murmu on March 14 this year. The 185,000-page report contained recommendations on holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections as well as municipal and panchayat elections.
What is the proposal for holding simultaneous elections?
The committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, said the country can hold elections simultaneously in two phases.
The first phase should be to hold assembly elections in all states along with the Lok Sabha. The committee suggested that this could start in 2029, so that assembly elections could also be held every five years along with the Lok Sabha.
In the second phase, elections to municipalities and panchayats should be held. The elections to municipalities and panchayats should be held within 100 days after the elections to the Lok Sabha.
But how could this happen?
For this purpose, the committee recommended that Article 82A be added to the Constitution. If Article 82A is added, then elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly can be held simultaneously.
If Article 82A is added to the Constitution and implemented, the term of all state legislative assemblies will end with the term of the Lok Sabha. That is, if this article comes into force before 2029, the term of all assemblies will last until 2029.
This means that the term of all state legislative assemblies will end with the term of the Lok Sabha. This means that even if a state holds a parliamentary election in 2027, his term will only last until June 2029. Based on this, all states can hold elections for both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly.
Also read: Will Modi government get Nitish-Naidu support on ‘One Nation One Election’? Know the complete constitutional process
How will the election calendar change?
– 5-year term: The term of the Legislative Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will end with the Lok Sabha. The term of Haryana and Maharashtra will end in six months. This means that in these two states, the Legislative Assemblies will have to be dissolved about six and a half months earlier. The term of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will also end about six and a half months earlier.
– 4-year term: The term of the Jharkhand, Bihar and Delhi assemblies is only four years. The Jharkhand assembly must be dissolved eight months in advance, the Delhi assembly nine months in advance, and the Bihar assembly about 16 months in advance.
– 3-year term: West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will hold elections in 2026. This means that the legislative assemblies in these states will have a term of only three years.
– 2-year term: In 2027, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Punjab, Goa and Manipur will hold assembly elections. The legislatures in these states have a term of only two years.
For a term of 1 year or less: In the remaining ten states – Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Telangana, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – the term of the assemblies is one year or less. The term of the legislative assemblies in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan is also likely to be extended by six months as elections will be held there in December 2028.
What needs to be done for this?
For this, the Constitution must be amended. Former President Kovind’s committee recommended that for this, a new Article 82A must be added while amending Articles 83 and 172 of the Constitution. Article 83 stipulates the term of office of the Lok Sabha, and Article 182 stipulates the term of office of the Legislative Assembly for 5 years.
According to the committee’s report, the constitutional amendment does not need to be approved by the state legislature, which means the central government can make the change directly.
However, Article 325 had to be amended five years ago to dissolve town and village councils. The amendment will come into force only after it is ratified by at least 15 state legislatures.
What if no one gets a majority?
Our country has a multi-party system, so it is very likely that no single party or coalition will be able to secure a majority of seats.
In this case, the largest party or coalition could be invited to form a government. If a government is still not formed, mid-term elections could be held. But whatever government is formed after the elections, its term will not be five years.
For example, no party or coalition will be able to form a government alone in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, and mid-term elections will be held. If a government is formed after that, its term will only last until June 2034. The same formula applies to parliament.
Likewise, if the government collapses five years ago, only mid-term elections will be held, and its term will last until June 2034. In this way, the tradition of one country, one election will not be broken.
But will the country agree?
Convincing state governments to dissolve parliaments before their five-year term could be a difficult task as many political parties are also against one state, one election.
Ramnath Kovind’s committee has contacted 62 political parties. Of these, 32 supported one nation, one election. However, 15 parties were against it. Fifteen parties did not respond.
The Congress, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, CPM, PSS and 15 other political parties opposed it. However, 15 political parties including Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, TDP and Indian Muslim League did not give any reply.
The opposition has put forward many arguments. For example, if elections are held simultaneously, national issues may take precedence over regional issues, and vice versa. As a result, national parties will increase and regional parties will disappear.
Earlier elections were held simultaneously
After independence, the Lok Sabha elections and the Parliament elections were held simultaneously in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967. After that, many parliaments were dissolved prematurely in 1968 and 1969. Thereafter, the Lok Sabha was also dissolved in 1970. Thus, the tradition of simultaneous elections was broken.
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