The government is ready to launch its One Country One Election project and can introduce a bill in parliament in this session, a leading media house quoted sources as saying.
The Cabinet has already approved the report of the Ram Nath Kovind Committee on One Country One Election. The government now wants to form consensus on the bill and can send it to a Joint Parliamentary Committee or JPC for detailed discussions, sources said. The JPC will hold discussions with representatives of all political parties. The other stakeholders will be involved in the process too, sources said. Speakers of all state assemblies can also be called along with intellectuals from across the country. The opinion of common people will also be taken.
Initially, the government wants to involve the people and the ways and means to achieve this can be discussed later, sources said.
Changing the current system will be extremely challenging in the absence of a consensus.
Implementing the “One nation one election” plan would involve at least six bills to amend the Constitution and the government would require a two-thirds majority in parliament.
While the NDA has a simple majority in both houses of parliament, getting two-thirds majority in either house could be an uphill task.
Of the 245 seats in Rajya Sabha, the NDA has 112, the Opposition parties 85. For a two-thirds majority, the government needs at least 164 votes.
Even in the Lok Sabha, the NDA has 292 of 545 seats. The two-thirds majority mark stands at 364. But the situation could be dynamic, since the majority would be counted only in terms of the members present and voting.
The government has been pushing for simultaneous elections for a while, contending that the current system is a drain on time, money and effort. Then there is the question of the Model Code of Conduct, declared before elections, which puts brakes on development work, the government has pointed out.
The Opposition has called the idea impractical, pointing to the logistical challenged the poll commission faces in just holding the state elections that sometimes run into multiple phases.
The simultaneous election idea is also undemocratic and unconstitutional, the Opposition has contended.
The Kovind report has suggested that the government create bipartisan support and a countrywide narrative. The implementation of “One Nation One Election” can only happen after 2029, the report has recommended.
