The discussion regarding One Country One Election i.e. One Nation One Election is now at its peak. Even the high level committee formed to consider its possibility has submitted its report to President Draupadi Murmu on Thursday. In this 18,626-page report prepared in 191 days, 47 political parties have shared their views with the committee.
The biggest thing is that 32 political parties have supported One Nation One Election. Now the question arises whether after this report the way will be cleared for ‘one nation, one election’ in the country or will it still have to stand the test of many constitutional questions? Apart from this, in this article we will also know how many amendments will have to be made in the Constitution for one country, one election and if this happens, then how much money will be saved for the country by implementing this process.
What is One Nation One Election?
The slogan ‘One Nation, One Election’ is in itself the answer to this question. If explained in simple language, One Nation One Election means that the assembly elections of all the states and the Lok Sabha elections of the country should be held simultaneously. This is already happening in many countries of the world. Even in India, till 1967, elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held simultaneously.
Whereas, if we talk about the present, in countries like Sweden, South Africa, Brazil, Philippines, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana and Honduras, presidential and legislative elections are held simultaneously under the presidential system. Even the format of our neighboring country Pakistan is largely similar to One Nation One Election.
How many amendments will have to be made to the Constitution?
Now coming to the question that if One Nation One Election format is to be implemented in the country, then how many amendments will have to be made in the Constitution for this. If reports are to be believed, at least 18 amendments will have to be made in the Constitution to implement One Nation One Election in the country. Apart from this, changes will also have to be made in Articles 325 and 324A.
In an interview given to BBC, former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat had said that if the government wants to implement One Nation One Election in the country, then for this it will have to amend 5 articles of the Constitution. Apart from this, the tenure of the assemblies and the provisions for imposing President’s rule will also have to be changed.
How much money will this save?
Before knowing how much money the country will save through One Nation One Election, understand how much money is spent in conducting elections in India. According to a report by the Center for Media Studies, when the Lok Sabha elections were held in the year 2019, an expenditure of Rs 55,000 crore was incurred. According to a report of Indian Express, Rs 1115 crore was spent in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Whereas Rs 3870 crore was spent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Whereas in the year 2022, when elections were held in five states, the Election Commission, while giving information about the expenditure incurred in the assembly elections held in Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand, had said that an amount of more than Rs 500 crore was spent in the elections of these states. It was spent only on election campaign. Now coming to the question that if all the elections in the country are held simultaneously then how much expenditure can be saved.
To know the answer to this question, we will have to look at a report of the Law Commission, in which it was said that if in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections And if assembly elections of different states of the country are held simultaneously, then the expenditure of Rs 4500 crore will increase further. However, after this, this expenditure will gradually start reducing and at present there is no concrete research available about how much this expenditure will reduce.
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