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India has nearly a billion eligible voters
India, the world's largest democracy, is almost always in election mode.
With 28 states, eight union territories and nearly a billion eligible voters, polls are a constant feature of the country's political landscape.
For years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been pushing the idea of ”One Nation, One Election” – a proposal to hold simultaneous state and federal elections every five years.
On Tuesday, India's law minister introduced a bill to implement the system in Parliament, sparking a debate about the power dynamics.
Supporters argue that this approach would reduce campaign costs, ease pressure on administrative resources and streamline governance.
Former President Ram Nath Kovind, who led a nine-member committee that recommended holding elections this time last year, called it a “game changer”, citing economists who say it would could increase India's GDP by up to 1.5%.
Critics warn, however, that this could erode India's federal structure, concentrating power at the center and weakening state autonomy.
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PM Modi supported holding simultaneous elections
What is a nation, an election?
Indian democracy operates on several levels, each with its own electoral cycle.
There are general elections to choose members of Parliament, national elections to choose legislators, while rural and urban councils hold separate votes for local governance. By-elections fill vacancies caused by the resignation, death or disqualification of representatives.
These elections take place every five years, but at different times. The government now wants to synchronize them.
In March, a Kovind-led panel proposed holding simultaneous state and general elections in its detailed 18,626-page report. He also recommended local elections within 100 days.
The commission suggested that if a government loses an election, new polls would be held, but its mandate would only last until the next synchronized elections.
Although it may seem intense, simultaneous polls are not new in India. This was the norm from the first elections in 1951 until 1967, when political upheaval and early dissolutions of state assemblies led to staggered polls.
Efforts to revive the system have been debated for decades, with proposals from the Election Commission in 1983, the Law Commission in 1999 and Niti Aayog, a government think tank, in 2017.
Does India need simultaneous elections?
The main argument in favor of holding simultaneous elections is the reduction of electoral costs.
According to the Center for Media Studies, a non-profit organization based in Delhi, India spent more than 600 billion rupees ($7.07 billion; £5.54 billion) on the elections 2019 general elections, making them the most expensive elections in the world at the time.
However, critics say the same goal – reducing costs – could backfire.
With 900 million eligible voters, ensuring sufficient numbers of electronic voting machines, security forces and poll workers would require considerable planning and resources.
According to a 2015 parliamentary committee report from the Ministry of Law and Justice, India already spends 45 billion rupees on general and national elections.
The report mentions that if simultaneous elections were held, a total of Rs 92.84 billion would be required to acquire new Voter Verifiable Paper Voting and Verification (VVPAT) machines, which dispense a slip of paper bearing the symbol of the party chosen by the voter. These machines should also be replaced every 15 years.
Former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi raised concerns over high costs. He said they should have been addressed in the Kovind committee report, especially since reducing election expenditure was one of the main reasons behind the proposal.
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A nine-member committee headed by former President Ramnath Kovind recommended holding simultaneous elections
What are the main challenges in implementing this proposal?
Implementing simultaneous elections requires making formal amendments or revisions to specific provisions (or articles) of the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. Some of these changes would need to be ratified by at least half of India's 28 state assemblies.
Although the BJP-led alliance has a simple majority in Parliament, it lacks the two-thirds majority needed for such amendments.
The Kovind committee studied models from countries like South Africa, Sweden and Indonesia, suggesting their best practices for India.
In September, the cabinet approved the proposal to hold simultaneous elections and on Thursday supported two bills supporting the system.
Federal Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal presented the bills in Parliament.
One bill proposes a constitutional amendment to allow joint federal and state elections, while another seeks to bring assembly polls in Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir in line with the general election schedule.
The government has said it is ready to refer the bills to a parliamentary committee and consult political parties to reach a consensus.
Who supports the proposal and who opposes it?
The Kovind Committee contacted all Indian parties for their comments, and 47 of them responded: 32 supported simultaneous elections, while 15 opposed them.
Most supporters were allies of the BJP or friendly parties, citing savings in time, costs and resources.
The BJP has argued that the model code of conduct has cost India “800 days of governance” over the past five years by delaying welfare programs.
Prime Minister Modi supported simultaneous elections.
“Frequent elections hinder the progress of the nation,” he said in August. “As elections take place every three to six months, each project is linked to the polls.”
Opposition parties, led by the Congress, called the simultaneous polls “undemocratic” and said they undermined the country's parliamentary system of government. They argue that such a configuration would give an unfair advantage to national parties over regional parties.
The parties also recommended improving the transparency of the financing process as the best solution to address concerns about election costs.
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