Highlights

• In principle, there are obvious advantages to the ‘one nation, one election’ idea — election expenditure will be drastically cut and ruling dispensations will be able to focus on legislation and governance rather than having to be in campaign mode forever.
• However, as many of the naysayers have pointed out, the idea is fraught with practical difficulties.
• Also, some parties fear that a simultaneous poll, particularly in this era where news is easily and widely disseminated, will privilege national issues over regional ones even if, arguably, the reverse may happen too.
• The issue is that synchronisation would involve curtailment or extension of the tenure of a House — the legal propriety of which is questionable.

Proposals

• The key proposal is that Assemblies be bunched into two categories based on whether their terms end close to the 2019 or the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
• If a mid-term election has to be held, the term of such a House would only be for the remainder of its tenure.
• Allowing a one-time waiver of the anti-defection law to enable the House to elect a leader in the event of a hung House is another proposal.

Also, there are many pressing reforms needed in the electoral space including curbing the use of black money to fund elections and tackling the staggered manner in which elections are held in many States.

Source: The Hindu

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