Page 1 of 6
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 100
Need and Challenges of ‘One-Nation-One-Election’ in India
Lalita
Research Scholar (M. Phil)
Department of Public Administration
M. D. University, Rohtak (Haryana)
Abstract: India is a democratic country and in any democratic setup election is one of the
key component of political process. Therefore, it is considered as the costly affair to conduct
the election with government machinery. First Lok Sabha elections in India were held in
1952 and per person expenditure of the election was less than 50 paisa. Today, elections
have become very costly and billions of money is spent in the elections. This case gets worse
when there are repeated elections in the country. As per the reports from The Hindu in year
2016, the Lok Sabha Elections of Year 2014 was the most expensive election with the
expenditure of 3426 crores rupees. It was 131 percent increased expenditure as compared
to year 2009. In other words, we can trace out that today per person expenditure of the
election is near about 41 Rs. That is why; a debate on the issue has started and the current
government is focusing on the amendments in the constitution so that the common or
centralized elections in the country can be implemented with the reduction in the
expenditures on the elections. This is the key reason that government is planning to
introduce ‘One Nation One Election’ so that the overall expenditures in the election system
can be reduced. The present research paper highlights the need and challenges of the ‘One
Nation One Election’ approach in India.
Keywords: Political System, Elections, One Nation-One Election.
Introduction: Most of the scholars argue that, there is an ample time for the states and
center governments’ to discuss on policy or to implement the policies regarding the ‘One
Nation One Election’ approach in the present political scenario. It is a well-known fact that it
will decrease the cost of elections. It will be good for those who reside outside the India
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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 101
because if they come to vote on election then there will be an opportunity for them to vote
for all elections at one time. Recurrent elections lead to senior leaders at the Centre getting
involved with campaigning often at the cost of their ministerial work suffering. There are
many strong arguments in favour of this approach as well as against it. Thus as we can say
after the study of these arguments that there are strong arguments on both side. If the
instantaneous election happens, there will be some problem for our nation but it is time to
think beyond the boundaries and traditional limit and try to understand the insinuations of
the simultaneous elections. In essence here it is an urgent need to discuss the problem in
the broader political perspectives and to know the validity of the statement whether there
should be one time elections in whole country including states and centre legislatures.
The Concept of One Nation One Election: This concept is not new for the students of polity
or administration. Basically, this theory was basically proposed by Justice B. P. Jeevan,
former head of Law Commision with the excerpts “We must go back to the situation where
the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once”. The theory
asks for all elections to take place on the same day every five years. Reformers and reports
backing this theory suggest that by doing so, we would be able to save costs, resources and
time. Some of the voices that have come out in support of this include former Chief Election
Commissioner SY Quraishi, who says in an interview to Bloomberg Quint, “From the Election
Commission’s point of view this is the easiest thing to happen. The voter is the same, polling
stations are the same, and the security needed is the same.”
Why Do We Need ‘One Nation One Election’:
Various scholars have pointed out some of the advantages of this approach on the following
grounds:
Optimization of Resources and Cost Cutting: To optimize the use of resources and
cost, it is urgently required the implementation of one time elections in India.
Preparing and conducting elections costs the public exchequer hundreds of crore
each time. The money is mostly spent on arrangements, salaries and security.
Page 3 of 6
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 102
Holding simultaneous polls will lead to significant savings of public funds that can be
better utilized elsewhere.
More Focus on the Development of Country: This approach will be beneficial for the
development of country because with elections taking place at various schedules,
political parties and ministers are always in election mode. This disrupts and distorts
agendas with parties deferring reforms or make decisions with short-term views,
thereby depriving citizens of clear policies. Holding simultaneous elections will
ensure that the ministers can dedicate a good four years towards implementing
policies and doing constructive work for their constituencies.
Reduction in the Expenses by the Political Party: All political parties spend large
sums of money in ensuring that no stone is left unturned during campaigning. If we
implement this approach it would reduce election expenses and will save a lot of
money expensed by the political parties as well as by the election machinery.
Effectual Usage of Security Forces: In the elections, security forces are deployed and
such resources are required more in the insurgency situations or national security.
Other than money, the other significant resource needed in abundance is the
deployment of security forces. Holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and
the state legislatures it will free up security forces, who are diverted from their core
duties for each election.
Effective use of Model Code of Conduct: The repeated implementations of elections
cause the activation of model code of conduct and therefore the government is not
able to give benefits for social cause because of the elections.
Limitations of One Nation One Election: However, ‘One Nation One Election’ approach has
been apprehended on the various grounds. Many scholars are in favour of this approach but
there are some limitations as under:
Overshadowing the States: One of the key fallouts of implementing this is
that a bigger ‘centralised’ agenda would overshadow the states and their
regional issues. The current diffused system allows each state to push their
