One Nation One Election: History, the Kovind Committee, the 129th Amendment Bill and the Arguments For and Against (UPSC Notes)

Background: what simultaneous elections mean

Simultaneous elections mean holding polls to the Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies at the same time, so that voters cast both votes on the same day or in the same phase. India did this in the first four general elections of 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967. The cycle broke when several State governments fell after 1967 and Assemblies were dissolved early, and when the Lok Sabha itself was dissolved a year early in 1970. Since then, some election or other is held almost every year, often several times. Supporters of the idea, now called One Nation, One Election, argue that constant campaigning costs money, diverts officials and security forces and keeps governments in election mode. Critics fear it would weaken federalism and blur State and national issues.

How the cycle broke

The first four general elections were simultaneous. Early dissolution of some Assemblies in 1968-69 and of the Lok Sabha in 1970 broke the pattern. Since then India is almost always in election mode somewhere: in a typical five-year cycle, more than 25 State polls follow the general election.

The reports

• Election Commission (1983) first suggested going back to simultaneous polls.
• Law Commission, 170th Report (1999) on electoral reform.
• Parliamentary Standing Committee (2015) and NITI Aayog discussion paper (2017).
• Law Commission draft report (2018).
• High Level Committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, report in March 2024: Lok Sabha and Assemblies together first, then municipalities and panchayats within 100 days; a single electoral roll; if a House is dissolved early, fresh elections only for the “unexpired term”.

The Bill

Introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2024 and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee. It would add Article 82A (an “appointed date” after a general election from which all Assembly terms end with the Lok Sabha’s) and amend Articles 83, 172 and 327. Synchronising local bodies needs a separate amendment ratified by half the States, since it touches State List subjects.

Arguments for and against

Arguments at a glance

How to write it in Mains

Avoid a for-or-against speech. Show the problem (constant campaigning), the design questions (no-confidence, hung House, unexpired terms), and the safeguards needed: a constructive vote of no-confidence like Germany’s, a phased start, and consensus with States. Germany and South Africa hold national and provincial elections together; Sweden fixes its election date.

Constitutional changes involved

Lessons from other democracies

Few large democracies hold all levels of elections together. South Africa elects its national and provincial legislatures on the same day every five years, and Sweden holds national, county and municipal elections together on a fixed date every four years. Both have fixed terms. The United Kingdom tried a Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2011 but repealed it in 2022, restoring the power to call early elections. These examples show that synchronisation works best where terms are fixed and early dissolution is rare. In India, with its parliamentary system, coalitions and frequent use of no-confidence motions in the past, the hardest question is what to do when a government falls mid-term, which is why the debate focuses on unexpired-term elections and constructive no-confidence ideas.

What the 2024 Bill proposes

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 follows the main lines of the High Level Committee. It proposes a new Article 82A. After a general election, the President would notify an appointed date at the first sitting of the new Lok Sabha. All State Assemblies elected after that date would have their terms end together with the full term of the Lok Sabha, so that the next round of elections is simultaneous. If the Lok Sabha or an Assembly is dissolved early, fresh elections would be held only for the unexpired term, keeping the common cycle intact. The Election Commission could recommend that elections to a particular Assembly be deferred if they cannot be held together, subject to the Assembly’s term ending with the common cycle. Amendments to Articles 83, 172 and 327 support these changes. A companion Bill makes matching changes for the Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. Elections to panchayats and municipalities are not part of this Bill; the committee had suggested synchronising them in a second stage.

For a balanced answer, note that the debate is not only about cost, but about how accountability and federal autonomy can be preserved inside a fixed calendar.

Practical questions for the Election Commission

Holding every Lok Sabha and Assembly poll together would need a very large stock of electronic voting machines and VVPAT units, since each voter would use two sets of machines, as well as storage, transport, first-level checks and trained staff. The Election Commission has in the past estimated that machines would have to be bought in large numbers and replaced every fifteen years or so. A single electoral roll and a single photo identity card for all three tiers of elections is another proposal, since State Election Commissions now prepare separate rolls for local bodies in many States. Security forces would have to be deployed across the country in fewer phases, which raises its own planning challenge.

The Commission would also need a clear legal basis for deferring a particular State’s poll, and clear rules for by-elections and unexpired-term elections, so that the common calendar does not create long gaps without an elected government.

One Nation One Election: UPSC angle

One Nation One Election UPSC PYQs (Prelims)

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No Prelims question in the Battle IAS bank is directly on this topic yet.

Mains PYQs on this topic

No UPSC Mains question from 2023-2026 is directly on this topic. Older papers (2013-2022) will be added as the Mains bank grows.

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Image: Election Commission of India, Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India