BJP President Amit Shah on Monday wrote a letter to the Law Commission regarding ‘One Nation One Poll’ in which he has stated that the BJP is ready for an open debate with the opposition in this regard. ‘One Nation One Poll’ stands for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Here are all the highlights from the letter:
- ‘Politics Blocking Poll reform’
- ‘Reform will bring societal change’
- ‘One should trust voters’
- ‘Should bring reform as per constitution’
- ‘Opposers claim that voters are not aware’
- ‘There should be a public debate’
- Ready to debate with opposition
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Amit Shah’s letter read:
Simultaneous elections will surely improve the delay in implementing the schemes for Development that is caused due to the implementation of model code of conduct during the election procedure which not only affects the services but also affects the schemes for public welfare.
Federalism and simultaneous elections:
There is no relationship between Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, the voters in both the elections vote on different topics, therefore, we should believe the voters. In the year 1967 when the Congress party was voted into power in the centre, the opposition parties formed the government in various other states, in the year 1980 when the congress party won maximum seats in Karnataka Lok Sabha elections the Janata dal won the maximum seats in the Vidhan Sabha elections.
Challenges of Simultaneous elections:
For organizing simultaneous polls of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections there has to be an understanding on the term of vidhan sabha on accepted principles, these principles should be constitutional and should be accepted by law makers, political parties and a common man, to make these acceptable principles. Some constitutional provisions need to be looked into which is explained in detail below:
Article 83 of the Indian Constitution talks about the term of the Parliament ( Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.) According to Article 83 (2) if this term is not disolved prematurely then the decided term is 5 years for the lok sabha. According to Article 172 (1) there is a similar provision for the Vidhan Sabha wherein the decided term is 5 years from the first sitting. Apart from this Article 83(2) of the constitution says that if there is an emergency declared in the country then the term of the assembly can be increased by one year and till the conclusion of such declaration such term cannot be increased for more than six months. According to Article 171(1) a similar provision is laid down for the Vidhan Sabha, the given Articles on the face of it mean that the assembly term cannot be increased for more than 5 years apart from the emergency but can be dissolved pre maturely.
Representation of people Act 1951 gives out directions for holding elections, it gives a constitutional platform to the election commission of India to hold elections, this act also talks about the criteria for becoming a member of the parliament or state assemblies, the general procedure for organizing elections, the procedure of counting of votes, declaration of result, the settlement ofanyelection related dispute etc. The provision of Sec 14(2) says that “Provided that where a general election is held otherwise than on the dissolution of the existing House of the People, no such notification shall be issued at any time earlier than six months prior to the date on which the duration of that House would expire under the provisions of clause (2) of article 83.”
The Sec 15(2) of this act lays down a similar provision for Vidhan Sabhas. This means that if the chief Election Commision, the election commission has the right to notify the state assemblies of the state or general elections six months prior to their dissolution of the term. This does not in anyway change the term of the assemblies.
Discussion over choosing a decided option:
The critics of simultaneous election say that the Indian voter has not yet become fully aware especially when it comes to giving of votes in the National and state election because there is a difference of issues between and the state and the general election. This kind of criticism is factless and does not serve a purpose. Article 326 of the Indian Constitution has laid down that, the elections of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would be held according to accepted voting rights. If the person is a citizen of India and is above 18 years of age and is not disqualified by any Indian law this person shall have the full right to participate in the elections as a voter. The Indian voters are completely qualified to differentiate between issues and vote accordingly.
The question of obstruction of the constitutional framework:
Many critics think that simultaneous elections obstruct the foundation of the constitutional framework of India. This is a factless criticism. However, a fact can be given that because of the simultaneous election the stability provided to the governments will, in reality, strengthen the Constitutional framework of India.
Discussion needed on a national level on this topic:
The BJP in order to achieve the aim of “One Nation one Poll” would like to suggest a general platform so that whoever is the concerned unit– be it The Indian Government, the state government a regional administration– has the responsibility to complete the term of 5 years for public service. We also want to say that the aforementioned are mere suggestions on the basis of which there should be a national debate and all political parties should participate in such debate so that a proper platform can be ensured to achieve the given aim.
This is only possible if there is a healthy and open debate between the concerned parties, wherein an influential medium is created for communication.
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