‘One nation, one election’: Law panel likely to recommend simultaneous polls in 2029
New Delhi, February 28
The Law Commission is likely to recommend ‘one nation, one election’, i.e., simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies across India by mid-2029, sources said on Wednesday.
Headed by Justice (Retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, the commission is expected to propose adding a new chapter to the Constitution on ‘one nation, one election’ to make it possible to hold the world’s largest democratic exercise, they said.
The law panel’s report on the three-tier simultaneous polls was expected to be out very soon as Justice Awasthi has been appointed as a judicial member of the Lokpal and the report has to be submitted to the Government before he takes over his new assignment, they said.
A high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind is also working on ‘one nation, one election’ and holding deliberations with various stakeholders, including political parties to make it a reality by effecting necessary changes in the Constitution and the existing legal framework.
The Law Commission would recommend synchronising the terms of legislative assemblies in “three phases” in the coming five years to ensure that the first simultaneous polls are held in May-June 2029 when the 19th Lok Sabha would be elected.
The amendment would include issues related to “simultaneous election”, “sustainability of simultaneous elections” and “common electoral roll” for Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, panchayats and municipalities so that simultaneous polls could be held together “in one go”, they said.
The new chapter being recommended will have an overriding effect over other provisions in the Constitution dealing with terms of assemblies and the five-year period in which the terms of assemblies will be synchronised will be spread over three phases.
The first phase may deal with state assemblies whose period will have to be curtailed by a few months — three or six months and in case a government falls due to no confidence or if there is a hung House, the law panel was likely to recommend constitution of a “unity government” with representatives from various political parties, the sources said.
If the unity government formula does not work, fresh elections could be held for the remainder of the term of the House to ensure that the next election for that House is held simultaneously with the rest of the country, they said.
Along with the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in April-May this year, elections for five assemblies were likely to take place, followed by polls for assemblies in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year.
Bihar and Delhi assembly polls are scheduled for next year, while Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala are scheduled for 2026, and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur in 2027. Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana are likely to have assembly polls 2028.
