“Promises To Redefine Good Governance”: President Backs One Nation, One Poll 

Calling it a reform that will “redefine the terms of good governance”, President Droupadi Murmu said the ‘One Nation One Election’ bill will help check “policy paralysis, mitigate resource division, and reduce financial burden”. 

“Reforms of such magnitude require an audacity of vision. Another measure that promises to redefine the terms of good governance is the Bill introduced in Parliament to synchronise election schedules in the country. The ‘One Nation One Election’ plan can promote consistency in governance, prevent policy paralysis, mitigate resource diversion, and reduce the financial burden, apart from offering many other benefits,” said President Murmu addressing the nation on the eve of 76th Republic Day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has frequently emphasised the need for simultaneous polls, arguing that the country incurs significant costs and disruptions from ongoing election seasons.

Former president Ram Nath Kovind, who headed a panel on ‘one nation, one election,’ has said that the idea of simultaneous polls was perceived by the framers of the Constitution and therefore it cannot be unconstitutional. He pointed out that the first four Lok Sabha and assembly polls were held together till 1967, asking how could synchronised polls be dubbed as unconstitutional.

The Congress has argued that the simultaneous polls idea is against the basic structure of the Constitution and that it would oppose it “tooth and nail”. It has also called the idea of ‘one nation, one election’ anti-democratic and anti-federal.

Apart from syncing electoral cycles, there is no real clarity on how to deal with breaks due to dissolution of Houses, President’s Rule, or even a hung Assembly or Parliament.