One nation, one election: Top 10 recommendations by Ram Nath Kovind panel

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous elections.

Simultaneous polls were held in the country between 1951 and 1967. The concept of simultaneous elections has featured in many reports and studies since 1983, essentially implying a return to the previous practice of conducting polls concurrently, the panel has noted.

The top 10 recommendations on simultaneous polls made by the high-level panel on “one nation, one election” are:

1. The government must develop a legally tenable mechanism in order to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.
2. In the first stage, elections for Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies can be held together.
3. In the second step, the elections to municipalities and panchayats will be synchronised with Lok Sabha and state assemblies in such a way that elections to municipalities and panchayats are held within 100 days of the holding of parliamentary and assembly polls.
4. For the purpose of synchronising Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the president shall notify the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election as the “appointed date”.
5. The tenure of all state assemblies formed via polls after the “appointed date” and before the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha, will be only for the period ending up to the subsequent parliamentary polls. After this one-time transitory measure, all Lok Sabha and assembly polls will be held simultaneously.
6. Fresh elections could be held to constitute a new Lok Sabha in the event of a hung House or a no-confidence motion, or any such event.
7. Where fresh elections are held for the House of the People (Lok Sabha), the tenure of the House will be “only for the unexpired (remaining) term of the immediately preceding full term of the House.
8. When fresh elections are held for state legislative assemblies, then such new assemblies — unless sooner dissolved — shall continue up to the end of the full term of Lok Sabha.
9. A single electoral roll and Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be prepared by the Election Commission of India in consultation with the State Election Commission and the same will substitute any other electoral roll prepared by ECI.
10. For making logistical arrangements for the conduct of simultaneous elections, the ECI may draw up a plan and estimate in advance for the procurement of equipment, such as EVMs and VVPATs, deployment of polling personnel and security forces and make other necessary arrangements.