'One nation, one election': Centre forms panel under former President Kovind to look into the idea

The Centre has formed a committee under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election', PTI said on Friday.

On Thursday, India Today reported that the central government may introduce the 'One Nation, One Election' bill during Parliament's special session from September 18 to 22.

The idea has been mooted several times previously and has been studied by the Law Commission of India. PM Narendra Modi has been pushing the idea to simultaneously hold assembly and general elections. This move, he argues, will bring down the cost of holding elections and also save time for governance.

Assembly polls are due in five states in November-December and they will be followed by the Lok Sabha elections in May-June next year.

To implement the simultaneous elections, changes would be required in the Constitution and other legal frameworks. Experts feel that if such elections are held regional issues might get overshadowed by national issues, affecting the electoral outcome at the state level. 

On Thursday, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced that the government has chosen to convene a Special Session of Parliament scheduled from September 18 to 22, comprising five sittings.

“Special Session of Parliament (13th Session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st Session of Rajya Sabha) is being called from 18th to 22nd September having 5 sittings. Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to having fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament,” Joshi said on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).

The special session of Parliament will be the first such special session in the nine years of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, which had convened a special joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to mark the midnight GST roll-out on June 30, 2017.

According to ANI, the government is eyeing a special session in an attempt to pitch the idea to the public, while also putting forth its achievements in the past five years.