The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a high-level committee’s recommendation on implementing simultaneous national, state and local polls across India, laying the ground for the far-reaching but controversial reform that can reshape the world’s largest democracy.
The proposal to align elections was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2024 poll manifesto and has the backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but is fiercely opposed by a raft of political parties and activists who allege that it will hurt democratic accountability.
“Cabinet has accepted the recommendations by the high-level committee on one nation, one election,” Union minister for information & broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters at a briefing after the Cabinet meeting.
He said an implementation group will be formed to execute the recommendations of the committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind that submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on March 14.
“We will seek to create a consensus over the next few months... Our government believes in creating a consensus on items which affect democracy and the nation in the long run. This is a subject, a topic that will strengthen our nation,” Vaishnaw said.
To be sure, such a move would require a constitutional amendment, and would need to be endorsed in Parliament by a two-thirds majority and then ratified by state assemblies. It is not clear if the government, which is in power with a reduced majority, can muster up the required numbers.
{{/usCountry}}To be sure, such a move would require a constitutional amendment, and would need to be endorsed in Parliament by a two-thirds majority and then ratified by state assemblies. It is not clear if the government, which is in power with a reduced majority, can muster up the required numbers.
{{/usCountry}}Read more: Union Cabinet approves Kovind panel’s report on ‘one nation, one election’
The 18,000-page Kovind panel report outlined a phased approach to synchronise elections, beginning first with Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and following up with local body polls within 100 days. Modi has repeatedly pitched for simultaneous polls to bring down expenses and cut down on restrictions imposed on policymaking.
BJP leaders said the Cabinet approval is an indication that its decision-making has not been restricted by pressure from allies or the coalition of 14 parties that comprise the ruling National Democratic Alliance. “This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative,” Modi wrote on X.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the move. “It is not practical or sustainable; BJP is doing it to deviate from issues during elections,” he said.
Vaishnaw hit back. “The Opposition might start feeling internal pressure... as more than 80% of respondents, particularly the youth have responded positively to this,” he said.
From the first elections in Independent India in 1952 until 1967, elections were held simultaneously across the country. But since the Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be dissolved before their tenures end, the state and national elections came to be held at different times after that.
Several committees, including a parliamentary panel, the Niti Aayog and the Election Commission of India, have studied simultaneous polls in the past, backing the idea but flagging logistical concerns.
The Kovind panel – set up by the Union government on September 2, 2023 — received responses from 47 political parties, with 32 favouring simultaneous elections. These parties — which include the BJP, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Shiv Sena — said the proposal will save scarce resources, protect social harmony, and stimulate economic development. However, 13 political parties opposed simultaneous elections — including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, CPI(M) — expressing concerns that it could violate the basic structure of the Constitution, be anti-democratic and anti-federal, marginalise regional parties, encourage the dominance of national parties, and lead to a presidential form of government.
Four former Chief Justices of India — Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi, Sharad Arvind Bobde and UU Lalit — and a former judge of the top court unequivocally endorsed simultaneous elections in the report.
The panel finally suggested an amendment to the Constitution to introduce synchronised polls to elect the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step. It also suggested synchronising the elections to municipalities and panchayats with the Lok Sabha and assemblies at a later stage.
National and state elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and local body polls are conducted by state election commissions.
Indicating that 2029 might be the year to start with the first step, the panel recommended that terms of some of the state assemblies will have to be cut to hold simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state legislatures after the five-year term of the next Lok Sabha ends.
The panel proposed a new legal regime, requiring certain amendments to enable simultaneous polls, even as it remained emphatic that the suggested changes are not anti-federal, violate the basic structure of the Constitution, or will result in a presidential form of government.
For holding the Lok Sabha and state assemblies’ polls together, the panel recommended amendments in Articles 83 (duration of Lok Sabha) and Article 172 (duration of state legislatures), which provide that their term will be of five years “unless sooner dissolved” by the President and the state governors respectively.
The committee suggested a one-time transitory measure to synchronise all elections and proposed when Lok Sabha is constituted after the general elections, the President would by notification on the same date as that of the first sitting bring into force the provisions for transition. This date would be called the appointed date.
Irrespective of whether a state assembly has completed its five-year term or not, a clause under proposed Article 82A stated that all the state assemblies constituted in any general election held after the “appointed date” shall come to an end on the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha. The effect of this provision can be understood with an example. The next assembly elections in West Bengal (2026) and Karnataka (2028) would conclude these assemblies’ terms in May or June 2029, coinciding with the next Lok Sabha’s term.
A senior functionary of the BJP said the government is confident of eliciting support of various parties, including some regional ones, for the proposal as it is “not an ideological issue, but governance issue.”
“There will be deliberations and discussions on the issue. We are confident that the concerns that some parties have will be addressed... this is in the larger benefit of all parties as it will bring down expenses incurred on frequent elections and reduce the span of the model code of conduct that prevents governments from announcing new projects,” said the party functionary.
Allies such as the Janata Dal (United), the Telugu Desam Party, the Apna Dal and the Shiv Sena have backed the proposal. JD(U) working president, Sanjay Jha said the party supported the proposal. “Our leader Nitish Kumar has already spoken in favour of the exercise. The only suggestion that we have made is that panchayat polls should not be clubbed with the general and state elections,” Jha said.
Union minister Chirag Paswan said the cabinet nod was a significant step in the interest of the nation. ‘’One nation, one election will not only strengthen our democratic process but also reduce election-related expenses and accelerate developmental activities. Additionally, it will enhance transparency in elections and reduce the financial burden on the government,” he said on X.
The BSP, which had initially opposed the move, extended support on Wednesday. “Our party’s stand on the approval given today by the Union Cabinet to the proposal to hold simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha, assembly and local bodies in the country under the system of ‘One Country, One Election’ is positive, but its objective must be in the national and public interest,” party chief Mayawati said.
A number of opposition parties, however, criticised the move.
Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha lawmaker Derek O’Brien referred to the proposal as a “cheap stunt from the anti-democratic BJP.”
“Why were Maharashtra elections not announced along with elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir? Here’s why. The Maharashtra government announced the Ladki Bahin scheme in the budget this June. The first tranche reached the bank accounts of women in August and the second tranche will reach beneficiaries in October. You can’t do three states in one go and you talk about ONOE,” he said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asadudddin Owaisi also attacked the move. “I have consistently opposed One Nation One Elections because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution,” he said.