There is a possibility of fiasco of the announcement of taking Parliament and the assembly elections together as part of ‘One Nation-One Election’. The Central Election Commission has already rejected the plan of combined election due to the system errors, now the State Election Commission of Maharashtra has also said to government that it is not possible to implement in the state. The State Election Commission had used the format of combined elections in Maharashtra in 2012 but it was miserably failed. 303 cases against the commission went to the court where three of these cases are still pending in the Supreme Court.
Amit Shah sent a letter to the Law Commission
National President of BJP, Amit Shah, sent a letter to the Law Commission asking to implement the ‘One Nation-One Election’ system in the country. Amit Shah’s intention to get the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the country simultaneously was to get more success. For the last few months, he had conducted internal investigation in the party on the success of this combined election. Shah recently took tours in some states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and had taken opinions of party senior representatives on the benefits of combined election. When he realized that the combined election will benefit the party, Shah sent a letter to the Law Commission seeking combined elections.
After this demand, a discussion has started all over the country on ‘One Nation One Election. However, the Central Election Commission announced on Monday it would be impossible to get such elections done in the country. The Commission has brought the Center government’s attention that if combined elections are to be taken, the time period will need to be increased for some Legislative Assembly and some Legislative Assembly will have to be adjourned.
In this regard, in 2015, the Election Commission had called for a State Commission report to hold elections together. Maharashtra State Election Commissioner J. S. Saharia had already mentioned in his report that conducting such elections is not possible in our system. In the Naxal-affected areas, conducting such elections will be very dangerous. Former Election Commissioner Neela Satyanarayana reminded that not only Maharashtra but other states had also opposed this concept.
We tried to take the elections together in 2012 in the state. Elections of Municipal Corporation, District Council, Panchayat Committees elections were taken together. Highest numbers of 303 cases against the commission were registered in the High Court. Three of these cases are going on in the Supreme Court. Keeping this in mind, it is okay to take a collective election as a show off, but it is impossible as a system – Neela Satyanarayana, Former Election Commissioner
Considering the current situation, it is not possible to hold elections in the country at the same time. There is a need to amend the law. Also, EVM machines will have to be made available in large quantities. The Election Commission had advised the central government in 2015 about the elections to be held simultaneously in the country. We have also given details of the amendments needed in the Representation of People Act. – O.P. Rawat, Chief Election Commissioner
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The combined elections will not save money but in-fact will increase the cost. 23 lakh EVM machines, 25 lakh VV-pat machines are needed, their shelf life is more than 15 years i.e. 3 elections. The machines will cost 4 thousand crores. In addition, to transport and store these machines will cost around 10 to 15 thousand crores. This seems like the BJP has some hidden agenda behind taking such elections. Instead of parliamentary democracy, they want to hold presidential power elections like America. This is nothing but a dictatorial step. – Prithviraj Chavan, Former Chief Minister
“This is completely madness of government, why they want to take State and a Loksabha election together of 11 states, is really not understandable? Since Modi is afraid of losing in elections so have taken such a decision – Raj Thackeray, MNS chief
