The panel on ‘One Nation, One Election’ led by former President Ram Nath Kovind has invited suggestions from the public for making appropriate changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable simultaneous elections in the country.
In a public notice, the high-level committee said the suggestions received by January 15 would be taken up for consideration.
The suggestions can be posted on the committee’s website onoe.gov.in or sent by e-mail to sc-hlc[at]gov[dot]in, the notice said.
Formed in September last year, the committee has convened twice and reached out to six national, 33 state partes, along with seven unrecognised parties, seeking their perspectives and discussions on a possible unified election schedule.
During its second meeting, the committee engaged with members of the Law Commission, which is also studying the matter of simultaneous elections.
According to its terms of reference, the committee is meant to “examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), state legislative assemblies, municipalities and panchayats, keeping in view the existing framework under the Constitution of India and other statutory provisions, and for that purpose, examine and recommend specific amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the rules made thereunder and any other law or rules which would require amendments for the purpose of holding simultaneous elections”.
The former President, Ram Nath Kovind, has voiced support for simultaneous elections, urging all political parties to support the idea in national interest.
The committee includes Kovind, home minister Amit Shah, former leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, 15th Finance Commission chairperson N K Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is a special invitee and Law Secretary Nitin Chandra the secretary.
It is worth noting that simultaneous elections were conducted in India from the first post-independence elections in 1952 until 1967.