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A high level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday recommended for holding simultaneous polls, saying it will bring fundamental transformation in the electoral process and overall governance. 

"It will result in optimising scarce resources and also encourage voters to participate in the electoral process in large numbers. Disruptions to governance and policy paralysis resulting from the application of the Model Code of Conduct and its adverse impact on economic growth will be mitigated," the panel said.

Considering its overriding advantages, the committee was of the unanimous opinion that there should be simultaneous elections in the country, its report said.

"The most important factor is that frequent elections create an atmosphere of uncertainty. This uncertainty slows down the government machinery, months before each election. The political parties are prompted to take decisions keeping in mind the impending elections. When elections are held repeatedly, then quite often half of the time of five years is spent in electioneering," it said.

The panel recommended for bringing in Article 82A of the Constitution, which would state that notwithstanding anything contained in Articles 83 and 172, all the Legislative 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 House of the People. This would also mandate the Election Commission to conduct General elections to the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies simultaneously.

By Article 324A, Parliament may by law make provision for ensuring that the elections to Municipalities and Panchayats are held simultaneously with the General Elections, it suggested.

In its report presented to President Droupadi Murmu, the panel on one nation-one poll recommended a two-step approach to lead to the simultaneous elections. 

As the first step, simultaneous elections will be held for the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies. No ratification by the States will be required for the Constitutional Amendment, it said.

In the second step, elections to the Municipalities and the Panchayats will be synchronised with the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies in such a way that municipalities and panchayats elections are held within 100 days of holding elections to the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies. This, however, will require ratification by not less than one-half of the States, it said.

In the event of a hung House, no-confidence motion, or any such event, fresh elections should be held to constitute the new House of the People or State Legislative Assembly for the unexpired term of the House of the People, the panel said.

The committee also recommended that there should be a single electoral roll and Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) for use in elections to all the three tiers of government.

"In tune with its mandate to explore the mechanism for simultaneous elections, and keeping in view the existing framework of the Constitution, the committee has crafted its recommendations in such a way that they are in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of India and would require bare minimum amendments to the Constitution," an official statement stated.

The panel said its report of 18,626 pages is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023.

The high level committee consisted of Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, N K Singh, former Chairman, 15th Finance Commission, Subhash C Kashyap, former Secretary General, Lok Sabha, Harish Salve, senior advocate, and Sanjay Kothari, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner. 

Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Law and Justice was a Special Invitee and Niten Chandra was the Secretary of it.

As part of extensive consultations to understand the views of different stakeholders, the committee heard 47 political parties' views and suggestions. As many as 32 parties supported simultaneous elections. 

Opposition parties like Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, CPI(M), TMC, DMK, and Samajwadi Party opposed the idea, claiming it would be against the parliamentary democracy and federalism.

On the contrary, BJP, AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, JD(U), Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal supported the concept of One Nation One Poll.

Following a public notice, the committee received 21,558 responses from citizens from all over India. Of these, 80 % supported simultaneous elections, it said.

Experts on law such as four former Chief Justices of India and twelve former Chief Justices of major High Courts, four former Chief Election Commissioners of India, eight State Election Commissioners, and Chairman, Law Commission of India were invited by the Committee for interaction in person. Views of the Election Commission of India were also sought in the process.

Apex business organisations like the CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM and eminent economists were also consulted to present their views on the economic repercussions of asynchronous elections. 

They said asynchronous elections on fuelled inflation and slowed down the economy. The intermittent elections had adverse consequences on economic growth, quality of public expenditure, educational and other outcomes and upset social harmony.

Staggered elections induced ‘voters’ fatigue’ and presented a significant challenge in ensuring their participation, the panel was told.