India aims to move towards a single, unified, system of holding mass elections in which citizens elect both the central government and the respective state (federal) governments.
This will not be the first time that India will try this system of elections. When the country gained independence in 1947, the Founding Fathers had planned for this model of elections – simultaneous parliamentary and state assembly elections. Voting has been conducted in this manner in India since the first elections held in the country in 1952.
But all this changed in 1967 – when India voted for the last time under the ‘one nation, one election’ format. At that time, voting was held in a single phase across India, except in Uttar Pradesh (formerly United Province), where voting was held in four phases. Voting took place between 15 and 21 February that year. It was India’s fourth such election and was held in 520 Lok Sabha seats and 3,563 assembly constituencies to elect MPs and MLAs.
Then the era of coalition politics was at its peak and finally simultaneous elections came to an end in the country. Until 1967, Congress was the only party that ruled India, but by then it was facing many challenges and setbacks. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had died a few years earlier, leaving his daughter, Indira Gandhi facing pressure from key allies; The Congress was battling massive anti-incumbency as well as internal power struggles and, to top it all, India had lost the 1962 war against China.
Six decades later, India is now looking to relaunch ‘One Nation, One Election’. The Union Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister, has approved the proposal and approved the bills to implement it. Now it will probably be introduced in the Parliament in the ongoing winter session, so that it can be passed as constitutional to make it the norm.
Other countries with simultaneous elections
Before reaching this stage, a high-level panel was formed. It was led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The panel not only studied how India conducted such elections in the past and what were the shortcomings at that time, but also conducted extensive research on how such elections are conducted around the world.
During its global research, the panel focused on seven countries – South Africa, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan – all of which hold simultaneous elections and are doing so successfully. The panel then presented its findings and a proposed working model to India’s President Draupadi Murmu earlier this year.
In its report, the panel said that a detailed comparative analysis of countries with similar electoral processes was conducted to understand their functioning in holding simultaneous elections. The objective of understanding multiple models from different countries conducting integrated, simultaneous elections was to learn and adopt best international practices and ensure fairness and transparency in the electoral process.
“In South Africa, voters vote simultaneously for both the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. However, municipal elections are held separately from provincial elections on a five-year cycle,” the report said.
Sweden operates on a proportional electoral system, the panel said. This means that the number of seats given to a political party in the elected assembly is based on its share of votes in the election. “They have a system where elections for the parliament (Riksdag), county councils and city councils are held at the same time. These elections are held every four years on the second Sunday of September while elections for municipal assemblies are held on the second Sunday On a Sunday in September, once every five years,” it said.
The panel also studied the German model of election campaigning. Its report said that in Germany, in addition to the process of appointing the Chancellor, there is also a constructive no-confidence vote by the Bundestag (the lower house of Germany’s parliament). It is a type of no-confidence motion that allows Parliament to withdraw confidence from the head of government only if there is an affirmative majority for the potential successor.
In Japan, the Prime Minister is first appointed by the National Diet and then accepted by the Emperor. According to the report, a key member of the high-level panel had suggested that India “should adopt models similar to Germany and Japan”.
Like India, Indonesia also switched to the ‘one nation, one election’ format recently – in 2019. The President, Vice President and members of both national and regional legislative bodies are elected on the same day. According to the High-Level Panel’s report, “Political parties need 4 percent of the votes to qualify for the national parliament. The presidential candidate must receive more than 50 percent of the total votes and at least 20 percent Votes are required to win half the provinces of the country.”
The report also said that “On February 14, 2024, Indonesia successfully held simultaneous elections. It was called the world’s largest single-day election as approximately 200 million people voted for all five levels – President, Vice President, Members of Parliament, Members – regarding regional assemblies and municipal elections.”
A country of over 1.4 billion (1,400 million/140 crore) people, India is aiming to create a world record by holding the largest simultaneous elections ever. It is not certain yet whether this will happen in 2029 or not. It will first have to pass the test in Parliament.
