Harish Salve Explains Two Dimensions Of One Nation, One Election Proposal | Exclusive

News Delhi: Senior advocate and former Solicitor General of India, Harish Salve has said that the ‘One Nation One Election’ will save time, effort and improve governance, as the Modi Cabinet has cleared the recommendations of a high-level committee chaired by Ram Nath Kovind. 

Harish Salve Talks About One Nation One Election Proposal (ONOP)      

In conversation with Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami , Salve said, "If a House comes to an end before its maximum term, the next election will be for a balance period."

“You may call people like us incorrigible optimists, but we believe good sense prevails with human beings after all the noise and dust have settled. This is something, which needs a national debate. Maybe after three years, it becomes an electoral issue and maybe if the govt can persuade the people of this country that this is good for the country, you will see the tune changing: Harish Salve, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India and King's Counsel, UK speaks to Republic over One Nation One Poll” Salve asserted. 

Harish Salve, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India and King's Counsel, UK speaks to Republic over One Nation One Poll says, “The only argument, that I have heard and I don't understand how it works, is that - if you have separate elections for the state, then the Modi factor goes away - or - you can focus on the local leaders without getting worried about the bigger picture of the national leader.”

Recommendations Made by Ram Nath Kovind Panel  

A high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind had made recommendations on simultaneous elections, which were accepted by the Cabinet in September.

The top 10 recommendations on simultaneous polls made by the high-level panel on "one nation, one election" are: 

1. The government must develop a legally-tenable mechanism in order to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.

2. In the first stage, elections for the Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies can be held together. 

3. In the second step, the elections to municipalities and panchayats will be synchronised with the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in such a way that the polls to municipalities and panchayats are held within 100 days of the holding of the parliamentary and Assembly elections.

4. For the purpose of synchronising the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the president shall notify the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election as the "appointed date".

5. The tenure of all state assemblies formed via polls after the "appointed date" and before the expiry of the full term of the Lok Sabha will only be for the period ending up to the subsequent parliamentary polls. After this one-time transitory measure, all Lok Sabha and Assembly polls will be held simultaneously.

6. Fresh elections could be held to constitute a new Lok Sabha in the event of a hung House or a no-confidence motion or any such event.

7. Where fresh elections are held for the House of the People (Lok Sabha), the tenure of the House will be "only for the unexpired (remaining) term of the immediately preceding full term of the House".

8. When fresh elections are held for state legislative assemblies, then such new assemblies -- unless sooner dissolved -- shall continue up to the end of the full term of the Lok Sabha.

9. A single electoral roll and elector's photo identity card (EPIC) shall be prepared by the Election Commission (EC) in consultation with the state election commissions and the same will substitute any other electoral roll prepared by the EC.

10. For making logistical arrangements for the conduct of simultaneous elections, the EC may draw up a plan and estimate in advance for the procurement of equipment, such as EVMs and VVPATs, deployment of polling personnel and security forces and make other necessary arrangements.