One Nation, One Election not new for India: Throwback at India's electoral history

Speculations are rife about the Centre introducing the One Nation, One Election Bill in the Parliament during the Special Sessions called from September 18-22. The Bill, if introduced as suggested by sources, would seek to restore the tradition of simultaneous polls i.e. conducting Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections every five years at once. However, the idea of simultaneous polls is not new as it was part of India's electoral history right after independence. Let us take a look at India's electoral history which started with One Nation, One Election but deviated from the tradition. 

One Nation, One Election in India

Elections for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan Sabha) have been held together four times since India went to polls for the first time in 1951.

The first Lok Sabha elections were held between October 25, 1951, and February 21, 1952, alongside the Vidhan Sabha elections. The practice continued in 1957, 1962 and 1967 as well. However, the trend started breaking in 1959 when the Central government dismissed the Kerala government headed by CM EMS Namboodiripad. After the dissolution of the assembly, fresh elections were conducted in Kerala in February 1960. 

In the years that followed, several assemblies were dissolved resulting in separate elections and the premature dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 1970 followed by elections in 1971 further deflected from the practice of one election. 

The need for One Nation, One Election

The practice of One Nation, One Election is something the Election Commission of India has been proposing to restore since 1983. In 1999 as well, the Law Commission of India presented a report pushing for the adoption of the practice of simultaneous elections again. This has been discussed in the 2015 report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, and the 2017 Niti Aayog report where the idea was supported but the 2018 report of the Law Commission said simultaneous elections cannot be held within the existing framework of the Constitution.

Some experts, however, as well as the Central government argue that the simultaneous elections will reduce the burden on the exchequer, as it would save a lot of money, and be more convenient for government officials involved in the electoral process.