'One Nation, One Election' Debate: BJP Pushes For Simultaneous Polls, Will States Agree?

Call for One Nation, One Election is gaining momentum.
The ruling NDA government plans to implement the "One Nation, One Election" policy within its current term, an initiative that plans to hold simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and local bodies.
What is "One Nation, One Election"? It’s a concept aimed at synchronising elections across India. Currently, elections for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament and state assemblies happen at different times due to varying durations of legislative terms. The proposed idea would align all these elections so that both national and state polls are held simultaneously across the country, ideally once every five years. The proposal, which requires a Constitutional amendment, would first synchronise Lok Sabha and state assembly polls and then local body elections within 100 days.
But why change the current system? India's election cycle is quite frequent, with various state and national elections happening almost every year. The Election Commission of India (ECI) spends a significant amount of resources in conducting these elections. To put in perspective,the cost of the 2019 Lok Sabha election alone was over ₹60,000 crore including the expenses by political parties and the government. State elections further add to the cost, with different budgets across different states.
In addition to direct financial expenditure, frequent elections lead to indirect costs like disruption in governance due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and excess pre-election spending on doles. The MCC rules restrict governments from announcing new policies, making key decisions, or initiating major projects during election periods. Repeated imposition of MCC throughout the year due to staggered elections slows down governance and development work.
Apart from money, there is an election-related allocation of manpower. Thousands of personnel, including teachers, government employees, and security forces, are deployed during elections. Conducting multiple elections within a few years places a burden on this workforce and keep them away from their designated duties. Moreover, the large-scale deployment of security forces across states is logistically demanding, leading to substantial resource mobilization costs.
If elections are held simultaneously, several costs would likely come down significantly. In the form of the election commission’s expenditure. A synchronised election would mean fewer electoral processes over a five-year period. The direct costs related to voting infrastructure, logistics, and deployment of personnel would be reduced. The election infrastructure, primarily polling stations, electronic voting machines (EVMs), and VVPAT, could be more efficiently managed and utilized, lowering equipment costs.
Simultaneous elections will lower political party spending. Political parties spend enormous amounts of money on campaigning, rallies, and advertisements. Currently, separate state and national elections increase these costs. If the elections are synchronized, parties can consolidate their campaigns, cutting down the financial burden significantly.
Needless to say, logistics and Security Costs will also go down. In a staggered election cycle, these forces need to be mobilized repeatedly across different states. A synchronized election would minimize the number of mobilizations, reducing logistical costs and the pressure on the country's security apparatus.
So what would be the total estimated cost reduction? Though there is no precise figure on how much "One Nation, One Election" will save, A high-level Committee on simultaneous elections chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, claims that One Nation One Election can boost economic growth by 1.5 per cent points. The committee report further claims that simultaneous elections lower inflation, improve educational outcomes and increase quality government expenditure.
While the cost-saving potential of "One Nation, One Election" is significant, several challenges remain. India’s federal structure and diverse political landscape will make it difficult to implement.
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