New Delhi: Former President Ram Nath Kovind stated that the concept of simultaneous elections under the "One Nation, One Election" policy reflects the vision of India's constitutional forefathers and was a standard practice during the early years of the republic. Speaking at the 30th Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture on Saturday, Kovind emphasized that Lok Sabha and state assembly elections were synchronized during the country's first four electoral cycles, a practice that was disrupted in 1968.
Kovind, who chaired the high-level committee advocating for 'One Nation, One Election,' expressed irony over the current perception of simultaneous elections as being undemocratic or unconstitutional. He remarked, "Simultaneous elections were the norm in the early years of the republic. Elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies were synchronized during the first four electoral cycles... This cycle of concurrent elections was broken in the year 1968 when several state assemblies were prematurely dissolved by the then Union Government exercising its power under Article 356... It is hard to miss the irony when we look into the genesis of the disruption of electoral cycles... Simultaneous elections were the vision of our constitutional forefathers."
During the consultation process regarding the policy, Kovind noted that out of 47 political parties that presented their views, 32 supported the idea of simultaneous elections, while only 15 opposed it. He pointed out that many of the parties opposing the concept had previously endorsed it.
On September 18, the Union Cabinet approved the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, which seeks to align Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and conduct urban body and panchayat polls within 100 days. These recommendations were included in a report prepared by the high panel committee led by Kovind.
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