ABSTRACT: The concept of simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and all the State Legislative Assemblies, popularly known as “One Nation, One Election” (ONOE), finds legislative expression in the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, which is also currently pending before a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Against the backdrop of the doctrine of separation of powers in a federal polity, the principle of accountability in a parliamentary system of government and the basic structure doctrine which places a substantive limitation on the plenary power of Parliament to amend the Constitution under Article 368, this paper critically analyses the Bill’s compatibility with these constitutional principles. It argues that ONOE is not per se antithetical to the basic structure. However, certain aspects of the Bill such as the underpinning of prematurely dissolved legislative bodies on the basis of an unexpired term, andwide-ranginglegislative power vested in the Election Commission under the proposed Article 82A(5) are problematic as they have the potential to fetter democratic accountability and upset the federal balance between the Union and the States. Drawing upon empirical studies of voter behaviour, data from official sources and opinions of former Chief Justices on ONOE, this paper concludes by offering recommendations to strike a balance between the alleged administrative convenience and eclecticism afforded by ONOE on the one hand and the imperatives of constitutional compulsion on the other.
KEYWORDS: simultaneous elections; federalism; basic structure doctrine; Article 82A; democratic accountability; Election Commission of India; Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024
ONE NATION ONE ELECTION: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CONSTITUTIONAL FEDERALISM, DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE BASIC STRUCTURE DOCTRINE
MANAVJIT SINGH, DHANASHREE NARAYANRAO PATIL