NEW DELHI: As the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is set to form the new government, one of its principal allies, Janata Dal United JD (U) pitched for the implementation of ‘One nation, One poll’, one of the key promises made by the BJP in its election manifesto.
Several opposition parties including Congress, TMC, and CPM have vehemently opposed the move, calling the move to be against federalism.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, JD (U)’s national spokesperson and former Rajya Sabha MP, K C Tyagi said that the party supports the implementation of ‘One nation, One poll’ which proposes to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies across the country.
“We have always supported the idea of ‘One nation, One poll’,” he said.
The JD(U)’s support is significant for the coalition government as the legislation on ‘One Nation One Poll’ will need constitutional amendments in Parliament.
However, the amendments don’t require a nod from state governments. Though the NDA crossed 290 seat mark, the BJP failed to touch the majority mark of 272 seats in the Lok Sabha, and its two allies, Chandrababu Naidu's TDP in Andhra Pradesh and Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in Bihar have emerged as the kingmakers to support the BJP to cobble up the coalition government.
The JD(U) bagged 12 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections while the TDP managed to secure 17 seats in Andhra Pradesh.
The JDU’s endorsement for simultaneous polls should be seen in the context of the party’s call for early assembly elections along with Jharkhand late this year, instead of next year when it is due. “The Lok Sabha election results showed the party’s clout in the state. So we want early assembly elections so that we will also get the advantage in the assembly elections,” said a leader.
In March this year, the high-level committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu, recommending simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies and local bodies.
Once the law is enforced, state assemblies formed between 2024 and 2028 will have their tenure curtailed to necessitate synchronized elections in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. For instance, states such as Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, which are due for elections in 2026, will have their terms cut short by two years if Lok Sabha polls are held in 2029. While Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana which will go to polls in 2028 will lose four years, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh due in 2027 will all have to curtail their tenure.
To synchronize the terms of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, the panel has proposed the insertion of Article 82A into the Constitution. It says that the new government which takes charge after the Lok Sabha election should set an “appointed date” to effect the constitutional changes. All the state Assemblies that are formed after the ‘appointed date" would have their terms expire with the Lok Sabha.
