Simultaneous polls not against Constitution, federalism: Ram Nath Kovind

New Delhi: Former president Ram Nath Kovind, who headed a panel on 'one nation, one election,' on Saturday said the idea of simultaneous polls was perceived by the framers of the Constitution and therefore it cannot be unconstitutional.

Kovind also said an "implementation committee" will look into the various constitutional amendments required to implement the concept, and it would then be up to parliament to take a final call.

Delivering the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture here, he said that the first four Lok Sabha and assembly polls were held together till 1967, then how could synchronised polls be dubbed as unconstitutional.

Some sections are saying that the idea is unconstitutional, but it is not true as the concept was perceived by the makers of the Constitution, he said, adding that several institutions, including the Election Commission, have supported the concept in the past.

In fact, he said, simultaneous polls would further strengthen federalism as all three tiers of governments will function together for five years.

The former president also said that 'one nation, one election' is a popular catchphrase which has been misinterpreted by some, and a narrative has crept in that only one poll will take place under it with no further elections.

He then explained that the concept is to hold elections to Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies -- municipalities and panchayats -- together so that all the three tiers of governance get elected at he same time and work together for five years.

The former president said 47 political parties gave representations to the high-level committee he headed and 32 of them supported holding polls simultaneously.

Fifteen parties opposed the concept but they have supported the idea of simultaneous polls at one point or the other in the past, he observed.

Addressing the audience, the former president recalled that the first four polls till 1967 were synchronised but the cycle was broken due to early dissolution of some state assemblies after he Centre used its constitutional powers under Article 356. "Was it done in the right democratic spirit," he wondered, without delving into the issue further.

He said that frequent elections disrupt development work and multiple cycles of campaigning trigger use of unaccounted money which hurts the integrity of the electoral process.

Kovind also noted that frequent elections have also not found to be good for ease of doing business, trade and commerce.

The Union Cabinet had recently approved the proposal for 'one nation, one election' as recommended by the Kovind panel.

The panel had submitted the report in March ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha elections.

The high-level committee had recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.

The panel had also proposed setting up of an 'Implementation Group' to look into the execution of the recommendations made by the committee.