Highlighting that “One Nation, One Election” is for the legislature to decide, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday noted that the commission can handle the decision administratively.
“This definitely involves a whole lot of logistics and a whole lot of disruption, but this is in the legislative regime, so this is for the legislature to decide,” Kumar said. “It is not within the commission’s remit and mandate,” he added, “but if it absolutely does it, and we have conveyed our position that administratively the commission can handle it… but it is in the legislative regime.”
Earlier this year, former Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, in an exclusive interview with ANI had said that One Nation One Election is a good suggestion, but this will need a change in the Constitution and it is to be decided in Parliament.
“According to the Constitution, all the elections should be held simultaneously. The parliament elections that are held since independence, all three of them are simultaneous elections. It is only later that sometimes the Assembly was dissolved, sometimes parliament, which disturbed the schedule. One Nation One Election is a good suggestion but this needs a change in the constitution,” Chandra had said.
“An assembly which will not be able to complete the 5-year term in the Assembly will have to think about whether we can abolish it under the Constitution or we need to increase the tenure of parliament for simultaneous election in the country, he said.
Chandra further added that it is to be decided in Parliament that should we take half of the assembly together and the next time take the other half together, it is to be decided in parliament, but the election commission is fully prepared and the election commission is capable of holding all the elections simultaneously and is ready to elect it only once in 5 years,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, on multiple occasions, pitched for the ‘One Nation, One Election’ including in his sixth address to the nation on August 15, 2019 from the ramparts of Red Fort.
