The action comes a day after the government scheduled a special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22, the agenda of which is unknown. – Ram Nath Kovind
According to reports, the Centre has formed a committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind to investigate the much-touted “one nation, one election” concept.
The news comes a day after the government convened a special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22, the agenda of which is still unknown.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long advocated for simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, and the move to charge Ram Nath Kovind with investigating it demonstrates the government’s seriousness as a slew of elections approach.
Assembly elections are scheduled for five states in November-December, followed by Lok Sabha elections in May-June of following year.
Soon after the announcement, rumors about the five-day session’s program started to spread. Dissolving the current Parliament and calling for early Lok Sabha elections were among the agenda issues that were speculated about. But since this choice may be made by the government, calling a special session of Parliament was not necessary, even if early Lok Sabha elections were on the agenda.
What might be part of the BJP government’s plan, though, is to highlight its accomplishments over the previous five years and explain to the populace during a parliament session why it is necessary to have snap elections in addition to the state elections that are set to take place this year.
One-nation, one-election would, however, require a constitutional amendment, which would then need to be introduced in state assemblies. It is not a novel idea; it happened four times in the 1950s and 1960s; nevertheless, India has fewer states and a smaller voting-age population.
Ratnavali