Union Cabinet clears One Nation, One Election proposal

In a significant development, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave the nod to the central government's "one nation, one election"  proposal that suggests conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days.

A Group of Ministers was formed, under Union Minister Rajnath Singh entrusted with the task of reaching a consensus in consultations with political parties. 

The panel included Union Ministers Arjun Meghwal and Kiren Rijiju. 

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the proposal will be implemented in two phases.

In the first phase, Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections will be held, and in the second phase, local bodies elections (gram panchayat, block, zila panchayat etc.) and urban local bodies (municipality and municipal committees or municipal corporations, the minister added. 

Vaishnaw also said that recommendations of former President Ram Nath Kovind's panel will be discussed in various forums across the country.

According to the High-Level Committee, frequent elections create an atmosphere of uncertainty and impact policy decisions and holding simultaneous elections would bring enhanced certainty in policy making.

The proposal will now be tabled in Parliament. It must be cleared in both houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, before becoming the law. 

With inputs from agencies