Examine the need for electoral reforms as suggested by various Committees with particular reference to one…

Question

Examine the need for electoral reforms as suggested by various Committees with particular reference to one nation-one election principle.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Committees from Tarkunde to Kovind sought electoral reform to curb money power, criminalisation and costly continuous campaigning, and one nation one election addresses the last while raising federal and accountability concerns. The Kovind Committee (2024) recommended synchronised Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, with local bodies within 100 days.

**Introduction**

India voted simultaneously from 1951-52 to 1967, until early dissolutions broke the cycle. The Kovind Committee (2024) revived that model, continuing a long line of committees seeking electoral reform under Articles 324 to 329.

**Why Committees Have Sought Electoral Reform**

SKETCH: timeline | Committees on Electoral Reform
- 1975 :: Tarkunde Committee
- 1990 :: Dinesh Goswami Committee
- 1998 :: Indrajit Gupta Committee
- 1999 :: Law Commission, 170th Report
- 2015 :: Standing Committee, 79th Report
- 2024 :: Kovind Committee

1. **Money power**: The Indrajit Gupta Committee backed state funding in kind, a need sharpened after electoral bonds were struck down in 2024.
2. **Criminalisation**: The Vohra Committee (1993) exposed the criminal-politician nexus, and the Law Commission's 244th Report (2014) proposed disqualification on framing of serious charges.
3. **Independent referee**: The Goswami Committee sought a neutral process to appoint the Election Commission, a demand echoed in Anoop Baranwal (2023).
4. **Continuous campaigning**: The Law Commission's 170th Report and the Standing Committee's 79th Report found near-constant elections costly for money and governance.

**One Nation One Election: Need and Limits**

1. **Policy continuity**: Fewer Model Code periods would end repeated freezes on projects, as the Kovind Committee argued for synchronised Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
2. **Cost and manpower**: One cycle avoids repeated deployment of forces and officials.
3. **Federal concerns**: Curtailing Assembly terms may weaken state autonomy, part of the basic structure since S.R. Bommai (1994).
4. **Accountability**: Fewer polls mean fewer checks, so the 129th Amendment Bill, 2024 went to a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

**Conclusion**

Committees across five decades agree that money, muscle and frequent polls corrode elections. One nation one election addresses only the last, so it must come with consensus and with funding, criminalisation and Election Commission reforms.

Examine the need for electoral reforms as suggested by various Committees with particular reference to one nation-one election principle.

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