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One Nation, One Election: The Union Cabinet has approved two significant bills aimed at implementing simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, a move that could reshape the electoral landscape in India. The Bills will now be tabled in Parliament during the Winter Session, following which, if the Bill gets passed without any changes the ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative could be implemented from 2034.
This initiative is part of the “One Nation, One Election” plan, which has been advocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014. The bills are based on recommendations from a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
If the bills are passed by Parliament without amendments, the earliest that Lok Sabha and state assembly elections can occur simultaneously would be in 2034.
According to the Kovind committee's report, the President of India will notify an "appointed date" during the first sitting of the Lok Sabha following a general election. The terms of state assemblies elected after this appointed date would be curtailed to align with the full term of the Lok Sabha.
If both the Bills are passed without amendment, the “appointed date” as mentioned by the Kovind committee would only be notified during the first sitting of the Lok Sabha that is elected in 2029.
The first sitting of the Lok Sabha elected this year has already passed. The full term of the next Lok Sabha would be till 2034.
This means that any state assembly elections held after this date would have their terms adjusted to conclude alongside the Lok Sabha's term.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will play a crucial role in implementing this plan. A senior official told The Indian Express that building political consensus and passing the bills is just the beginning; significant logistical preparations will follow.
“The Commission will need to place orders for new Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to facilitate simultaneous voting for assemblies and the Lok Sabha, which requires significant lead time,” he explained.
The ECI estimates that it would take approximately two-and-a-half to three years to double the number of EVMs required for simultaneous elections. Procurement of necessary components alone could take seven to eight months, and manufacturers like ECIL and BEL will need time to scale up production capacity.
According to Indian Express report, the EC would ideally require two-and-a-half to three years to double the number of EVMs needed for simultaneous elections. “Procurement of chips and other materials alone would take seven to eight months. Meanwhile, manufacturers like ECIL and BEL cannot produce such large quantities overnight; they will need to scale up their production capacity. So realistically, we are looking at a lead time of up to three years,” an official told IE.
Even if political consensus is achieved and the One Nation One Election bills are passed by late 2025 or early 2026, the ECI would face a tight timeline to arrange logistics for simultaneous elections in 2029. The official stated, “That timeline would be cutting it too fine, even if the Bills are passed within a year.”
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