Simultaneous polls are an imperative for India

Following the Union Cabinet's approval, the introduction in Parliament of amendment bills to usher in simultaneous elections is a significant moment for India's storied parliamentary democracy.

- CR Kesavan

When implemented, "one nation, one election" will reclaim the sanctity and spirit of our Constitution, as bequeathed by the creators of our foundational document, in the context of simultaneous elections. This also reiterates Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's commitment to further strengthen cooperative federalism and consolidate nation-building.

The historic Constituent Assembly, which spanned nearly three years, was tasked with the crucial responsibility of framing our Constitution. The Constituent Assembly debates witnessed the finest minds of the time deliberate and discuss a wide range of topics like the Preamble, untouchability, uniform civil code, right to equality, and federalism among other areas of national relevance. But, very conspicuously, there seems to have been no detailed dialogue nor debate on simultaneous elections. Our Constitution creators probably felt that a synchronous cycle of simultaneous elections was the natural way forward and thus would be retained. They could not have envisaged how democratically elected state governments would later be toppled by Congress-led Union governments, showing scant regard for cooperative federalism while throwing all constitutional norms to the wind.