Examine the need for electoral reforms as suggested by various committees with particular reference to “one nation – one election” principle.
Approach · directive: “examine”
What it asks · Examine why electoral reforms recommended by successive committees are needed, with a focused look at the case for and against simultaneous elections.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Examine: why electoral reforms recommended by various committees are needed
- With particular reference to 'one nation – one election': the case for it, the concerns, and what it would require
Open with · Simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and assemblies were the norm until 1967; premature dissolutions broke the cycle, and the High-Level Committee chaired by Ram Nath Kovind (2024) recommended restoring it.
Cover
- Committee agenda: Dinesh Goswami (1990) and Indrajit Gupta (1998) on state funding; Law Commission's 170th Report (1999) and the 2nd ARC on wider reforms.
- Persistent needs: money power, criminalisation of politics, paid news, opaque party funding, weak inner-party democracy.
- Lineage: Law Commission 170th Report (1999), Parliamentary Standing Committee's 79th Report (2015), Kovind committee (2024) — two phases, local bodies within 100 days, common roll.
- Case for ONOE: lower cost, fewer Model Code of Conduct freezes on development, less diversion of security forces and staff.
- Governance gain: a longer policy horizon, less permanent campaign mode, possibly higher voter engagement.
- Concerns: national issues may drown state issues; curtailing or extending assembly terms; mid-term collapse means fresh polls only for the unexpired term.
- Requirements: constitutional amendments to Articles 83 and 172 and related provisions, logistics of EVMs and VVPATs, broad political consensus.
Close with · One nation–one election can cut costs and policy paralysis, but it must come with federal safeguards and deeper reforms against money and muscle power.
Add value (verified)
- PIB (18 September 2024): the Cabinet accepted the Kovind committee's plan — Lok Sabha and assembly polls together first, then local-body polls within 100 days, on a common electoral roll. Cabinet accepts recommendations of High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections — PIB, 18 September 2024 ↗“In second phase: Conduct local body elections (panchayat and municipalities) within 100 days of general elections.”
- PIB backgrounder (March 2024): if a House is hung or falls to a no-confidence motion, the committee wants fresh elections only for the unexpired term. High Level Committee (HLC) on Simultaneous Elections — PIB backgrounder, March 2024 ↗“In the event of a hung House, no-confidence motion, or any such event, fresh elections should be held to constitute the new House of the People or State Legislative Assembly for the “unexpired term””
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2024, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 237 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls were the norm until 1967; committees from Dinesh Goswami (1990) to the Kovind-led High-Level Committee (2024) have since pressed for electoral reform.
Why reforms are needed
- Money power and opaque funding: Goswami (1990) and Indrajit Gupta (1998) proposed state funding and tighter expenditure control.
- Criminalisation, paid news and weak inner-party democracy, flagged by the Law Commission's 170th Report (1999) and the 2nd ARC, remain largely unaddressed.
- A permanent election cycle: repeated Model Code of Conduct freezes and diversion of security forces and staff.
The case for one nation–one election
- Lower cost, fewer policy pauses and a longer governance horizon.
- Backed by the Law Commission (1999), the Parliamentary Standing Committee (2015) and the Kovind committee (2024): Lok Sabha and assembly polls together, local-body polls within 100 days, one electoral roll — accepted by the Cabinet in September 2024.
Concerns and requirements
- Federal balance: national issues may swamp state issues, and assembly terms must be cut or extended once to align cycles.
- Mid-term collapse: fresh elections only for the unexpired term dilute the mandate and may produce short-lived assemblies.
- It needs amendments to Articles 83 and 172, ratification by half the states for some provisions, far more EVMs and VVPATs, and cross-party consensus.
Simultaneous polls can cut cost and policy paralysis, but they are one reform among many the committees urged; federal safeguards and curbs on money and muscle power must go together.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.