An idea contested: N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, MP Kapil Sibal, and former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi at the round table.
| Photo Credit: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN

Senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal on Saturday termed the ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea an ill-conceived, ill-advised initiative of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

“The idea violates the basic structure of the Constitution. Every government [at the Centre and in the States] has a Constitutional right to complete its fixed term of five years,” Mr. Sibal said at a round table on ‘One Nation, One Election’ at the third State Conference-2025 of the DMK’s legal wing.

“The fundamental flaw with the proposal is that if the government loses the confidence of the House, whether it is the Lok Sabha or a State Assembly, the election that would take place subsequently would be for the remaining period and not the fixed five-year term. In other words, if the government loses power after four years, the next government would be elected only for one year. This is contrary to the basic feature of the Constitution. How will people, in the course of one year, judge whether a government has performed or not,” he asked.

He further said there would be no debate on issues pertaining to a State, and national issues would take centre stage if the idea was implemented.

“India is a Union of States, that’s the Preamble of the Constitution. Now, you’ve diminished the State. You are trying to destroy the basic structure of the State. You got your own cronies to support the One Nation, One Election proposal. People will not tolerate it…,” he added.

N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Ltd., said the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal had to be seen in the wider context of Hindutva authoritarianism and termed it a “grand exercise in political folly”. “It is an assault on the diversity and pluralism of India and Indian civilisation,” he said.

Mr. Ram said regional parties such as the DMK, and Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, an ally of the BJP, should fight the proposal as it was against federalism.

Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi dismissed arguments that a single election would save expenditure and the Model Code of Conduct caused “policy paralysis”. “There is a ceiling on the expenditure incurred by a candidate, and not by political parties. Also, simultaneous elections require three times the number of Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails that are currently required. So, where is the reduced expenditure…,” he asked.

DMK legal wing Secretary N.R. Elango moderated the session.