ANS: The government has formed an eight-member high-level committee to investigate One Nation, One Election. Former President Ram Nath Kovind has been nominated as the committee’s chairman.
The committee’s members include Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Former Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K. Singh, and others. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of Law and Justice, will attend committee meetings as a special invitee.
From 1951-52 until 1967, elections to the House of People and Legislative Assemblies of States were typically conducted concurrently, until the cycle was broken.
The high-level committee will investigate and offer recommendations for holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities, and Panchayats, while maintaining the existing structure under the Constitution and other statutory provisions in mind.
It will investigate and propose whether constitutional amendments require state ratification. They will also propose a framework for election synchronisation, specifically the phases and time range within which simultaneous elections can be place.
The group will also look into the logistics and people needed for simultaneous elections, such as EVMs and VVPATs.