Ramnath Kovind panel in favor of 'one country, one election'

The high level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has submitted its report on 'One Nation, One Election' today. This report has been submitted to President Draupadi Murmu on Thursday morning itself. In the report, the panel has supported holding simultaneous elections. The report said that "the committee is of the unanimous opinion that simultaneous elections should be held."

In 'One Nation, One Election', it has been proposed to hold elections for the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of all the states simultaneously. In India, when the tenure of the current government ends or the government is dissolved due to some reason, then Lok Sabha elections or state assembly elections are organized separately to elect the members of Parliament.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken on several occasions on the need for one nation, one election and it was also a part of the party's manifesto in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Other members of this panel headed by Kovind include Home Minister Amit Shah, former leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha General Secretary Subhash Kashyap and senior advocate Harish Salve.

The committee was tasked to analyze and recommend possible solutions related to simultaneous elections in the event of a hung House, no-confidence motion, defection or any other such incident. Officials said a solution has also been found for a single voter list and identity card for valid voters for national, state, civic body and panchayat elections.