Abstract

In India, One Nation One Election generally means holding elections of the Lok Sabha and all the state legislative assemblies at the same time throughout India. The main purpose behind this idea is to enhance administrative efficiency, cut down election management costs, and stop frequent elections from happening very often. This idea may seem to be very practical on the surface, but it brings a lot of constitutional and legal challenges. The main concerns are the effect on the Federal structure of India, Representative Democracy and Free and fair elections. This paper focuses on the constitutional provisions relating to the dissolution and duration of the legislatures, specifically Article 83, 85, 172, and 174 of the Indian Constitution, and examines what sort of amendments are required to make simultaneous elections legally and constitutionally viable. It also examines whether this idea stands up to the basic structure doctrine, especially to federalism and Democratic governance as articulated in the landmark judgement of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala and S.R. Bomai v. Union of India. This paper also focuses on how this system functions in democratic countries globally to check whether this idea would realistically and practically work in India. Finally, this study finds that while this idea could bring a lot of advantages regarding time, money, and efficiency, its implementation must be handled with care. Proper respect must be given to constitutional limits, and must make sure that the democratic ethos of our country is not compromised. A phased and carefully regulated framework is essential to synchronise elections without compromising on the principles of federalism and representative democracy.

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