Thursday, November 7th, 2024

One Election: When was the last time one country-one election was held in India, know why it was stopped?

History of One Nation One Election in India, The proposal of One Nation One Election has been approved unanimously by the cabinet of the Modi government of India. Based on the report of the committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, the Modi government has given the green signal to One Nation One Election. After this, the government will decide the way forward in this direction with the cooperation of Parliament, constitutional amendment and the states.

There is a discussion going on in India about One Nation One Election. However, One Nation One Election is not a new thing in our country. In fact, for the first few years after independence, there used to be One Nation One Election in India, that is, the Legislative Assembly elections of all the states and the Lok Sabha elections were held simultaneously to form the central government.

One Nation One Election: What is one country one election and why?

In a large country like India, elections are held somewhere or the other every few months, the attention of the whole country is attracted towards it, politics intensifies, the Election Commission comes into action, all government arrangements including security have to be made, the code of conduct is implemented and the sequence of development work being done for the public by the central and state governments is repeatedly disrupted.
The concept of One Country One Election would see simultaneous elections for states and the Centre so that governments can function seamlessly for years to come. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a supporter of this for a long time and has mentioned it many times.

History of One Nation One Election in India: History of One Nation One Election in India

  • The idea of ​​one country one election has been around since at least 1983, when the Election Commission first mooted it. However, until 1967, simultaneous elections were the norm in India.
  • The first general elections to the Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies were held simultaneously in 1951–52.
  • This practice continued in the three general elections held in 1957, 1962 and 1967.
  • However, this cycle was disrupted by the premature dissolution of some assemblies in 1968 and 1969.
  • In 1970, the Lok Sabha was dissolved prematurely and fresh elections were held in 1971. Thus, the first, second and third Lok Sabhas completed a full five-year term. As a result of the premature dissolution and extension of the term of the Lok Sabha and various state legislative assemblies, separate elections have been held for the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies, and the cycle of holding simultaneous elections has been disrupted.


When Indira Gandhi had broken the order of one country-one election:Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dissolved the Lok Sabha in 1970 and called for general elections in 1971, 15 months ahead of schedule. Indira was running a minority government and wanted full power. Her decision separated state assembly elections from general elections.

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