Nagaland: NPF said no to ONOE; NDPP said yes in principle

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 23

The recommendations of the High Level Committee on holding simultaneous elections nationwide — colloquially ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) — was recently accepted by the Government of India. It took the committee, chaired by the former President Ram Nath Kovind, six months to consult with stakeholders, and to compile and submit a report to the Union government in March 2024. 

As reported by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in March, the 18,626-page report was “an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on 2 September, 2023.” 

Some 21,558 responses were reported have been received from citizens from all over India, 80 percent of which supported simultaneous elections. As reported by the PIB, 32 of the 47 political parties, which submitted “views and suggestions,” supported simultaneous elections.    

The NPF and NDPP from Nagaland were also among the political parties which responded to the Committee. Read on for what the 2 parties had to say. 

NPF said no
The NPF submitted its suggestions to the Committee on January 12. In its response, the NPF objected to the notion of simultaneous elections based on a number of arguments, which, it held would defeat the spirit of the federal structure of India while diminishing the significance of regionalism. 

It said that introducing simultaneous elections would be disadvantageous to the regional parties. While claiming that voter turnout is largely owed to the regional parties, it said, “This is because many a time National Political Parties inadequately addresses the regional and local issues,” it said. 

“We have no doubt in our mind that once simultaneous election of Lok Sabha and State Assembly is impose upon, the relevancy of the Regional Political Parties would also diminished as national agenda will overshadow regional and local issues,” it said. 
It held that the national parties would misuse government machineries, if simultaneous elections are held, vitiating the spirit of free and fair election. 

Reducing state expenditure on elections has been cited as one of reasons behind the push for simultaneous elections. However, it said that expense reduction should not be at the cost of federalism.  

The party cited India’s multi-ethnic, multi-lingual composition, largely based on which state-lines were drawn, while, a state like Nagaland was born out of a political agreement. 

It further held that introducing ONOE will necessitate the “overhauling of the Indian Constitution,” putting the existing First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system in danger of being replaced by the List Party Proportional Representation (LPPR) system. It termed the LPPR as too abstruse a system for the majority of the rural Indian masses, and one that would delink the electorate from its representatives.

NDPP said…
The NDPP submitted its reply, in a carefully worded statement, on January 22. It expressed support to the push for simultaneous elections in principle, but highlighted potential challenges vis-à-vis regional dynamics. 

While holding of simultaneous elections are not uncommon in other democracies, the NDPP said that the size and magnitude of Indian democracy and its elections cannot be compared with any other nation. “In this context, the regional dynamics, sensitivity to sentiments of the people, especially the minorities and understanding the local challenges should be deeply understood,” it said.

It advocated for in-depth consultations with regional parties, particularly from the northeast, before implementing any significant changes.

Development-wise, it referred to how imposing the Model Code of Conduct with the declaration of election schedule affects normal governance. In general, frequent elections put a halt to implementation of development programmes of the Union and state governments, “resulting to policy paralysis and governance shortfalls,” it said.

The suggestions the party put forward included shortening the duration of elections to minimise the impact on development initiatives and streamlining civic body elections. Civic body elections “need to be streamlined in a manner that they are in consonance with national policies but at the same time the independence of implementation must be at the jurisdiction of the State governments,” it said. 

It also cited a letter, dating to June 2019, outlining the party’s stand on the issue. In that letter, it suggested preponing some state elections and extending the term of others before going ahead. 

It added, “The NDPP assures fullest cooperation for any initiative that is aimed at the strengthening of the country, democratic foundations and realisation of the aspirations of the people.”