On the day the Indian Parliament was being watched to mark the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, and the opposition heaping accusations of subversion of it on the ruling party, the government introduced a bill titled ‘One Nation, One Election’ to everybody’s surprise.

The debate on Adani had become heated. The opposition was not coming slowly, and the ruling party was losing ground on the floor of the Parliament. So, the bill was introduced. Distraction worked to some extent.

The ‘One Nation, One Election’ bill is perceived as a threat to India’s federal structure, sparking opposition from various political factions.

But, this bill is believed to be the first step towards tampering with the Indian Constitution, thus weakening the country’s federal structure, which has already become fragile during the BJP’s rule.

A narrow majority passed the bill. Contrary to the BJP’s traditions, it had to be referred to a joint parliamentary committee before becoming law due to strong opposition.

The government was forced to announce the formation of a joint parliamentary committee at the opposition’s insistence. This committee would consist of thirty-one members and all political parties would be represented.

The question on everyone’s mind at the moment is why the ruling BJP was in such a hurry to introduce this bill and then why the India Alliance is opposing it so much if it can reduce expenses, resources, and budget by completing the election process in one go, as is the tradition in many neighboring countries.

Hyderabad-based political science professor Dr. Sanjeev Shekhawat says, ‘If the purpose of this bill was to save budget or resources, I don’t think anyone would have opposed it. In fact, the BJP intends to postpone elections in states with low chances of forming a government, such as Delhi. And, then, the Adani indictment in the US has become a pain in the neck from which BJP wanted to distract the attention of the masses that have seen the uproarious scenes in the Parliament.

Secondly, the BJP has always been seen as the biggest enemy of the Indian federal system. It wants to make the centre the axis of all powers, so the first step would be to change the provisions related to the federal system in the Constitution. It had dreamed of ruling India until 2047’.

Critics allege the BJP uses the bill as a distraction from governance failures and controversies like the Adani issue.

The opposition, led by the Congress, alleges that the way the BJP has been using all the machinery related to elections during the recent polling has made it impossible for any other party to win the election. An example of this can be seen in the recent state elections of Haryana and Maharashtra, where the ruling party was accused of beating the polls by rigging and tampering with voting machines. BJP has categorically rejected the claims and said that Congress feels ashamed of its failures.

It has been in the air since the ruling party formed a 9-member team headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind last year to look into the prospects of one-time polling in the country to save time, resources, and budget. The report, consisting of more than 18,500 pages, recommended holding elections simultaneously for 28 states and eight union territories for ninety crore voters in the country every five years. Based on this report, a bill was submitted and passed by a thin majority in Parliament.

Many analysts believe holding elections only once every five years can save the country’s exchequer. Still, it is premature to say whether regional parties can escape the BJP’s electoral onslaught or survive state politics. The BJP has its power base in more than a dozen states and is progressing to step in in the country’s South.

Could it be financially viable for a billion voters to exercise their choice on a single day? According to an unofficial study, Rs 400 billion was spent on the 2019 parliamentary elections, which were described as one of the most expensive elections in the world. The election was only for a parliament,  not to talk about states, union territories, or municipal elections.

In the recent parliamentary and a few state elections, the BJP has been accused of spending lavishly on election expenses compared to the opposition. Wads of bundles were even recovered from the houses of some candidates. The news was mentioned in the mainstream media but soon disappeared.

The Kovind report estimates the initial cost of implementing one-time polls at 93 billion rupees, with long-term feasibility still debated.

The opposition India Alliance raised the question of how a government holding elections in a state in five or six phases can hold simultaneous parliamentary and state elections in the entire country. Has the cost of the polling staff, machines, and electoral infrastructure required for this been estimated, or is the BJP simply continuing its agenda by amending the Constitution, which has planned to break and attack the Federal character of the diverse nation?

The Kovind report states that the one-time poll could take many years, and purchasing new voting machines alone will initially require about ninety-three billion rupees. Some economic experts predict it could increase the country’s GDP by one and a half per cent. However, there is no mention of the future budget needed for the one-time election or its infrastructure.

Before a One Nation One Poll bill becomes law, almost half of the 28 states must get the law ratified by their local assemblies. That could create problems for the BJP because even its allies do not favor one-nation, one-elections. To make it a law, a two-thirds majority is needed in the Parliament, which the BJP is seen trying hard to achieve by convincing other smaller parties. Analysts believe convincing the different political parties might be challenging this time.

Legal experts object that if the government wants to overthrow any state government and impose the President’s or the Governor’s rule there, these states will have to wait for elections until the election date is fixed for the entire country, which could be two or five years. This happened many times in the 1960s and 1970s when state governments were overthrown and left without a democratic set-up for many years. At that time, the Congress government was widely criticized for weakening the federal structure instead of strengthening it.

Later, a government formed the Sarkaria Commission to strengthen the federation and give more powers to the states, but its recommendations remained confined to files only.

The Congress says that the BJP wants to meddle with the Constitution in any way possible through this law so that an undemocratic system can be introduced in the country and the rights of the people can be taken away, thereby laying the foundation of an authoritarian regime. Ranjit Singh, Congress activist in Amritsar, says, ‘BJP has already violated the Constitution by its Hindutva agenda, breaking communities based on religion, caste and ethnicity. It wants to create a civil war situation in the country’.

According to some reports, most media channels have been instructed to discuss the One Poll One Nation bill only to divert public attention from the opposition’s allegations of subversion of the Constitution, Hindu-Muslim incitement, and Adani issues, which have led to significant clashes between the opposition and the ruling party in Parliament. Matters relating to the common person are rarely mentioned in Parliament.

The opposition claims the bill paves the way for authoritarianism, weakening state powers and disrupting India’s democratic federal framework.

This third-term BJP government realizes that it is not strong enough this time to scrap a provision of the Constitution with a stroke of the pen, as its previous government did when it abolished the internal autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir. Today, it does not have a two-thirds majority, and the opposition is also not so scared and intimidated that it has been harassed and implicated by investigative agencies in various cases.

Political bickering in Parliament is not limited to a mere war of words. Now, the opposition and the ruling party members are engaged in a fistfight, and videos of scuffles have gone viral on social media. Both parties accuse each other of fists and punches while protesting on the stairs of the Parliament.

Adding to the BJP’s growing frustration, protestors are thronging the roads and streets across India at the call of opposition parties against Home Minister Amit Shah’s disrespectful remarks regarding the architect of the Constitution, Bheem Roa Ambedkar, who belongs to the lower strata of society. The seventeen percent Dalit population, hurt and humiliated by the comment, are taking front rows in protest marches. Controlling or handling the street protests looks pretty complicated, and they are growing in other states with a sizable population of Dalits.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.