‘One Nation, One Election’ road map: If brought in, 10 states may have Assemblies of a year or less

If the Union government decides to implement simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies in 2029, the process will start as soon as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls end and many state Assemblies will be dissolved in 2029 much before the end of their five-year term to facilitate simultaneous elections. That is if the constitutional provisions on the duration of the Lok Sabha and Assemblies are amended during the term of the next Lok Sabha.

While the high-level committee on “One Nation, One Election” has left it to the Centre to decide when it can be ready for simultaneous polls, this is the roadmap it has suggested. This one-time transition will be the inevitable result if the Centre accepts the recommendations of the panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind.

The 10 states that got new governments last year will hold elections again in 2028 and the new governments will be in power for about a year or less. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Telangana, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat, even if they deliver clear majorities to a party, will have governments that last two years or less as they will next go to polls in 2027. Similarly, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Kerala will have governments that will last three years even in the event of a majority in the next Assembly polls as they are scheduled to go to polls in 2026. Only Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana that go to polls this year — some simultaneously with the Lok Sabha and some later in the year — can have the same government for five years.

To make sure that simultaneous polls do not run afoul of the Constitution,