‘One Nation, One Election initiative would fracture country’s federal compact’

A group of eminent citizens, comprising retired bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, professors, writers, civil society groups and leaders of various movements from all over the country, on Saturday (July 4, 2026) rejected the proposed ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative, saying it would fracture the federal compact of the country.

At a conclave on ‘One-Nation One-Election, Federalism and Citizenship’ at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi, participants said the proposal would also curtail the ability of State Assemblies to run their own affairs in the manner in which the Constitution has empowered them.

The speakers expressed concern over what they described as the degradation of the status of the Indian Passport to “a mere travel document”, saying it had triggered anxieties over the nature of citizenship. The burden of proving citizenship has been shifted onto citizens, they alleged.

Speaking on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of elector rolls, former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa questioned the outcome of the exercise.

“There is no data available in the public domain to show how many people were deleted (from electoral rolls) because they were ineligible. There is data to show that names were deleted because people migrated, but not because they were ineligible. Will this data be made public? The Supreme Court gave four weeks to the ECI to submit the names to the Foreigners Tribunals. How many people have been referred? How did the ECI assess the health of electoral rolls in comparison to previous years? Let us understand the lessons learnt or improvements that the EC proposes. An army colonel called to say his wife’s name is missing from the draft list. There are so many people anxious about whether they will continue (to be able) to vote,” Mr. Lavasa said.

It was not just the constitutional right to voting, but the fundamental right was being compromised, according to former Supreme Court judges who addressed the meeting.

The participants also expressed concern over what they called the curtailment of citizens’ rights and the lack of transparency and accountability in the electoral process. They alleged there was a huge crisis of trust in the Election Commission of India (ECI) and accused the commission of acting without transparency and resisting accountability. Demands to make public Form 17C, CCTV camera footage, presiding officer diaries, and other electoral records have been resisted by the Election Commission, they claimed.

Former Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai demanded wider public consultation on the caste census.

He said the 2027 Population Census would be one of India’s most consequential demographic exercises. Beyond counting the population, it would shape delimitation, women’s reservation, welfare allocation, and caste politics, he said. While digitisation may improve efficiency and speed, the success of both the Census and the caste census would depend on transparency, public consultation, clear classification criteria, and careful implementation, Mr. Pillai said.