The high-level committee on ‘one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded — 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Fifteen parties did not submit a response, according to the report of the panel submitted to President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday.
Among the national parties, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National People's Party supported it.
‘Responses were received from 47 political parties. Barring 15 political parties, the remaining 32 political parties not only favoured the system of simultaneous elections, but also advocated its adoption for saving scarce resources, protecting social harmony, and stimulating economic development,' the report said.
‘Those who opposed simultaneous elections raised apprehensions that its adoption could violate the basic structure of the Constitution, be anti-democratic and anti-federal, marginalise regional parties, encourage the dominance of national parties, and result in a presidential form of government,' it said.
The AAP, Congress and CPI-M rejected the proposal saying it undermines democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution, said the report.
The Bahujan Samaj Party did not explicitly oppose it, but highlighted concerns regarding the large territorial extent and population of the country, which could make implementation challenging, said the report.
The Samajwadi Party in its submission said if simultaneous elections are implemented, state-level parties will not be able to compete with national parties in electoral strategy and expenditure leading to increased discord between these two sets of parties.
Among state parties, the All India United Democratic Front, the Trinamool Congress, the All India Mjalis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Communist Party of India, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Naga People's Front, and the Samajwadi Party opposed the proposal to hold simultaneous elections.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the All Jharkhand Students Union, the Apna Dal-Soney Lal, the Asom Gana Parishad, the Biju Janata Dal, the Lok Janshakti Party-Ramvilas, the Mizo National Front, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, the Shiv Sena, the Janata Dal-United, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, the Shiromani Akali Dal, and the United People's Party Liberal supported the proposal.
Others including the Bharat Rashtra Samiti, the Indian Union Muslim League, the Jammu And Kashmir National Conference, the Janata Dal-Secular, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Kerala Congress-Mani, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Sikkim Democratic Front, the Telugu Desam Party, and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party did not respond.
Among other parties, the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist Liberation, the Social Democratic Party of India opposed it, while the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, the Bharatiya Samaj Party, the Gorakha National Liberal Front, the Hindustani Aavam Morcha, the Rashtriya Lok Jan Shakti Party, the Rashtrawadi Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) were among those who opposed.
The report also said that at an all-party meeting in 2019, which was attended by 19 political parties to discuss critical reforms in governance, simultaneous elections was among the issues discussed and 16 of them favoured it.
Only three parties opposed the idea, it said.
According to the report, in the 2019 meeting the parties that had supported the idea are: the BJP, the NCP, the JD-U, the YSR Congress, the BJD, the BRS, the LJP, the SAD, the Apna Dal, the AJSU, the SKM, the NDPP, the NPP, the People's Democratic Party, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, and the Republican Party of India supported the proposal.
The CPI-M, the AIMIM and the RSP were the only parties that had opposed it.
