RAS question
The High-Level Committee on 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE) was chaired by:
Correct answer: (A) Ram Nath Kovind.
The High-Level Committee on One Nation, One Election was chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
Explanation
The One Nation, One Election question turns on identifying the chair of the official High-Level Committee, not merely a prominent constitutional figure. The PIB release says the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections was constituted under the chairmanship of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, former President of India, and submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on 14 March 2024. Its work began from its constitution on 2 September 2023. The committee recommended a two-step approach: first, simultaneous elections for the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies; second, synchronising Municipalities and Panchayat elections so they are held within 100 days of those elections. That makes Ram Nath Kovind the only correct chairperson for the ONOE committee.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Justice B.N. Srikrishna is associated here with the Data Protection Committee, while the ONOE High-Level Committee was chaired by Ram Nath Kovind.
- (C) N.K. Singh was a member of the ONOE committee and is identified by PIB as former Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, not as the committee chair.
- (D) Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was the Chief Justice of India, whereas the ONOE committee chair named in the official release was Ram Nath Kovind.
Concept
This tests current constitutional governance: election reform proposals and the official committees behind them. RAS repeatedly asks such chairperson-report linkages because they connect polity theory with recent institutional developments.