The desirability of holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas has been discussed at various levels. A considered view is that simultaneous elections will ...
The desirability of holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas has been discussed at various levels. A considered view is that simultaneous elections will not only keep alive the enthusiasm of voters, but will also result in huge savings to the public exchequer as well as avoiding repetition of administrative effort. It is also expected to control the expenses of political parties. Simultaneous elections will also avoid repeated enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct which affects administrative actions by the government.
President of India, His Excellency Shri Pranab Mukherjee has also expressed his views on the desirability of holding simultaneous elections. Speaking at a recent function, The President said that “With some election or the other throughout the year, normal activities of the government come to a standstill because of code of conduct. This is an idea the political leadership should think of. If political parties collectively think, we can change it.... The Election Commission can also put in their idea and efforts on holding the polls together and that will be highly beneficial”
Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has spoken several times on considering the feasibility of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. In two recent TV discussions, the Prime Minister reiterated this idea and invited a national debate on the issue.
Debate on the Issue - A Brief History
In India, simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha (House of The People) and Vidhan Sabhas (State Legislative Assemblies) were organized in the years 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967. Thereafter, however, the schedule could not be maintained and the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas have still not been realigned.
The next General Election to the Lok Sabha is scheduled for 2019. Elections for the Vidhan Sabhas of 5 States are scheduled for 2017, for 13 States in 2018, for 9 States in 2019, for 1 State 2020 and the remaining are scheduled for 2021.
The issue of simultaneous elections was debated by the Law Commission in its 107thReport in 1999 (Reform of Electoral Laws) , where in it was mentioned that – “The rule ought to be one election once in five years for Lok Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies” ( Para 7.2.1.1 of the Report). Recently, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice presented its 79th Report on ‘Feasibility of holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’ on 17th December 2015.
Several structural changes will need to be done in case a decision is made to conduct simultaneous election, including possibility of Constitutional amendments to Articles 83, 172, 85 and 174 to streamline the process.
Seventy Ninth Report Parliamentary Standing Committee for PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, LAW AND JUSTICEMyGov Discussion
MyGov invites citizens, Parliamentarians, Members of Legislative assemblies and councils, constitutional experts, academics experts, bureaucrats, social media influencers, Think Tanks and all other interested people to give their considered view on the subject. The issues that can be considered while formulating a view are (only an indicative list and not exhaustive):
1. Is it desirable to hold simultaneous elections? What are the pros and cons?
2. If simultaneous elections are held, then for the first time what happens to assemblies whose scheduled tenure either ends before or after the proposed date of holding elections?
3. Should the term of Lok Sabha and assemblies be fixed?
4. What would happen in case by-elections are necessitated in between terms?
5. What happens in case the ruling party or coalition loses majority in between term, either in Lok Sabha or in State assemblies?
You may submit your opinion by either writing in the comment box below, or by attaching a PDF document, or through a Youtube video.
The last for submitting your opinion is 15th October, 2016.
Theoretically holding simultaneous election to all democratic bodies is a good idea.But our's is not a presidential form of government,where it will be easy to implement this theory in to practice.Answer shall be found to the question what shall be done if a single local government loose it's majority .May be in such a situation that articular body can be governed by administrators appointed by superior authority.But what can be done if central government itself loose it's majority?
Simultaneous elections is good idea.lot of time and money save,but some political leaders forgot people after the elections. they enjoy the 5 years permenent job,so we introduce recall option. Above 50% people are not satisfied that person will recall immediately,then automatically leaders feel responsibility . We are follow your good thoughts always ....
For simultaneous elections to assemblies and Lok Sabha, voters should have digital ID cards for swiping and entry to the booth. This digital voter id card should be linked to Aadhaar card. Para-military forces should be deployed to ensure neutrality and State police forces should not be utilised. The monitoring of the elections including law and order should be in the hands of the Central Government for all the States in India just for that particular period when elections are held.
I would like to suggest to Govt of India. Kindly ensure that every body can vote at any place or any state irrespective of local Permanent Address. Now a days most of the people working in other states or Cities for their lively hood, but they could not own a permanent house or Address, most of them are staying in rent house which will keep changing. Based on Aadhaar and mobile. Please allow them to vote for their choice at least one place in the country.
In my earlier post i had written about pros of this system,
now Cons-
1.Whenever the simultaneous elections happen some state governments can not have a 5 year term.
2.When there is a wave of any specific party at that time,there is a possibility that it can sweep the elections
3.Infrastructure & man power to conduct the elections will become difficult to manage.
4.It will take a long time to finish the election process together.
5.There r many parties in india,its difficult to cajole them
Yes, holding elections simultaneously will be very useful. The time and resources so saved could be directed to development and solving the critical issues like employment generation.
