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.
Very good Idea to have elections once in 5 years as long as governments survives 5 years tenure. If no party gets majority, alternative governments or coalition govt will form like VP Singh, Deve Gowda, IK Gujral. Obviously govt will fall between tenure ends. In that case happens this idea of elections in every 5 years will no value.
This topic of simultaneous elections is very complicated.
So,i want to put forward the pros and cons of this system-
Pros
1.The state &Central Government will be able to work more in sync
1.Efficiency in Governance will increase
2.Politics will take back seat.
3.Governments will be more result oriented &productive.
4.It might also save the country a lot of money.
5.The amount of black money which is in circulation due to elections always will reduce.
#SimultaneousElections
It is very well aimed at holding simultaneous elections for parliamentand assemblies. This will surely reduce the cost and time. But before that lots of duplicated voters and false informations are to be corrected first and in my opinion, the voter id shall have fool proof details like passport. This needs to be done on priority
i am waiting for that day when simultaneous election been held by the election commission on the same day as it reduces cost that incurred by the election commission as well as different political parties which indirectly reduces corruption and That time very good thinking gov.............
It is indeed desirable to hold elections once every 5 years, so as to cut down on the associated costs and codes of conduct. However, it will also be problematic if Assembly gets dissolved in between. Hence, I believe it will be better to hold elections every 2.5 years instead of every 5 years to maintain the interregnum. In this case, President's rule will apply to a state for a maximum of 2.5 yrs instead of 5 yrs, which is not a very long time. However, Centre election has to b same as before.
i am waiting for that day when simultaneous election been held by the election commission on the same day as it reduces cost that incurred by the election commission as well as different political parties which indirectly reduces corruption and politics will stop for at least next 3 subsequent years but on the other side it requires Hugh supply of army which is not that much safe as well hence the election should conducted simultaneously but with due care of presence of army
Hi,
I am of the opinion that simultaneous election will serve the nation and avoid wasteful expenses. All political parties need to come together for the same, similar to the way they come together when they need scale revision.
Secondly need to find solution in case of hung parliament.
Can we have certain rules and regulations framed upfront for MP and MLA.
1. No security for MP and MLA of free India. Security for President, Vice-president and Prime Minister of free India.
Yes, a very good idea to combine elections. Potential of saving good amount of money both for Govt (Election Commission) and for political parties. But better to make these changes in phases & not attempt everything at once. If done in phases, will help us to understand the impact & will give a chance to fine-tune future activities...
