EC, law panel likely to discuss simultaneous polls next week

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission and the Law Commission are likely to hold a brainstorming session next week on the road ahead for holding the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections together.

The poll panel has invited law panel chief Justice BS Chauhan (retd) and other top officials to discuss the issue on May 16.

“Yes, we will discuss the issue of simultaneous polls with the EC as they are the one who are mandated to hold elections,” said a law panel official.

The planned meeting comes days after the Law Commission issued a working paper on simultaneous polls.

The law panel said simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies could be held in two phases beginning 2019, provided at least two provisions of the Constitution were amended and ratified by a majority of the states.

Some provisions of the Representation of the People Act would also have to be amended by a simple majority in Parliament, it said.

According to the working paper, the second phase of simultaneous polls could take place in 2024.

The document has proposed amending the Constitution (Articles 83 (2) and 172 (1) dealing with tenures of the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies) and the Representation of the People Act to extend the terms of state legislative Assemblies to effect the move.

It suggests that in case a government falls mid-term, the new government would be elected for the remaining period of that term, and not for a fresh five-year rule.

“As an abundant caution and in order to avoid a challenge (in the courts) to amendments on the ground of not having obtained ratification by majority of the states, such ratification could be obtained for the proposed (constitutional) amendment,” the working paper says.

The states which are recommended to be covered under phase I, with Assembly polls in 2021, include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

States which will come under phase II include Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi and Punjab. To hold elections in these states along with Lok Sabha polls, the terms of the Assemblies would have to be extended.

Based on a suggestion made by the Election Commission, the working paper also says that a no-confidence motion against the government should be followed by a confidence motion. This would ensure that if the Opposition does not have the numbers to form an alternative government, the regime in office cannot be removed.

The law panel has sought the views of constitutional experts, political parties and other stakeholders before finalising its report.

Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat had a word of caution on simultaneous polls when he recently said the legal framework required for holding the elections together would take time to be readied.

“We cannot put the cart before the horse. Logistical issues are subservient to legal framework. Unless legal framework is in place, we don't have to talk about anything else because legal framework will take a lot of time, making constitutional amendment to (changing) the law, all the process will take time,” he had said.