SIMULTANEOUS POLLS UNWORKABLE FOR NOW

It appears most unlikely that the idea to hold elections simultaneously to Parliament and State assemblies can be implemented for the next general elections even partially. That both Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat and Law Commission chairman Justice (retd) Balbir Singh Chauhan have cautioned against jumping into it without adequate homework should itself dispel any thought of steamrollering it. Apart from the logistic unworkability that Rawat has talked about, Justice Chauhan has pointed to the fact that it is not possible within the existing framework of the Constitution and that it would require a constitutional amendment which seems unfeasible in the short run with the general elections scheduled only a few months from now. A couple of weeks ago Rawat did say that the EC is ready to undertake elections to four state assemblies with the parliamentary polls but that too would require some loose ends to be tied up.

Former CEC Qureshi has said that while simultaneous elections are desirable, they do not seem workable for now because of a lack of consensus among political parties. While Prime Minister Modi’s advocacy has to do with the exorbitant expenditure of nonsimultaneous polls and the repeated dislocation of administrative machinery on election duty throughout the year, Qureshi has added the factor that when we are in constant election mode, we are also in permanent corruption mode and also that elections have become too divisive, pointing out that communal disturbances are deliberately created around election time to polarise voters. These are weighty arguments but while consensus-building around simultaneous polls may be a good idea, it would be a onerous task. Also, national and local issues are different and holding simultaneous elections is likely to blur judgement.

Building a consensus around the proposal would be no mean task.The Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, DMK, Telugu Desam, the Left parties and the Janata Dal (S) have opposed it. While the Opposition is outnumbered in the Lok Sabha where the BJP and its allies hold sway, in the Rajya Sabha it’s a different story with the anti-BJP forces calling the shots. Even BJP’s allies have some genuine questions nagging them. For instance, the Constitution has provided for a five-year term. In order to bring about uniform elections, the term of Parliament and State Assemblies would need to be increased or decreased. Is a consensus around that feasible? Yet, the arguments for the proposal are weighty and the matter needs to be pursued vigorously for future though it is inadvisable to rush it through.