A sensible idea, or partisan...

A hasty push for simultaneous Lok Sabha, Assembly polls will be anti- democratic Move aimed at helping BJP win polls

After Prime Minister Na rend ra Modi’s pitched for holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and the state Assemblies, President Ram Nath Kovind is now calling for it too. Mr Modi has been preparing a plan for the merger of elections for a long time and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh ( RSS)- backed think tanks have been working overtime to create an atmosphere so that the PM gets support on this.

Mr Modi calls it “electoral cycle reforms” which he argues will limit the amount of time and money spent in electioneering. He wants politicians to have more time for people- oriented programme rather than wasting most of their time on elections. But the real intention behind it is to consolidate the position of the BJP across the nation.

At an all- party meet two years back, Mr Modi spoke about merging forthcoming elections. The proposal was then raised again at a meeting of the BJP’s national executive. This was a plan in motion even before the last general election. The BJP’s manifesto for the 2014 election had underlined: “Evolve method of holding Assembly and Lok Sabha Elections simultaneously.”

Then, in December 2015 the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law, and Justice tabled a report in Parliament on the “Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies”. The report said, “This is important for India if it is to compete with other nations in developmental agenda on real time basis as a robust, democratic country.”

Mr Modi’s proposal is motivated more by political considerations than the reasons he wants us to believe. It is no secret that when simultaneous elections are held, voters tend to vote for the same party. An analysis of Election Commission data from 1999 onward shows that there is a 77 per cent chance that the Indian voter would vote for the same party at the state and Centre if elections were held simultaneously.

Constitutional provisions are very clear on the matter. Article 83( 2) provides for a term of five years for the Lok Sabha, from the date of its first sitting, unless dissolved earlier. Similar provisions under Article 172 ( 1) provide for a five- year tenure for state Legislative Assemblies from the date of its first sitting. The mandatory term has to be completed first. It is the prerogative of the Assembly to decide when to call an election.

The President has the power to extend the period of Assemblies by up to one year to bring about uniformity in holding the elections at the same time. It’ll be interesting to see that how far our new President would like to stretch his powers to fulfill the desire of a particular political party as it is bound to raise many questions.

Moreover, to conduct elections across the country on the same day, about 4,000 companies of paramilitary forces will be required. The country is able to make available only around 1,000 at the moment. Purchasing Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines would cost around ` 10,000 crores if elections are to be held together. State and national elections are often fought on different sets of issues. In simultaneous polls, voters may end up privileging one set of issues over the other. National issues could be ignored or local issues could be swept away by a national “wave”. The proposal is entirely against the basic principles of a federal system.

The writer is an office- bearer of the Congress Party Mr Modi’s proposal is motivated more by political considerations than the reasons he wants us to believe. It is no secret that when simultaneous elections are held, voters tend to vote for the same party.