{"id":362,"date":"2020-06-22T07:49:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T07:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/?p=362"},"modified":"2020-06-22T07:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T07:49:54","slug":"feasibility-of-simultaneous-elections-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/2020\/06\/22\/feasibility-of-simultaneous-elections-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"FEASIBILITY OF SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS IN INDIA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prof. V.P. Gupta<\/strong>,Director, Rau\u2019s IAS Study Circle, New Delhi \u2013 Jaipur \u2013 Bengaluru<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The call for holding simultaneous elections has\ngrown recently and the Prime Minister of India has advocated holding\nsimultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to utilise maximum\ntime for governance which is otherwise lost due to political campaigns and\nrallies. India got independence on 15th August, 1947, adopted its Constitution\non 26th January, 1950 and held its first general election between October 1951\nand March 1952 under the guidance of Sukumar Sen who was the first Chief\nElection Commissioner of India. It was a stupendous and colossal task of\ngigantic proportion to conduct election for around 4,500 seats including the\nParliament and State Assemblies for the first time in India. This process of\nsimultaneous elections continued till the year 1967. One thing to remember here\nis that Congress governed both at the Centre and in majority of the states and\nit became easy to conduct such simultaneous elections till Congress enjoyed\nstupendous majority. However, with time, clout of Congress as a political party\nreduced giving rise to political instability both at the Centre and in the\nStates. This instability and rising local demands also led to the emergence of\nmany regional parties across India. This led to instability of many state\ngovernments and slowly this process of simultaneous elections came to a pause\ndue to the constitutional need of having a majority in the State Assemblies.\nEven the Lok Sabha got prematurely dissolved in 1970 and this disrupted the\nchain of holding simultaneous elections completely. Let us understand the\nfeasibility of conducting simultaneous polls in present times where multi-party\ndemocracy, centre-state relations and use of technology through social media\nhave assumed greater importance as compared to our distant past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding Unitary and\nFederal India<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constitution of India establishes a two-tier\ngovernment system with the Union Government at the Centre and respective State\ngovernments at the provinces. The Constitution has demarcated each level of\ngovernment by devising an elaborate scheme of distribution of legislative,\nadministrative and financial powers between the Centre and the States. In this\nrespect, Article 246 of the Indian Constitution clearly enumerates the Federal\ncharacter of the Indian Constitution. It empowers Parliament to make law under\nUnion List, States to make law under State List and both the Parliament and\nStates to make law under Concurrent List. Thus, the Constitution through its\nArticles has created a separate existence for the state government independent\nfrom the existence of the Centre. Thus, elections are conducted every five\nyears in different states as per their constitutional existence. Over the\nperiod of years, stability of the various governments at state level has lost\ntheir sync of common existence in the same time interval. Coalition politics\nhave emerged slowly over a period of years and now we are witnessing coalition\ngovernment in various states. Compulsion of coalition politics have often\nresulted in premature dissolution of both Central and respective state\ngovernments. This has led to different election years for different states.\nNow, the Prime Minister of India is advocating for the need of an idea of \u201cOne\nNation One Poll\u201d by holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and respective\nState Assemblies. Let us understand the merits and demerits of conducting\nsimultaneous elections of such gargantuan level in a culturally and\ntopographically diverse country having a population of 125 crores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and all\nState Assemblies will provide continuity, consistency and stability in\ngovernance throughout the country. The entire country after the completion of\nthe election process can focus on governance for an uninterrupted period of\nfive years. It will reduce the massive expenditure spent during elections\nthroughout the year. Every year some states witness assembly elections and even\nthe political party in power at the Union gets involved during the election\nprocess. This diverts much of Central Government\u2019s time from important national\nand domestic concerns and it consumes energy and resources to ensure victory in\nsuch state assemblies. Elections in states lead to the imposition of Model Code\nof Conduct which effectively restricts introduction of new development\nprogrammes and schemes in the state. Irregular elections at different time of\nthe year affect productivity and have an adverse impact on the economy of the\nnation as a whole.  If all elections to State Assemblies and Lok Sabha are\nheld at one time, it will give a stable five-year term to the political parties\nin power to focus towards implementing their political manifestos and\ngovernment schemes. This will prove beneficial both for the government and the\npublic. Finally simultaneous election would reduce the type of manpower and\nresource deployment necessary for the conduct of elections. This will also\nhelp in controlling corruption to a large extent as use of unaccounted money\nthrough illegal sources such as hawala is very common. Even though Election\nCommission with the help of other administrative and regulatory bodies keeps a\ntight vigil, yet to do so continuously through the year becomes burdensome. It\nalso deviates much of the resources and manpower into such regulations which in\ngeneral course of event can be utilised for their regular work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demerits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has a federal structure and a multi-party\ndemocracy where elections are held for State Assemblies and the Lok Sabha\nseparately. The voters are better placed to express their voting choices\nkeeping in mind the two different governments which they would be electing by\nexercising their franchise. This distinction gets blurred somewhat when voters\nare made to vote for electing two types of government at the same time, at the\nsame polling booth, and on the same day. When State Assembly elections will be\nheld along with Lok Sabha, then the local issues concerning the state may get\nswept by emotive issues of national importance. Voters in such a scenario in\nthe past have always went for the same party whenever simultaneous elections\nwere held. Assembly elections are fought on local state issues and, in the true\nspirit of federalism, parties and leaders are judged in the context of their\nwork done in the state. Clubbing them with the general election could lead to a\nsituation where the national narrative submerges the regional problems and\nissues. In case of simultaneous polls, bigger political parties who are better\nfunded have advantage over smaller regional parties. Even the corporates would\nfavour a uniform government throughout India for their benefit hence could pour\ntheir entire fund in one or two strong national political parties. This may act\nas a huge disadvantage for the smaller political parties thereby distorting the\nvery idea of federalism in India. There are other situations which may arise\nand cannot be preempted currently due to lack of practical experience. One such\ninstance that can happen is that due to constitutional failure in a state, the\nState Assembly has to be dissolved. Then, will the state be allowed to carry on\nor President\u2019s rule under Article 356 will be imposed? Similarly, if Union\ngovernment dissolves prematurely due to coalition politics or passing of\nno-confidence motion or some other reasons, then will this amount to\ndissolution of all state governments? Thus these are certain practical\nconstraints in having simultaneous elections. There will be other practical\ndifficulties in terms of logistics and movement of personnels involved in the\nelection process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommendations of Various\nReports<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law Commission of India<\/strong> in its One Hundred and Seventieth Report<\/strong> has suggested that\nelection of some Legislative Assemblies where term is ending six months after\nthe general election to Lok Sabha can be clubbed with it but election result\ncan be declared at the end of their tenure. This can be possible with the\ncooperation of political parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Standing Committee on\nPersonnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice<\/strong>\nunder the Chairmanship of Dr. E.M. Sugarcane Natchiappan<\/strong> had submitted a\nreport on the \u201cFeasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to Lok Sabha and\nState Legislative Assemblies\u201d in December 2015. The Committee noted that the\nRepresentation of People Act, 1951 permits the Election Commission to notify\ngeneral election six months prior to the end of the terms of Lok Sabha and\nState Assemblies. The Committee recommended that elections could be held in two\nphases. It stated that elections to some Legislative Assemblies could be held\nduring the midterm of Lok Sabha. Elections to the remaining Legislative\nAssemblies could be held with the end of term of Lok Sabha. The Committee has\nnoted that pre-mature dissolution of State Legislative Assemblies is no more on\nthe whim and fancies of the Union Government or even upon political parties but\nare regulated largely by Anti-Defection Act, 1985 and as per Supreme Court\njudgment in S.R. Bommai case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NITI Aayog <\/strong>in its Three Years\u2019\nAction Agenda<\/strong> has suggested that all elections in India should happen in a\nfree, fair and synchronised manner so as to cause minimum campaign mode\ndisruption to governance. In this direction, NITI Aayog has suggested to move\ntowards switching to a synchronised two-phase election to the Lok Sabha. This\nwould require a maximum one-time curtailment or extension of some State\nAssemblies. To implement this in the national interest, a focussed group of\nstakeholders comprising constitution and subject matter experts, think tanks,\ngovernment officials and representatives of various political parties should be\nformed to work out appropriate implementation-related details. This may include\ndrafting appropriate constitution and statutory amendments, agreeing on a\nworkable framework to facilitate transition to simultaneous elections,\ndeveloping a stakeholder communication plan and various operational details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Way Forward<\/strong>\n\nAny proposal to strengthen the roots of democracy is always a welcome\nstep and all stakeholders must be willing and accommodative to explore options\nfor the same. In this respect, the proposal to introduce simultaneous elections\nin India both to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies is a bold reform and must be\ncarried forward with the consensus of all State Assemblies. Simultaneous\nelections if at all possible should be complied within the constitutional\nconstraints and without disturbing the federal structure of India as it is also\na Basic Structure of the Indian Constitution. \nHowever, if any state is unwilling to come to the terms of simultaneous\nelections then, the Central Government shall patiently listen to their\nconcerns. If the concerns are genuine, then effective steps and alternatives\nmust be suggested so as to bring all stakeholders at one common platform.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prof. V.P. Gupta,Director, Rau\u2019s IAS Study Circle, New Delhi \u2013 Jaipur \u2013 Bengaluru The call for holding simultaneous elections has grown recently and the Prime Minister of India has advocated holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to utilise maximum time for governance which is otherwise lost due to political campaigns and rallies. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}