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It won’t be unreasonable to state that the Indian polity is perennially in an election mode. Barring a few exceptional years within a normal 5 year tenure of the Lok Sabha, the country witnesses, on an average, elections to about 5-7 State Assemblies every year. Such frequent electoral cycles ends up negatively impacting administrative and developmental activities in the poll bound states / regions and the larger governance process in general as well.
Ideally, simultaneous elections should imply that elections to all the three tiers of constitutional institutions take place in a synchronized and co-ordinated fashion. What this effectively means is that a voter casts his vote for electing members for all tiers of the Government on a single day. Having said that, the third tier institutions is primarily a State subject as per the Constitution. Further, considering the facts that elections to the third tier institutions are directed and controlled by the State Election Commissions and their sheer numbers in the country is significantly large , it would be impractical and possibly impossible to synchronize and align election schedules to the third tier with that of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections. Accordingly, the term “Simultaneous Elections” is defined as structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner that elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are synchronized together. In such a scenario, a voter would normally cast his/her vote for electing members of Lok Sabha and State Assembly on a single day and at the same time. To clarify further, simultaneous elections do not mean that voting across the country for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies needs to happen on a single day. This can be conducted in a phase-wise manner as per the existing practice provided voters in a particular constituency vote for both State Assembly and Lok Sabha the same day.
Historical perspective
A. Impact on development programs and governance due to imposition of Model Code of Conduct by the Election Commission; B. Frequent elections lead to massive expenditures by Government and other stakeholders; C. Engagement of security forces for significantly prolonged periods and D. Other Issues: • Frequent elections disrupt normal public life • Frequent elections perpetuate caste, religion and communal issues across the country- Dr. S. Y. Quarishi (former Chief Election Commissioner) noted that “…elections are polarising events which have accentuated casteism, communalism, corruption and crony capitalism. If the country is perpetually on election mode, there is no respite from these evils. Holding simultaneous elections would certainly help in this context”. • Frequent elections adversely impact the focus of governance and policy making
Potential challenges in holding simultaneous elections
1. Operational feasibility. • Initial Synchronization may lead to curtailment of tenures of legislative assemblies as almost 5 elections are held every year. • Shortage of critical electoral machinery like EVMs, VVaPTs etc. 2.Concern about Negative impact on voting behavior of voters. 3. Frequent elections help in maintain pressure on politicians leading to increase in accountability. 4. Many temporary jobs are created at grass root levels during election time. 5. It may lead to increase in cases of casteism, communalism, corruption, crony capitalism etc as according to former CRC SY Qureshi elections in India are a polarizing events. Elections impact everyone in the entire country – citizens, businesses, administrative machinery, constitutional institutions, political parties, leaders and so on. Eventual implementation of this measure would not only require significant Constitutional and Statutory amendments, it would also require significant consensus amongst the key stakeholders. Without a general consensus and wider acceptance, its intent and efficacy could be compromised. The Constitution does provide sufficient room to make amendments to suit the changing times and needs of the country. This flexibility is not just an enabling tool but in fact a responsibility on Governments to provide the best governance systems, processes and opportunities to its citizens.
Way forward
By: Abhishek Sharma ProfileResourcesReport error
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