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The Big Picture - Simultaneous Elections: Is it Legally and Practically Possible?
The issue of holding simultaneous elections has been debated periodically in this country. With recent holding of elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu the debate has resurfaced again about the feasibility of holding such elections. The article deals with the issues associated with holding simultaneous elections.
The issue gained traction when the parliamentary standing committee in Dec 2015 submitted a report on holding such simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Need for holding such simultaneous elections as per the standing committee recommendations
Recommendations of standing committee
Concerns:
Benefits:
The idea/rationale of holding simultaneous elections may seem to be good on paper but practically impossible to achieve due to various issues mentioned above. This proposal is a non starter for a country like India whose entire democratic setup is different than other western countries which follow the model of holding simultaneous elections. Nevertheless the Standing Committee noted that relief from frequent elections was “important for India if it is to compete with other nations in developmental agenda” there needs be more debate on improving processes of conducting the elections than changing the way we conduct elections and need to evolve consensus over the issue.