Simultaneous polls are a necessity

Satya Pal Jain 

Additional Solicitor-General, India

The issue of holding elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies simultaneously is being debated these days. 

The Constitution provides a term of five years for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, unless dissolved earlier. The first General Election was held in 1952, when elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures were held simultaneously. This pattern continued in 1957 and 1962, but it was broken in 1967 when the Congress lost majority in many states, leading to the formation of non-Congress governments, but which could not complete their tenure. It led to mid-term polls in those states, breaking the five-year circle. 

After that in 1971, Indira Gandhi, after winning the war with Pakistan and after the formation of Bangladesh, dissolved the Lok Sabha and got the Lok Sabha elections conducted in 1971 itself. 

Such practice has continued ever since. However, the losses of being in the 'election mode' throughout are tremendous. Most political parties remain busy formalising and executing their own strategy for the next cycle of elections. The security forces which are for law and order have to be shifted from one place to the other to ensure free and fair elections. The Election Commission gets busy preparing for elections for another state, the moment it is free from the election of one state. The expenditure on propaganda, posters, banners by all political parties is multiplied with every new election. And, when elections are held in a particular state, the campaign gets the attention of the national leadership and as a result, the local issues and local leadership are relegated to the background. Thus, the attention of the ruling as well as opposition parties shifts from developmental works to winning one election after another. Every election creates political turmoil in the country. If the ruling party wins, it is called the vindication of its policies and in case it loses, the opposition claims it as defeat of the party in power in the Centre. It's like a musical chair race where the focus shifts to holding your chair and not on doing something substantial for the development of the country.

Approximately 25 lakh employees and a few lakh security personnel are deployed for conducting elections in the country. Because of the Model Code of Conduct, the working of the state government comes to a standstill during elections. In case elections are held simultaneously, the expenditure will be incurred only once, reducing it by almost 50 per cent. 

Each parliamentary constituency has different number of legislative assembly constituencies varying from state to state. In Himachal Pradesh, on an average, 17 Assembly constituencies constitute one Lok Sabha seat, in Punjab and Haryana, it is nine, in Uttar Pradesh five. The number is much more in the smaller states. Take the example of Himachal Pradesh, if elections to Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha are held separately, the expenditure in 17 Assembly Elections will again be repeated in just one Lok Sabha Election. In case elections are held simultaneously, the expenditure will be only once, reducing it by almost half. 

It is time for political parties to sit together and decide on holding simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. It will need amendment of the Constitution. 

So far as Lok Sabha is concerned, there is no provision for President's rule but there is such a provision under Article 356 in the case of the states. The next Lok Sabha Elections are to be held in 2019. Elections to about half the states can be adjusted to coincide with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and elections to rest of the states can be postponed to coincide with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. By 2024, the issue of simultaneous elections can be achieved and from there onwards a provision can be made in the Constitution that in case there is a need of mid-term polls either in the case of Lok Sabha or in any state, the mid-term poll shall be for the remainder period of five years and not a full term of five years, so that the national roster of holding elections is not upset and disturbed. This will also act as a deterrent to the political parties and leadership from getting the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha dissolved on trivial issues. 

This idea is not new. It was discussed by the Election Commission in 1983, the Law Commission in 1999 and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice in 2015. According to this report, about Rs 4,500 crore is spent by the Election Commission in conducting one election to the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies.

Simultaneous elections will save huge expenditure, provide more time to the governments for undertaking development work, take the nation out of being in the 'election mode' throughout the year. This trend then can be taken to the elections within the state also by holding elections in municipalities, corporations, panchayats and zila parishads simultaneously.