There is increasing speculation that the government could be considering holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. This question has been debated on national television channels and last week some BJP MPs moved private members resolutions in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha supporting simultaneous polls, but the government’s view on this could not be ascertained as the motions could not be taken up for discussion due to want of time.
One of the resolutions moved was quite elaborate and listed ten reasons in favour of simultaneous elections and called for a single electoral roll across the country to weed out duplicate voters, allow e-voting, link Aadhaar numbers with election cards, implement state funding and regulate utilisation of funds by the political parties. Another resolution on the same subject urges the Centre to take steps in simultaneous polls in consultation with the State governments. It went on to say that elections held at different point of times are extremely time consuming and expensive besides involving deployment of huge manpower. The manpower deployment is not just for the actual voting process, but also for security measures.
Though these were Private Member’s Resolutions, that they were moved by BJP MPs gives an indication of what the party in government is considering, even if we don’t yet have a formal view of the government.
There have, however, been reports that one of the reasons for considering holding simultaneous polls is the code of conduct that is imposed before the polls that almost brings all government decisions and policy making to a halt during that period. The Code of Conduct for a State Legislative Assembly poll even places some restrictions on the Union government in taking certain decisions, and when this happens at irregular intervals, depending upon the term of State Assemblies, it does hamper the government’s smooth functioning.
Due to the polls in Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Manipur, a long period of the code of conduct ended just last month, after almost two and a half months, during which the Union Government presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha, even as some political parties wanted it postponed to after the polls. Later this year, when Gujarat goes to the polls there will again be another spell of a Code of Conduct that will impose restrictions not just in that State but also, though limitedly, on the Union Government. The argument is that having simultaneous polls would end this, and there would be just one period for the entire country where there would be a Code of Conduct imposed.
The Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May 2019, two years from now. Any change in the election system would have to be made before that, but in doing so one needs to look at the political benefits of holding the polls simultaneously.
Simultaneous polls could give the party that comes to power at the Centre a distinct advantage if it is also able to take along the States. Research has shown that in the past, when Lok Sabha polls have coincided with certain States, in 24 elections the votes polled by the major parties in the fray amounted to the same number, and differed in just seven. While this would be beneficial to the political parties, the voter would perhaps find it a shade difficult to make a proper distinction between issues of the State and Nation and vote accordingly.
And then one has to look at the political, social and cultural diversity in India, and in particular the regional parties spread across the country that play a major role in governing at the State and also sending MPs to Parliament. Simultaneous polls would perhaps work to their disadvantage, giving the national parties a distinct edge. By reducing the influence of the regional parties, the contribution of these to national politics and governance would be suppressed, and that for a country like India, would not bode well. The regional flavour at the Centre would be lost, making it an insipid national party structure only.
