A sharp division is evident as the Law Commission started eliciting opinions from political parties over the proposal for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. Unanimity of opinion is unlikely in the present circumstances, also as some major issues need to be thrashed out and clarity ensured in this matter before a final decision is arrived at.
The proposal was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi a little after he took office at the Centre in 2014. The issue being a contentious one, and since there has always been a tremendous amount of suspicion as to what the PM was really up to, most political parties approached the issue with a certain amount of scepticism. The massive victory for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha polls, which put the Congress and other parties on the defensive, was admittedly one reason why the other parties refused to fall in line. There were other reasons, too, that merited proper attention and focus in this matter. For one, as one regional party pointed out, the question arose as to what should happen just in case the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of Parliament itself gets dissolved midway through a term – something that has happened in the past, and there is every possibility of a repeat in future as well.
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A mid-term Lok Sabha dissolution could mean that either the remainder period of the five-year term of that Lok Sabha would go without an election and the nation put under president’s rule for such a period, upsetting the democratic will behind the running of a government. Or fresh elections are summoned in which the fate of all state Assemblies also would hang fire. The obvious alternative is to have simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and all state assemblies midway through the terms of the state governments. This second and not so natural proposition is invitation to chaos and virtual subversion of the democratic process itself – to the extent the mandate that parties got to run the states gets nullified all of a sudden for no fault of the people.
Such issues remain unaddressed and they have not even been discussed in a serious manner by those who support the idea of synchronising the polls to the Lok Sabha and the assemblies. This is reason why the Congress party has not come up with its view on the proposal and sought more time to discuss the matter with its allies. The BJP too has sought more time to come up with a detailed proposal in this respect.
Some supporters of this idea may claim the benefits that come from the simultaneous polls, every five years, are there for all to see. One huge amount of governmental expenses may be saved. Parties too can breathe easy as the money flow required for campaign can be reduced. The situation in which administrations that go into a few months’ virtual paralysis in normal discharge of duties — for them to be in election preparation mode as well as the ban on commencement of all developmental works under the guise of Code of Conduct — is a major drag on the development process. The code of conduct that comes into force at the start of announcement of the election schedule also stops the process of governmental decisions. If this happens repeatedly — at times even in the same year, for polls to Assembly and Lok Sabha — it greatly affects the governance of the state which takes a major hit. Such a situation can be avoided by simultaneous polls to all representative bodies in one go every five years.
In such an event, some may say that new checks and balances need be incorporated. There however is no clarity on these as yet, and expectation is that the Law Commission would consider the matter threadbare and arrive at a consensus. There is little time left for such a process to materialise before the next Lok Sabha polls, which is less than a year away. That is the reason why some parties have proposed that the 2019 target be skipped and the target extended to the next LS poll in 2024.
Nearly 10 prominent political parties are now opposed to the synchronisation, while the Congress is yet to make up its mind. The Biju Janata Dal, the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi seem to be comfortably positioned as their respective states are already in sync with Lok Sabha polls.
It is easy to say national interests are involved and detailed discussions and serious thought need go into the process of arriving at a consensus, The truth, however, is that the matter is rather sticky. Any kind of steamrolling a new system could boomerang. We may keep hoping that the political leaderships would rise to the occasion but they could be undone when reality is taken into consideration. It is not to be forgotten that the very first elections in free India had been synchronised. However, time and events took a toll and we have in our hands a situation that has been created on its own. No one may like it but deaths of elected representatives, especially towering leaders, divisions in political parties, splitting up of states due to reorganisation, public uprisings and discontent and many other such scenarios have been noticed in the past to have affected the longevity of elected Houses. At the end, it can safely be said that tinkering with this natural flow of events that has created today’s situation could only result in unimaginable expenses and futile exercises that may only help a person like the present Prime Minister but not the country in any manner.
