New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah wrote a letter to the Law Commission on Monday, supporting simultaneous holding of Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Dubbing opposition to the move “politically motivated”, Shah asserted that implementation of such a policy will curb expenditure, besides ensuring that the nation is not in “election mode” throughout the year.
In his eight-page letter, Shah said the BJP is committed to this idea and explicitly believes that in a progressive democracy like India, elections should be held at a fixed time and for a fixed tenure so that people’s representatives can carry out their duties effectively.
Shah’s letter to the law panel was handed over by a BJP delegation which met the commission’s top brass yesterday afternoon.
Holding simultaneous polls is not merely a principle and it was also successfully practised between 1952 and 1967, the BJP president stressed, adding that several institutions, including the Election Commission, Law Commission and parliamentary committee, have supported the idea since then.
Shah said expenditure during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was three times more than what was incurred in the 2009 elections, and that simultaneous polls can curb this.
He said the Model Code of Conduct was in force in Maharashtra in 307 of the 365 days in 2016 due to assembly and Lok Sabha by-polls and local elections, hampering development work.
Similar examples can be found in many states, he said.
Shah said simultaneous polls will strengthen the federal structure of the country. He also pointed out that Prime Minster Narendra Nodi, President Ram Nath Kovind and former President Pranab Mukherjee have all supported the idea of “one nation, one poll”.
The law panel, which is examining the feasibility of simultaneous polls, had earlier sought the views of political parties before finalising its report. Both the BJP and the Congress had stayed away from the consultation organised by the commission.
The Congress had met the commission top brass recently and registered its opposition to the concept of simultaneous polls.
A paper by the Law Commission had recently recommended holding Lok Sabha and assembly polls in two phases beginning 2019.
Political parties are divided on the issue. Besides NDA constituent Shiromani Akali Dal, the AIADMK, the Samajwadi Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti too have supported the idea. While the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, DMK, Telugu Desam Party, Left parties and the JD(S) have opposed it.
The Election Commission had previously said that it will be capable of conducting simultaneous polls by September 2018.
Several political analysts and experts however maintain that simultaneous polls will have a negative impact on India’s federal structure and reduce states’ autonomy.
Writing in The Wire, political scientist Sudha Pai argued that holding general and assembly elections at the same time might not work – both because of the logistics and because of what it may entail for India’s federal structure:
Consequently, today the states have come to occupy a crucial position in our federal system. The rise of strong regional forces and new social identities have ensured that there is a common arena of state politics that is conscious of its own autonomy, that is somewhat divergent from national politics. It is for this reason that every state assembly election seems like a national election, throwing up new challenges to national parties. The contest almost everywhere is between a national party and regional parties, while parties based in regions are also competing for power at the Centre.
Thus, apart from not being particularly feasible, the simultaneous holding of parliamentary and state assembly elections is not suitable in our increasingly regionalised, federal democracy. As competition is the essence of democracy, it would not be desirable to have an “opposition mukt Bharat”.
Former Lok Sabha general secretary P.D.T. Achary also wrote in The Wire explaining why simultaneous elections may not be healthy for India’s democracy:
Elections are the means by which the people renew their faith in democracy. Since 1952, we have a 65-year history of democratic elections. These elections, though imperfect in many respects, have served one noble purpose – they have ensured accountability to the people. The people have rejected those who did not care for them. Accountability is the essence of democracy. The fear of being thrown out by the people compel politicians to address problems. Frequent elections have kept the government on its toes. In our experience, once elected, representatives slowly move away from the people. If there are no more elections for five years, the people will surely be forgotten for that duration. Frequent elections will keep the bond between the people and their representatives strong. Otherwise democracy will slowly dry up.
(With PTI inputs)