Amit Shah writes to Parl panel over simultaneous LS, Assembly polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has favoured the idea of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok sabha and state Assemblies. Party president Amit Shah has already written a letter to the Standing Committee of Parliament in this regard, sources said.

Earlier, the Election Commission had sent a two-page letter to the Law Ministry in support of the proposal. For the first time, the poll watchdog has officially expressed its willingness to conduct the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls together.

On the 79th Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Committee on the ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’, the Law Ministry was seeking the comment of EC. The proposal was a part of the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. 

However, the poll panel has already started to look into several logistical and financial challenges that require immediate attention. The report submitted to the Parliamentary Committee also justified the simultaneous conduct of polls on several grounds, including a huge cut in expenditure that was being incurred for conducting separate elections every year.

According to the EC, separate polls would need Rs 9,284.15 crore to procure additional EVMs and VVPATs. Also, the machines will have to be replaced every 15 years, which would entail more expenditure. Secondly, the EC would need more manpower and central armed forces personnel to be deployed at polling booths for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

The concept of simultaneous polls is not new. The first general elections to the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies were held together in 1951-52. The practice continued for three subsequent general elections held in 1957, 1962 and 1967.  But with the premature dissolution of some Assemblies in 1968 and 1969, this practice was disrupted. In 1970, the LS itself was dissolved and polls were held again in 1971. For the past 48 years, there have been separate polls for electing representatives to the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies.