Page 5 - Simultaneous Polls News Today

While addressing a joint session of Parliament in 2018, Kovind, then president, had already noted that frequent elections not only impose a huge burden on human resources but also impede the development process. Another former president, Pranab Mukherjee, had earlier favoured the idea that has the backing of the Law Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The high-level committee formed to explore the feasibility of simultaneous polls on Saturday said it will seek the views of all national and state par

The high-level committee on simultaneous elections in India, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, held its first meeting and decided to invite political parties and the Law Commission to seek their views on holding synchronized polls in the country. The committee will examine and recommend specific amendments to the Constitution and laws, suggest a framework for synchronizing elections, and address logistical issues.

The leader of single largest party in the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was not present in the meeting.

The government had on September 2 notified the eight-member "high-level" panel to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.

The first meeting of the high-level committee to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous polls will be held on September 23, said former president Ram Nath Kovind, who heads it.

The government on September 2 had notified an eight-member committee to examine and make recommendations for holding elections to the Lok Sabha, the state Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats at the same time.

Gearing up for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday made a strong pitch for social justice and resolved to make the INDIA bloc an "ideological and electoral success" to free the country from "divisive politics".

Simultaneous elections in 2024 could bring down the spending on polls by 20 to 30 per cent, depending on how effective the Election Commission is and how cooperative political parties are.

Four states that had simultaneous Lok Sabha-assembly polls in 2019 gave the upper hand even in Lok Sabha to the party that won the assembly. While BJP’s LS vote share had a minor uptick in these four states, simultaneous polls arguably helped regional parties send more MPs. Even if BJP has fears about upcoming state polls, lumping them with LS polls could be counterproductive