Should India have simultaneous elections for Lok sabha and state assemlies

[Soumitra]

The PM has floated the idea of simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections

the benefits will obviously be that for 4 and 1/2 years there will governance and reforms without worrying how particular decision will link to UP Polls , Haryana polls etc etc

there will be some practical difficulties initially of syncronising the elections and what happens if some govt loses the majority.

this thread is to discuss all these things and aspects

Please contribute

 

[Soumitra]

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[-xXx-]

The PM has floated the idea of simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections

the benefits will obviously be that for 4 and 1/2 years there will governance and reforms without worrying how particular decision will link to UP Polls , Haryana polls etc etc

there will be some practical difficulties initially of syncronising the elections and what happens if some govt loses the majority.

this thread is to discuss all these things and aspects

Please contribute

This will allow national party at helm not to focus on state elections and can contribute more freely toward the country welfare rather than engaging in "popular" practices.

I can see two issues which need to be address -

1- Generally we do see a wave for a particular party in election time, will it not effect the results of state and national polling? Are we generally going to see the same party winning at state and national level? Or our voter is educated enough to differentiate well?

2- How this rule will tackle mid term polls?

 

[Soumitra]

1- Generally we do see a wave for a particular party in election time, will it not effect the results of state and national polling? Are we generally going to see the same party winning at state and national level? Or our voter is educated enough to differentiate well?

No In 2014 we had simultaneous polling in Loksabha and odihsa , Andhra etc

The reults were different in the state and the national elections

Party No. of Candidates Elected Vote Percentage
Biju Janata Dal 117 43.4%
Indian National Congress 16 25.7%
Bharatiya Janata Party 10 18.0%
Others 4 5.9%

BJP could just win 1 seat in the Loksabha even though there was a Modi wave across the country

2- How this rule will tackle mid term polls?

that is a constitutional question for which I dont have an answer

 

[anant_s]

Two immediate benefits:

1. With all logistics in place, its is always economical to conduct elections together. A person won't mind casting two votes together.
2. Election day is usually a paid holiday and therefore, one manday can be saved by simultaneous election and voting.

 

[Grevion]

Yes it should be done.
But for that to happen the govt and the opposition should be on the same page else there will be same old mud slinging between the states and the Central govt.
One suggestion - we need to send some of our politicians on the moon on a PSLV(no GSLV) rocket before starting a constitutional amendment debate in the Parliament for the subject matter.

 

[Soumitra]

It will also benefit political parties and candidates as they wont have to spend on 2 different elections

 

[nair]

The question would be how to implement this....You will have to cut short few states assembly's tenure, and extent few states........

 

[Hellfire]

Yesssss. We should have simultaneous elections, only graduates allowed, with 5 years of IT returns and property statetments to be disclosed at during and after elections.Few holidays and 5 day work schedule to increase productivity too

 

[ito]

Lots of cost savings.

 

[lightoftruth]

Lots of work for election commission and govt employees.

 

[Darmashkian]

What if the assembly dissolves in the middle of the 5 year term? Or what if the parties in the assembly fail to come together to form a govt.

Will it go into President's rule till the next general election? Why wait for 3(lets say) years for the next election when you can do it right away & get some party to win & get down to govern the state?
-----------------------------------
Even after independence,we had the same thing(General & State election at the same time).

Due to govt.s being formed & broken down & mid-term elections,we have reached where we are today.

 

[kmc_chacko]

What if nobody gets clear mandate and no consensus reached between Parties ? will there be a President Rule for 5 years term ? I don't think that's possible. We need solutions for that first.

 

[arp2041]

Problem is that than u will hv award wapsi on a scale unparralled in history!

& No one will be able to analyze as to which state or constituency can a particular award wapsi can be attributed to....

 

[Soumitra]

one possible solution for mid term polls bould be a mini election at 2.5 years for whichever states have lost their govt

Another could be a guaranteed term. if the party in power loses vote of no confidence it is incumbent on the opposition to form a stable govt. If they cant then party in power continues to form govt