As Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday held a meeting of various parties to discuss the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, or simultaneous parliamentary and assembly polls, Election Commission sources claimed the idea was not feasible as of now.
A former chief election commissioner also said the proposal has both “strong merits and serious demerits”.A top Election Commission source said if the idea was feasible, then the poll panel would have held assembly and Lok Sabha polls together this year.
The general elections were held in seven phases for the 542 Lok Sabha seats between April 11 and May 19. The results were declared on May 23.
The source also said the law and order situation during simultaneous polls can be very challenging as the number of central paramilitary forces is limited.
He also said that there are over 90 crore voters across the country and to prepare the logistics for simultaneous polls can be very tough.
The remarks of the top Election Commission sources comes after Modi held a meeting with presidents of several political parties during the day in parliament to discuss the idea of ‘one nation, one election’.
Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi said: “This idea has both strong merits and serious demerits.” He said that the merits include cutting costs and avoiding disruption of governance.
“Additionally, it will reduce communalism and casteism and corruption which are rampant during elections” he said.
However, Quraishi said the biggest issue was that of federalism.
“The national political considerations cannot subjugate the state’s interests. Besides frequent elections increase accountability of elected representatives who are notorious for not showing their faces for five years after the elections,” he said.
“Creation of work opportunities for the people is an advantage. The way out is a national political consensus,” the former CEC added.
Meanwhile, Modi said at the meeting that a committee will be formed to look into the various issues on the proposal.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters later that the meeting lasted over three-and-a-half hours.
