Simultaneous Polls Can Reduce Inconvenience: Prez Mukherjee

BJP veteran LK Advani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also supported this idea in the past.

President Pranab Mukherjee (Photo: Reuters)

Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can help reduce difficulties in terms of expenditure and management, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.

Mukherjee asked the Election Commission to take the initiative in bringing political parties on one platform to discuss the issue.

There has been some talk about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in political circles... If political parties arrive at a consensus to make amendment to the Constitution and if the initiative is taken by the Election Commission, as they have earned the reputation of impartiality... I do believe that if political parties seriously agree on this issue with the help of EC, it may be possible.

Pranab Mukherjee

Mukherjee made the comments while addressing the National Voters Day in New Delhi, to mark the establishment of the Commission on 25 January 1950.

Also Read: Holding LS, Assembly Polls Together is Desirable But Not Feasible

He said simultaneous polls can “remove lot of inconvenience both in terms of expenditure and management”.

BJP veteran LK Advani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Mukherjee have supported this idea in the past. After the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law supported simultaneous polls in its December 2015 report, the government had sought the views of EC in this regard.

The Commission had made it clear that it would need nearly Rs 10,000 crore, more EVMs and more security personnel for the massive exercise. It had also pointed to the amendments the Constitution would require for the purpose.

Noting that the Indian voter has shown "maturity" on occasions refusing to give a fractured mandate during Lok Sabha polls, President Pranab Mukherjee said in 1984 and 2014, governments with an absolute majority ruled the country.

He hailed the role of the Election Commission in helping the voters and providing them with the necessary infrastructure to come out and vote in large numbers.

He noted that in the 2014 general elections, 66 percent of the voters used their franchise, the highest ever.

His remarks appreciating the role of the Commission in voter awareness comes against the backdrop of some politicians claiming that the EC has overstepped its mandate of election management by getting into the realm of voter awareness and education.

Also Read: Not Combined Polls, Frequent Elections Ideal Recipe for Democracy

Mukherjee said despite having a small set up at Nirvachan Sadan – the EC headquarters – the Commission has, in the past, held elections in trying circumstances.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said that in 2016, the Commission reignited public and political debate on the issue of long pending electoral reforms by releasing in public domain, a compendium of all pending reform proposals.

He said that last year, the poll panel enrolled 1.32 crore voters on its registry. About 3.5 million voters have been removed from the roll due to various reasons.

Zaidi said that new citizens in recently exchanged enclaves between India and Bangladesh have joined the electoral process for the first time. He remembered 104-year-old Mohd Asghar Ali, who passed away recently after voting for the first time.