Political parties oppose simultaneous polls

NEW DELHI: Several opposition parties on Monday opposed the idea of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

At a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, members belonging to the Congress, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and Trinamool Congress expressed their opposition to the idea being floated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The opposition members were of view that it was not practically possible at present, said an informed source. Several opposition members felt that holding the elections simultaneously was not realistic and not feasible in the present situation.

"There was a general discussion on a lot of issues related to electoral reforms. There was no conclusion," the source said.

The other issues discussed by the panel included proportionate representation, state funding and electronic voting machines.

Modi said in a recent interview that all political parties should come together to support simultaneous elections in India as a lot of financial and human resources get used due to frequent elections.

The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, in a report submitted to Parliament in December 2015, noted that simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies would reduce massive expenditure currently incurred for the conduct of separate elections and mitigate the policy paralysis that results from the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct during election time.