One nation one election? Don’t rush it

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the case for simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Law Commission is examining the proposal and has held consultations with different political parties about it. This week BJP president Amit Shah wrote a letter to the commission repeating the argument that simultaneous elections would save money and also save the country from being in perpetual “election mode”.

Meanwhile the Election Commission is getting ready for the massive challenge of ensuring a verifiable paper audit trail nationwide for the next Lok Sabha elections, as also the upcoming assembly elections. Recall how both the recent Karnataka elections as well as recent byelections to four Lok Sabha and 10 assembly seats across the country were marred by malfunctioning VVPAT machines, reinforcing the clamour in some political quarters for a return to the paper ballot.

But until a legal framework is in place for simultaneous polls – which will include amending the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, rules of procedure of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies – EC cannot place additional orders for EVMs and VVPAT units. As it is VVPAT delivery is running behind schedule. It’s difficult to see how this challenge can be met in the remaining time window, for simultaneous elections in 2019. The idea has some merits, but too many questions about it are unanswered.