Comprehensive as it may be, the Law Commission’s draft report on the possibility of holding simultaneous polls by 2019 would require wide bipartisan consensus before it can take shape. The Commission is of course open to inputs from constitutional experts, academics, political parties, even students. It has annexed a public notice to the white paper to be circulated to them, with a short time-frame, May 8, for them to respond. This is because, if the proposal has to bear fruit, the Election Commission has to be given a lead period of six months. Parliament will have to carry out crucial amendments, including one on the Constitution, the other on the Representation of People Act, 1951, as also the Rules Procedure of the Lok Sabha and Assemblies, by the monsoon session. Easier listed than done!
The GST experience has shown us that path-breaking changes that alter the very rules of the game, however well-intentioned, should ideally not be rushed. Simultaneous polls will not be a one-time phenomenon. To make it sustainable, it requires other amendments, such as in the anti-defection law, and also loosening the grip of party whips, to avoid hung Assemblies. This may reduce the partisan approach to law-making and other legislative business, but as a devil’s advocate may say, it may bring money play and backdoor lobbying into the process. Can a developing country like India, with its myriad of competing interest groups, allow the weakening of the oppositional voice or even afford a bipartisan approach to law-making?
The endless chain of polls, in the PM’s view, is a distraction from governance. Apart from the model code of conduct, it keeps parties locked in a bitter tussle inside Parliament and in a perpetually rabble-rousing mode outside. However true, this only applies to national parties. A regional party has no such problem of being an itinerant campaigner, hopping from one poll to another. So simultaneous polls will suit those with a political footprint across India. As an idea it has points, but the counter-points need careful consideration.