NEW DELHI: Seeking the feasibility of conducting the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies’ polls simultaneously in 2024, BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has moved a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Delhi High Court.
The plea also sought the court to direct the Centre and Election Commission of India to ascertain the feasibility of conducting elections on Saturday, Sunday, and Holiday in order to save valuable time of the schools, colleges, universities,service industries and manufacturing organizations.
In 48 countries, elections are always held on Sunday to enable the maximum voters to participate, it claimed. The elections to assemblies whose terms are expiring in 2023 and 2024 may be brought together with the 2024 Lok Sabha Election by curtailing and extending of the tenure. If consensus evolves among political parties; assembly elections of 16 States i.e. Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh· Mizoram, Rajasthan, Telangana, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand can be held with 2024 General Election, the plea contended.
Since most of these States are ruled by the NDA, the consensus would emerge without much difficulty. This will result in simultaneous· assembly· elections of 16 States with General Elections 2024, it said.
The plea argued that the conducting of elections together will reduce the cost of campaigning for parties. The imposition of the Model Code of Conduct delays the implementation of central and state government projects and welfare schemes and takes away time and effort from governance issues, it said.
“In India, the need for simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, Panchayats and Municipal Bodies have been discussed and debated for a long time. As elections have become a big budget affair and expensive, the Law Commission of India in its 170th Report on Reform of Electoral Laws (1999) has suggested simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative. Assemblies for the sake of stability in governance. But the Centre and ECI did not take appropriate steps, “ it said.
Every year, generally, 4-5 states go to polls. If the last 10 years are taken into account, the highest was in 2013 with Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Karnataka going to polls, it said.