PANEL FOR SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS BY 2029

Local body polls should be held within 100 days of election

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA ASHISH SINHA

Moving one step closer to the possibility of holding simultaneous polls in the country, the high-powered nine-member committee, led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, has recommended that there should be simultaneous elections in the country.

The 321-pages main report that has more than 15,000 pages of annexures was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu after the panel met her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The report contains 11 chapters and includes annexures spread over 21 volumes.

‘The Daily Guardian’ on Wednesday reported that the Kovind committee would to submit the report on One Nation One Election soon.

In its first step, it has suggested that the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections must be held simultaneously, and within 100 days of its completion of this exercise, municipality and panchayat polls should be conducted.

For the first simultaneous polls, the tenure of all state assemblies can be for a period ending up to subsequent Lok Sabha elections. For this, no amendment in the Constitution is required.

The committee has stated that in the event of a hung House, no-confidence motion, or any such event, fresh elections should be held to constitute the new Lok Sabha or new legislative assembly for the unexpired remaining term of the Lok Sabha.

If the recommendation of the committee are to be construed as the final wordings on this subject, then the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are likely to be the last polls that will happen in the present format and the first simultaneous polls could be held in 2029. During this period, all states with elections due between June 2024 and May 2029 would see their terms end alongside the 18th Lok Sabha.