Panel rules out simultaneous polls

Mumbai: After the year 2024, the country could see simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha. In addition to this, the polls of local civic bodies like municipal corporations, municipal councils and zilla parishads are also expected to be held simultaneously.

A two-member committee headed by state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, has been formed to review and send its recommendations to the Union government on whether to conduct simultaneous elections or not. The first meeting of the committee was held on July 31 and its second meeting was held on Wednesday. The committee’s scope is to convey the state’s opinion on the issue to the Centre.

“There should be a consensus among all political parties to hold elections together. Only then can it be implemented. However, there is no possibility of the 2019 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls being held
together,” said Mr Munguntiwar.

The committee formed for this issue will have to submit its suggestions on whether simultaneous elections could be held in 2024. Simultaneous polls will save the state exchequer’s money as well as give the state more days for development issues, he said. “A huge amount of money as well as manpower and time is being spent on conducting various polls. Mostly, there is a code of conduct imposed for elections. If fact, we have found that we lose 311 days in a year due to the election code, which affects development works,” the minister added. Various possibilities are being considered by the committee, said the finance minister. “Suppose, a sitting legislator dies before completing his tenure, the winning party can be given an option to name his replacement, which could be an educated or professional person. Or the election commission can select the runner up candidate from same constituency,” he added.