Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 1: The constitution of a committee by the Centre to explore the feasibility of “one nation, one election” under the chairmanship of the former president Ram Nath Kovind on Friday has again enlivened the debate on the possibility of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies in the country.
Though speculation is rife over the possibility of the norm being implemented from the 2024 Parliamentary elections itself, as a senior cabinet minister indicated on Friday, the current life span of various state assemblies and the constitutional position does not indicate it could become a reality so quickly.
It could be possible to hold simultaneous polling in the Lok Sabha and about 10 state assemblies if the Parliamentary elections are advanced or the terms of some of the state assemblies extended by about six months. But holding the simultaneous elections in the remaining over 20 states and union territories along with Lok Sabha next year seems a remote possibility as the remaining terms of the existing state assemblies extend from six months to four and half years.
The terms of about ten State Assemblies will end before or around the scheduled time for the Parliamentary elections due in May, 2024. While Assembly elections in five states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh — are due by the end of this year, the terms of the assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Jharkhand are ending by June, 2024, and may go to polls with the Lok Sabha.
If the simultaneous elections are to be held in the nine states along with Lok Sabha, either the term of the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim, due to end in June, next year, would have to be advanced or the terms of Mizoram, due to end in December, this year, and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, all due to end in January, 2024, would have to be extended by about six months.
Going by the schedule of the terms of the state assemblies and union territories, the terms of Haryana, Maharashtra: due to end in November 2024, Jharkhand: in December 2024, Delhi: February 2025, Bihar: November 2025, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal: in May 2026, Puducherry: in June 2026, Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand: in March 2027, Uttar Pradesh: in May 2027, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh: in December 2027, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura: in March 2028, and Karnataka: May 2028
There is still no clarity on the completion of the term of Jammu and Kashmir UT, which was formed after the erstwhile Assembly was dissolved in 2018 though the Centre only on Thursday had said the state was ready for holding elections but would go in three stages, panchayat, municipalities and then state Assembly. It is unlikely that all the three stages could be completed in the next six months to go to polls with the Lok Sabha.