There are three stages of elections in India first the Lok Sabha, second the Vidhan Sabha and third the city council or the village panchayat elections. All three elections are equally important for the democracy. India has many states and each state has many cities and villages. Every election and its code of conduct rules hinder the progress of India. Elections are time consuming and very expensive. Currently every place of India has elections three times with their own individual code of conduct and security measures. Is it possible to combine club some of them under a timeline so that elections are more predictable and development does not take back stage all the time.
This will drastically reduce government expenditure, will shorten the periods of Code of Conduct and provide more time for development. It will also reduce party expenses which will reduce corruption, better deployment of security forces and will create friendly competition. In 2015, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, prepared a report on the ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’. The report said that simultaneous elections would help to reduce:
- the massive expenditure that is currently incurred for the conduct of separate elections,
- the policy paralysis that results from the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct during election time,
- the impact on the delivery of essential services and,
- the burden on crucial manpower that is deployed during election time.
Constructive Vote of No-confidence
There is a probability that government would fall and unstable government would not take hard decisions which are for the public good in fear of losing the control. Times when we have simultaneous elections the common man cannot wait for 5 years for a new government take place. Anti Defection law should be amended too. Members of the Parliament or Assembly or the council should be able to cross vote on the proposals laid on the house which will benefits his/her constituents. The whip should not guarantee the votes for or against any laws to be discussed. There can be general guidance on where a particular party stands and a discussion can be help within the party itself. This anti-defection law can be applicable for lower house of the Parliament or Assembly. The Anti-Defection law will be applicable and the whip will be applicable in the lower house only when there is a no confidence motion.
No-Confidence motion needs to be approved by the Speaker of the house only when there is a probability of stable majority government alternatively. That means a no confidence motion will only take place then there is a confidence motion.
Online Voting
Online voting should be enabled for citizens working or travelling abroad. Online Voting can also be held for general population in future which will reduce the dependence on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and its Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) or verified paper record (VPR). But this needs to be dreaded carefully especially looking at the cyber security and enemy states which might influence the process.
Federalism and Democracy
It’s not easy to formulate a law and get it passed since 50% of states needed to pass these laws in their respective states. Does simultaneous elections harm or strengthen the Federalism is the question to really analyze. It may not harm the state elections and generation X will be wiser to separate the local and national issues. There was a time when Congress used to win local to national elections in every state, BJP though stronger at the Center has not yet accomplished this yet and it might never reach that level ever. Orissa and Andra Pradesh vote during Lok Sabha elections and BJP was not able to influence the elections a bit in those states.
Amendment Required in the Law
- In case there is no clear mandate after the elections then the President of India should form a 20-member committee of elected members of Lok Sabha belonging to the two biggest political parties should appoint a Member of the Parliament to be the Leader of the House i.e. Prime Minister of India (vis-a-vis for Chief Minister of the State) for a duration of 2.5 years where there would be another of elections before 25th November which would then continue for a 5 years duration. This committee in-case of a tie will be referred back to the President for final approval. This ‘selected’ Prime Minister should appoint cabinet ministers from the pool of Lob Sabha members who may belong to any political party.
- Once the no-confidence motion is rejected, another motion cannot be undertaken for the next two years. No-Confidence motion will be only accepted when there is an alternative option available. ‘Absent’ vote will be allowed during such voting procedure.
- First time all states 2 years nearer to the Lok Sabha elections will be dissolved and elections will take place. For the other states more than the 2 years an alternative mid-term date would be finalized. These assemblies will sit for 2 and half years only to merge with other states and Lok Sabha elections.
- By-elections of all kinds of seats will be held once in a year.
- A mid-term date and expiration date of the Lok Sabha will be fixed in the constitution. State Assemblies will expire on the same date as the Lok Sabha. These 2 dates will be significantly important according to the Hindu Calender.
- If a government (assembly or parliament) falls before the expiration date and the period is less than 2 years then President will take over the reins under the advisement of the Council of Ministers.
Proposed Lok Sabha with Assembly Elections along with Mid-term Elections Dates
The first day of the government should be fixed on 26th May of every 5 years from 2024. That means the Election Commission of India needs to conclude the elections before this date. The assemblies ending their terms 450 days before and after the 26th May 2024 dates should extend/promulgate their terms to match the Lok Sabha Date of 26th May 2024. The remaining assemblies should then have another fixed date in the constitution itself calling it mid-term elections. This mid-term election should be carried out in such a way that all the other assemblies and the ones which are under presidential rule should have their new term starting on 25th November (for current context it should be 25th November 2026). There is no need to merge all assemblies but one nation and two elections will be sufficient as we don’t want to risk the assemblies to have prolonged presidential rule. The Green Box will be the list of assemblies which will go to elections with Lok Sabha and the rest in red will start their term on 25th November 2026.
| State Assemblies | Term Ends in | Assembly Seats | Remarks | New Dates |
| Meghalaya Legislative Assembly | Feb-23 | 60 | Apr-24 | |
| Nagaland Legislative Assembly | Feb-23 | 60 | Apr-24 | |
| Tripura Legislative Assembly | Feb-23 | 60 | Apr-24 | |
| Karnataka Legislative Assembly | May-23 | 224 | Apr-24 | |
| Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly | Nov-23 | 90 | Apr-24 | |
| Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly | Nov-23 | 90 | Apr-24 | |
| Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly | Nov-23 | 230 | Apr-24 | |
| Mizoram Legislative Assembly | Nov-23 | 60 | Apr-24 | |
| Rajasthan Legislative Assembly | Nov-23 | 200 | Apr-24 | |
| Telangana Legislative Assembly | Dec-23 | 119 | Apr-24 | |
| Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly | Apr-24 | 175 | Apr-24 | |
| Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly | Apr-24 | 60 | Apr-24 | |
| Odisha Legislative Assembly | Apr-24 | 147 | Apr-24 | |
| Sikkim Legislative Assembly | Apr-24 | 32 | Apr-24 | |
| Total Assembly Seats going with Lok Sabha | Apr-24 | 2,066 | Apr-24 | |
| Haryana Legislative Assembly | Oct-24 | 90 | Apr-24 | |
| Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | Oct-24 | 288 | Apr-24 | |
| Jharkhand Legislative Assembly | Dec-24 | 81 | Apr-24 | |
| Delhi Legislative Assembly | Feb-25 | 70 | Oct-26 | |
| Bihar Legislative Assembly | Oct-25 | 243 | Oct-26 | |
| Assam Legislative Assembly | Apr-26 | 126 | Oct-26 | |
| Kerala Legislative Assembly | Apr-26 | 140 | Oct-26 | |
| Puducherry Legislative Assembly | Apr-26 | 33 | Oct-26 | |
| Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly | Apr-26 | 234 | Oct-26 | |
| West Bengal Legislative Assembly | Apr-26 | 294 | Oct-26 | |
| Goa Legislative Assembly | Feb-27 | 40 | Oct-26 | |
| Punjab Legislative Assembly | Feb-27 | 117 | Oct-26 | |
| Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly | Feb-27 | 70 | Oct-26 | |
| Possible Mid-Term Elections | Oct-26 | 2,088 | Oct-26 | |
| Manipur Legislative Assembly | Mar-27 | 60 | Oct-26 | |
| Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly | Mar-27 | 403 | Oct-26 | |
| Gujarat Legislative Assembly | Dec-27 | 182 | Oct-26 | |
| Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly | Dec-27 | 68 | Oct-26 |
How Reforms Should Look Like 