Recently, the Government is mulling over Simultaneous Election. Simultaneous Election is a mechanism to conduct Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies Election simultaneously for the period of Five Years. If any Government faces “NO Confidence Motion”. it has to be accompanied by a mechanism such as “Confidence Motion” by Opposition Parties but no fresh election to be held again for a term of 5 years.
Even today glimpse of simultaneous election can be viewed when Election Commission conducts Lok Sabha election along with 4-5 State Assemblies election.
The rationale behind Simultaneous Election:
- To preclude Administrative Inefficiencies which occurs due to frequent engagement of Government Official in Election Process.
- Focus of Government on Governance rather than often getting diverted to Elections
- To preclude Influx of huge unaccounted money for Election.
- It ensures more Stability to Government
Though Simultaneous Election has several advantages and great potential to improve Governance amid these, it is contended that it is antithetical to the basic principles of the parliamentary system.
Simultaneous Election per se not against basic principles of the parliamentary system but it is the follow-up mechanism which makes it antithetical.
Let’s examine why it is so:
The proposed follow up mechanisms are:
- ”No Confidence Motion” should be mandatorily followed by “Confidence Motion “This implies that even If any Government doesn’t enjoy majority, it can’t be removed until opposition shows the majority. This will snatch power from people to decide the fate of new Government. So, antithetical to representative Government
- According to NITI Aayog, if the remaining period of a 5-year term is less and “No Confidence Motion” is approved, then the remaining period should have PRESIDENT RULE. This again is antithetical to Parliamentary System.
- If the remaining period of the 5-year term after “No Confidence Motion” is large, then the newly elected Government should occupy the office for leftover period. This again goes against the 5-year term of the parliamentary system.
Thus, to achieve simultaneous Election, it requires Constitutional amendments. Our constitution is organic in nature to absorb new socio-economic and political challenges. So, amending the constitution for Simultaneous Election per se is not wrong. However, the follow-up mechanism should be formulated in such way that it is not antithetical to the basic principles of Parliamentary Election.
