India’s government has approved a plan to hold simultaneous national and state elections, a move that has ignited fierce debate and raised concerns among opposition parties about the future of the country’s parliamentary democracy.
The federal cabinet recently endorsed a comprehensive report from a panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, recommending synchronized polls to reduce costs and enhance governance efficiency. However, critics argue that this proposal could shift India towards a more centralized, presidential-style system similar to that of the United States, potentially concentrating executive power and diminishing the current parliamentary framework, reports Blooomberg.
‘Curb poll expenses’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long advocated for combining elections, asserting it would cut expenses. Estimates of the cost of holding state elections vary from around 41.5 billion Indian rupees (US$500 million) every five years for all states combined, to about 55.5 billion Indian rupees on average. However, opponents contend that any savings from the proposal would only represent a small fraction of states’ budgeted expenditures.
Implementing the plan would be incredibly complex, requiring the curtailing or extending of terms for state legislatures, which currently have staggered five-year tenures. Opposition leaders have seized on this point, arguing that such term changes would disregard the will of the people. Supriya Shrinate, a senior leader of the opposition Congress Party, pointed out that if the proposal were implemented by the next general elections in 2029, as many as 17 of India’s 28 state governments would have completed only two or three years of their mandated five-year terms.
‘Real reason’
Critics suggest that the BJP’s true motivation for wanting simultaneous elections is to allow Modi to spearhead campaign efforts across both state and national elections simultaneously, leveraging his massive popularity to bolster the ruling party’s influence in states where it struggles. However, BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia countered that holding simultaneous elections would save voters from voting twice and streamline governance by reducing disruptions caused by the Model Code of Conduct, which restricts new policy announcements and use of public funds during election periods.
Analysts note that implementing the BJP’s proposal will be challenging, as the party lacks the two-thirds majority in parliament required to amend the Constitution to allow the dissolution of state governments. Ajay Darshan Behara, an international studies professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi, highlighted that simultaneous polls were conducted in the early years of India’s independence, but problems arose when elected governments collapsed before completing their full five-year terms.
The BJP lost its outright majority in national elections that concluded in June, requiring regional parties’ support to sustain a federal coalition government. With the support of allies, the party commands 291 of the 362 seats required in the lower house of parliament to implement constitutional amendments. The BJP maintains that it will be able to muster the necessary numbers, arguing that the issue is in the larger interest of governance and that even some opposition members will offer their support.
Despite the hurdles, political commentators believe that Prime Minister Modi is likely to pursue simultaneous polls as he is keen to see through an idea that he has championed. However, the implementation of the proposal faces numerous challenges and will require extensive scrutiny and debate before it can become a reality in India’s complex political landscape.