On the Issues with Simultaneous Elections – Our youth don’t favour all elections held in sync

Source: This post on the Issues with Simultaneous Elections has been created based on the article “Our youth don’t favour all elections held in sync” published in “Live Mint” on 15^th February 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Indian Polity – Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

News: The article discusses the issues with implementing simultaneous elections in India.

Background:

The latest Millennial Survey conducted by Mint in alliance with YouGov and Centre for Policy Research. The survey noted a lack of support for “one nation, one poll.” Simultaneous Elections UPSC

63% agreed with the proposition that “Democracy is stronger when we have elections at multiple levels with different frequencies,” with just 37% opting for “I think having separate elections at different levels is a waste of resources and time”.

What will be the Disadvantages of Simultaneous Elections in India?

The terms of various state legislative bodies, each elected for a five-year term, cannot be cut short at an arbitrary moment to kick off such a practice. It will require using some extreme provisions available in the constitution, or otherwise. For example;

1. President’s Rule: However, its validity under the Constitution will be challenged.
2. Voluntary Dissolution: Voluntary dissolutions of state assemblies are unlikely without a political consensus.

Even if it happens, there will be the challenge of how long these states can stay in the same cycle (of simultaneous elections) given these governments fall apart and fresh polls are needed.

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Question for practice:

What will be the issues with implementing simultaneous elections?