JD(U) favours simultaneous elections

The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday supported simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and State assemblies, saying the procedure would help curb black money and excessive expenditure.

JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said, "We are in the favour of simultaneous elections but we don't think it is easy to conduct. However, we cannot oppose it since it is a step towards less expensive election, curbing black money and better governance."

Supporting the concept of simultaneous elections, the JD(U) in a statement said that it would result in better governance which has so far been affected due to constant election campaigns throughout the year.

It further said, "This relentless electioneering has adversely impacted the administrative and developmental activities, the overall governance, national economy, normal social and economic lives of the citizens due to the heightened sense of insecurity and hectic politicking. In order to contest the elections, political parties are obliged to arrange for funding from every imaginable source, often leading to increased corruption."

Addressing issues related to feasibility of simultaneous elections, the party stressed that various concerns have to be kept in mind including the requirement of adequate resources.

"However, we feel that certain vital concerns need adequate and meticulous consideration while evaluating this proposal. One of the major concern is with the operational feasibility of holding simultaneous elections in terms of logistic, number of administrative staff required to supervise, and number of security personnel for deployment. In order to conduct simultaneous elections, the Election Commission of India would need a much larger pool of resources to cater to a much larger size of the elections," they said.

The party pointed out that "Each polling booth would need a separate EVM for Parliamentary and state assembly election. Thus an adequate number of EVM units and VVPATs, other equipment and personnel need to be planned and requisitioned well before the election process."

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (Secular) opposed simultaneous elections and said that it is not in line with the federal structure of the country.

JD(S) general secretary Danish Ali said, "You can't even think of one election in federal democracy. Some proponents of simultaneous polls say separate polls hinder development. What will the government that can't even carry out development in 1800 days, do in 45 days (when model code of conduct is in place)? Regional parties oppose it.