'Staggered electoral exercise should continue'

Various experts from the field of politics and elections today deliberated on the subject of holding simultaneous polls across the country with the majority agreeing that staggered electoral exercise should continue.
"India is a diverse country and the idea of holding one-time elections somewhat does not go with the ethos of the federal structure. Besides, having one election would increase the logistical burden starting with the number of EVM machines and will cost heavy on the exchequer," former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said.
He was speaking at a panel discussion on 'Simultaneous Elections - Possibilities and Challenges' organised by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) here.

Another panelist, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav said that instead of 'one-nation one-election' the model should be one-nation and systematic scheduled polls to bring an order in the process.
The panelists said that an all-party consensus should be reached if simultaneous polls are to be held as it needs Constitutional amendment.
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Meanwhile, Prof Sanjay Kumar said, "Elections held
simultaneously are likely to benefit more to big national parties, and the role of small regional parties will be suppressed".