The high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to examine the issue of simultaneous elections on Saturday held its first meeting, in which it was decided that the panel will hold consultations with the political parties at both the central and the state levels.
The committee discussed the modalities of the working of the panel, and it was decided that it will invite recognised national political parties, parties having government in states, parties which have members in Parliament and recognised state parties for seeking their suggestions and points of view on the issue of simultaneous elections in the country, according to an official statement.
The panel will also invite the Law Commission of India to provide its suggestions on the issue.
The meeting held under the chairmanship of Kovind was attended by other members of the panel—Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal, former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K. Singh, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Subhash C. Kashyap and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Senior Advocate Harish Salve joined the meeting virtually.
As per the official statement, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the single largest party in Opposition, Lok Sabha was not present at the meeting. Chowdhury, however, has already stated that he has declined the invite to join the committee.
The decision of the committee to invite political parties for consultations at the very outset is significant, given the politically sensitive nature of the issue.
Many of the parties, especially regional players, have been opposed to the idea of simultaneous polls, because they feel that it would result in national issues overshadowing regional concerns in the elections. It is also feared by state parties that the format of holding national and state elections together would put them at a disadvantage as compared to the national parties.
The parties also view it as a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he has been a strong supporter of the idea of 'one nation, one election'.
