Law Commission, political parties to discuss feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections on 7-8 July

The Law Commission is set to hold consultations with all major political parties on 7 and 8 July to discuss the feasibility of conducting simultaneous Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections. The Congress on Monday confirmed that they had received the note from the Law Commission, according to News18, but the party did not disclose whether its representatives will attend the meeting.

#BREAKING -- Law Commission reaches out to major political parties over physicality of conduction simultaneous elections. Meeting on July 7 and 8 | @_pallavighosh with more details pic.twitter.com/YrFa2dmY4c

— News18 (@CNNnews18) July 2, 2018

The feasibility of conducting simultaneous polls has been in discussion for months. In April, the Law Commission had said simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies can be held in two phases from 2019, provided that at least two provisions of the Constitution are amended and ratified by a majority of the states. Sources indicated it was unlikely that amendments needed to the Constitution and election laws to make synchronised polls possible would be introduced anytime soon,  The Times of India reported. A functionary of the Election Commission said: “Assembly polls in five states — Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana and Arunachal Pradesh — are due along with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Maharashtra and Haryana, both ruled by the BJP, are due for polls in a few months. Possibly, the BJP governments in these states can bring them forward to align them with the Lok Sabha polls. This would simply involve early dissolution (of the Assembly) and not require any amendments to the law. So seven state polls can technically be held with the General Elections in 2019.”