According to a report, the Law Commission is developing a formula to hold simultaneous elections starting in 2029

The Law Commission is working on a method to synchronize all assembly elections by extending or shortening the duration so that all state elections may be conducted concurrently with the Lok Sabha elections starting in 2029, therefore simultaneous elections won’t take place in 2024.

The Law Commission may also be asked to include the third tier of elections along with its current mandate for national and state-level polls, according to sources who spoke to PTI on Friday. The government has already established a high-level panel to investigate simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and local bodies.

The law panel is working to develop a mechanism to ensure a common electoral roll for Lok Sabha, assemblies, and local bodies even though the commission’s report has not yet been made public. This will save money and resources by eliminating the need for as many people to perform the nearly identical task that the Election Commission and various state election commissions currently perform.

The Commission led by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi may recommend shortening or lengthening the duration of legislative assemblies in order to synchronize different assembly elections and guarantee that state and Lok Sabha elections be conducted concurrently starting in 2029. In order to guarantee that voters cast their ballots for both the Lok Sabha and assembly elections at the same polling place, a method is being developed.

They said that since the assembly and parliamentary elections are conducted in stages, the Commission is developing procedures to ensure that voters do not visit the same polling place more than once to cast their ballot for the two elections. They said that the Commission is of the opinion that the assembly and parliamentary elections may be conducted concurrently and is only ironing out the details for the orderly execution of the enormous democratic exercise.

The Commission’s current task is to recommend strategies for holding the assembly and Lok Sabha elections concurrently. However, it is the responsibility of the high-level committee headed by the late president Ram Nath Kovind to suggest ways to hold the Lok Sabha, assembly, and local body elections (panchayat, municipalities, zila parishad) concurrently.

According to the sources, the Law Commission’s mandate might be expanded to include conducting local body elections in addition to national and state elections while keeping in mind the Kovind panel’s terms of reference. The law panel can advise holding the three-tier elections in two parts over the course of a single year. Lok Sabha and assembly elections may be conducted in the first phase, while local body elections may be scheduled for the second phase. According to the authorities, this is a sensible strategy given the diverse climatic conditions across the nation.

In an effort to purportedly alter the way elections are held in India, the Union government has promoted the concept of “One Nation, One Election” during the last several years. Opposition parties have harshly criticized and rejected the idea, referring to it as a “assault on the Constitution”.

The previous Law Commission had supported the Modi government’s plan to hold simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state legislatures in August 2018, stating that it would prevent the country from being perpetually in election mode, but it had sought additional public input before making a final decision. In its draft report, the panel had also said that the two elections could not be conducted concurrently under the current constitutional provisions and advised the necessary amendments. The Law Commission was tasked by the law ministry in April 2018 to look into the possibility of simultaneously conducting elections for the Lok Sabha and state legislatures.