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During his address to the nation on the 73rd Independence Day, Prime Minister made a fresh pitch for holding Lok Sabha and assembly polls together, saying the concept of ‘one nation, 'one election’ is imperative to make the country great.

In 2018, the Law Commission had recommended holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to save public money.

The Law Ministry, however, cautioned that “"holding simultaneous elections is not possible within the existing framework of the Constitution”."

The commission says simultaneous elections were held in the country during the first two decades after Independence up to 1967. Dissolution of certain Assemblies in 1968 and 1969 followed by the dissolution of the Lok Sabha led to the “"disruption of the conduct of simultaneous, elections."” The panel refers to a January 2017 working paper of the NITI Aayog on simultaneous elections.

The simultaneous elections may be restored in the nation by amending the Constitution, Representation of the People Act of 1951 and the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.

It recommends that in 2019, the election could be held in phases. In the first phase, it says, elections to the legislatures which are scheduled to go for polls synchronous with the Lok Sabha in 2019 could be held together. The rest of the States could go to elections in proximity with the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.

Citing no-confidence motion and premature dissolution of House as major roadblocks to simultaneous elections, the commission says the parties which introduce the no-confidence motion should simultaneously give a suggestion for an alternative government.

It even suggests the relaxation of the “"rigours"” of the anti-defection law in the Tenth Schedule to prevent a stalemate in the Lok Sabha or Assemblies in case of a hung Parliament or Assembly.

The panel says that in case of mid-term elections, the new Lok Sabha or Assembly would only serve the remainder of the term of the previous Lok Sabha/Assembly and not a fresh term of five years.

The commission says the Centre should get the Constitutional amendments, if agreed upon, to be ratified by all the States so as to avoid any challenge to them.

It also says that the Prime Minister/Chief Minister should be "“elected"” to lead by the full House like the Lok Sabha Speaker.

In principle, simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies have the benefits of saving poll expenditure and helping ruling parties focus on governance instead of being constantly in election mode.

The flip side is that it is nearly impossible to implement, as it would mean arbitrarily curtailing or extending the term of existing legislatures to bring their election dates in line with the due date for the rest of the country. This would be the most difficult change to execute, as such a measure would undermine federalism as well as representative democracy.

The Commission has suggested an alternative: categorise States based on proximity to the next general election, and have one round of State Assembly polls with the next Lok Sabha election, and another round for the remaining States 30 months later.

This would mean that India would have a set of elections every two and a half years. But governments have been brought down or have collapsed on their own, leading to mid-term polls in different States and even at the Centre in different years. Given the difficulties involved in shifting to simultaneous elections, we may have to live with the reality that some part of the country will go to polls every few months.

Whatever the government proposes, it is hard to see any real upside to simultaneous elections while the downsides continue to mount.

What are the advantages of simultaneous elections according to the passage?

A) Saves poll expenditure

B) Ruling parties focus on governance

C) Both (a) and (b)

D) Elimination of poll related corruption