Governor bats for simultaneous polls
Hyderabad, Oct 5 (INN): Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narsimhan on Wednesday opined that it was time to consider conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
Speaking at the 24th All India Conference of State Election Commissioners here, Narsimhan said that conducting simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha, Legislative Assemblies and local bodies would help in bringing down expenses for conducting elections. He said several resources, including the manpower, could be saved by holding simultaneous polls. He said that the development process gets halted due to imposition of Election Code. Therefore, instead of stopping the development process on multiple occasion, elections for Lok Sabha, Assemblies and Local Bodies should be held simultaneously. Further, he said by-elections should be held twice a year in January and June, he said.
The Governor said that strict measures should be taken to reduce the power of money and liquor during elections. Expressing concerns over development works getting affected due to frequent by-elections, the Governor said that there was a need for elections reforms and this issue should also be addressed. He also said that introducing single voter list will solve various issues in conducting polls. He said that the introduction of latest technology in conducting elections will also help in fixing various issues besides making the entire process a hassle-free.
The inaugural session of three-day conference was also attended by Election Commissioner of India Achal Kumar Jyothi, Chief Secretary Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Delhi and Chandigarh Election Commissioner Rakesh Mehta, Telangana Election Commissioner Nagi Reddy and other senior officials.
News Posted: 5 October, 2016
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