A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the sixth phase of the general election, in New Delhi, India, on May 12, 2019 (Reuters / File Photo).
The meeting, held to discuss the prospects for instituting a common voter list, was chaired by PK Mishra, chief secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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- Last update: August 29, 2020 10:28 AM IST
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In a crucial development, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently held a meeting to discuss the prospects of instituting a common voter list for elections to all local bodies, state assemblies and the Lok Sabha.
According to a report by The Indian Express, at the meeting, which took place on August 13, two key options were discussed. First, make amendments to Articles 243K and 243ZA to make it mandatory to have a single electoral roll for all polls throughout the country, and second, ask state governments to adopt the Electoral Commission (EC) voters list to municipal elections and panchayat.
The meeting was chaired by PK Mishra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chief secretary.
What makes the measure significant is that the idea of a common voter list for all elections is linked to ‘one nation, one election’ – one concept calls for a single election for state legislators, Lok Sabha and Panchayats in a span of five years. Modi had tried to push this idea forward during his first term as prime minister. The common electoral roll was also one of the key promises made by the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019.
Various committees and institutions have spoken out time and again in favor of simultaneous elections saying that they will save time, money and energy. However, Indian Express had previously quoted a former chief election commissioner as saying that the change would require a massive consensus-building exercise, which may not be easy given the suspicion among the states and the Center.
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