Law Commission to hold discussion with political parties today

The Law Commission will hold a two day consultations with all the national and recognised state political parties from today to discuss the feasibility of conducting simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. 

The commission had written to the seven recognised national and 59 state parties to participate in the meeting. 

The Commission has prepared a draft paper on "Simultaneous Elections - Constitutional and Legal Perspectives" and has sought opinions of all stakeholders including political parties, constitutional experts, bureaucrats, academia and public on the paper before finalising its report and sending it to the government. 

In its draft, the law panel has



recommended several amendments to the Constitution and the Representation of People's Act, 1950 to facilitate and sustain the simultaneous polls. 

The Commission is of the view that any major law reform must be undertaken after taking the stakeholders and the general public into confidence. 

The Election Commission has repeatedly said that it is capable of holding simultaneous elections provided the legal framework and logistics were in place. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on several occasions stressed the need to hold simultaneous polls to help save time and money and allow political parties to pay more attention to governance.