Those carping about extended month-and-a-half-long general elections in India, have reasons not to lose heart. They have a staunch supporter in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister is serious about pursuing the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and is making all efforts to warm people up to this idea.

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In pursuance of this long-held project, Modi has called an all-party meeting to discuss the subject, which he has christened as ‘One Nation, One Election’, across India. The issue of simultaneous elections—which envisions Parliament and state polls being held concurrently—has been a subject of great debate. But political parties have been lukewarm to the idea, with many fearing that it would be advantageous only to the party at the Centre.

The idea itself is nearly as old as modern India. In 1951-52, the first general election to the Lok Sabha was held simultaneously with all State Assemblies. This practice continued till the general election of 1967, but was disrupted due to premature dissolution of some State Legislative Assemblies in 1968. Lok Sabha itself dissolved prematurely in 1970. Since then, elections have been held separately. T

he idea of simultaneous elections is an old BJP project, first floated by LK Advani. The reasons for opposition to it are understandable. There is a good chance that people will vote for the same party or alliance, if elections are held together. In 2004, simultaneous elections were held in Odisha, Karnataka, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh, where the voters largely picked the same party to govern in their respective states and at the Centre.

That is also the findings of a 2015 study by the IDFC Institute, which held “a 77% chance that the winning political party or alliance will win both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in that state when held simultaneously”.