Expenses, halt in development work: Three economists debate simultaneous elections

NEW new delhi: At a get together of the articulate parliamentary citizens committee examining the 129th physical composition amendment bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, which are intended to facilitate simultaneous polls in the country, two economists supported the proposal pointing out that synchronised polls prevent expenses and developmental work being hindered owing to frequent elections.According to people aware of the details, Arvind Panagariya, chairman of the 16th Finance Commission and Surjit Bhalla,a former member of the Prime Minister‘s economic advisory Council spoke in favour of simultaneous elections. The third economist, former deputy chairman of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, is learnt to have said that Lok Sabha elections should be held separately from the state polls, but the possibility of holding all state elections together can be explored, said a person aware of the details.Panagariya told the JPC that repeated enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct interrupts policymaking, delays procurement and project execution, and shortens the effective reform window for governments. “He said the once-in-five-years election model offers a longer and clearer policy horizon for both state and central governments, lowering uncertainty and creating stability that encourages private capital formation,” said a person aware of the details.He also cited academic evidence that Indian state governments shift to current and targeted expenditures such as subsidies.Bhalla proposed a model of election where all state assembly elections are held together at around mid-term of the Lok Sabha, allowing for reduced frequency of elections but still ensuring accountability and people’s mandate said people aware of the details.He said repeated state elections are of concern and asserted that the imposition of MCC also matters more for state elections and not as much for the union due to its structured and fixed frequency for Lok Sabha elections.“He said there is evidence that the incidence of violence peaks around elections, and thus reduced frequency of elections under ONOE will lead to a reduction in violence and said a paper by NK Singh shows the cost and problems of the current election framework; arguing that non-simultaneous elections are expensive and a luxury we can no longer afford,” said the person quoted above.Ahluwalia did not agree with the argument that frequent elections are bad for the economy and suggested that the economy fared better when polls were staggered.