New Delhi: Is the country moving towards another round of electoral reforms?
On Sunday, PTI reported that the law ministry was working on the issue of holding simultaneous elections for the Union and state governments by separating the legal issues and other logistical considerations.
This comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a case for electoral funding reform. At an all-party meeting last week, before the winter session of Parliament, Modi asked parties to consider state funding of elections.
“I don’t see any major electoral reforms on the cards. The issues of state funding of elections and simultaneous elections are huge and not likely to happen. These are just red herrings being used to divert attention from the recent demonetization of the Rs1,000 and Rs500 notes,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, one of the founding members of Association for Democratic Rights, a non-profit.
“The issue of simultaneous elections has been going on forever. Seven articles of the Constitution have to be amended for it. It is against the Constitution, which gives states an independent entities with their own election cycles. What this is trying to do is make it into a unitary format where one party will end up winning everywhere,” he added.
The winter session of Parliament commenced on 16 November and has been affected by the sudden demonetisation of high-value currency notes. However, incremental changes have been made in the present poll process.
In October, the law ministry enabled electronic ballots for service voters—members of armed forces and some government employees posted in remote areas or abroad. This will ensure that service voters will use a system of electronic postal balloting to make it easier and faster for them to cast their votes.
The law commission, in March 2015, submitted its report on electoral reforms, which focused on addressing funding for political parties.
The commission recommended greater transparency in funding for political parties, especially from companies. The government moved in April 2016 to amend the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 2010 to allow foreign companies to donate to political parties.
