President supports simultaneous poll idea

Hinting at his support for simultaneous polls at the Centre and in the states, President Pranab Mukherjee said it would cut short the freeze of government activities when the model code of conduct is in force. 

Addressing a special class at the Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya located in the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises on the occasion of Teachers' Day, Mukherjee said the idea of holding all elections together is emerging among political parties.

"Throughout the year, some election or the other is happening and regular work comes to a standstill with code of conduct being implemented. This doesn't only stop work in the state but also in the central government," Mukherjee said on Tuesday.

Answering a class 11 student's question whether the enormous spend on elections would justify holding them together, Mukherjee said: "The Election Commission can also put in their idea and efforts on holding the polls together and that will be highly beneficial."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi mooted the idea of holding all elections together at the BJP meeting in March this year, explaining that it would considerably cut down the massive expenditure.

Modi repeated the idea in a television interview on September 2, mentioning that it was "unfortunate" that developmental work is tied inextricably to elections. He called for holding Parliamentary, Assembly and local body elections simultaneously.

Writing to the Law Ministry, the Election Commission said in June that the obstacle in holding simultaneous elections are not insurmountable if there is political consensus on the issue.