Always backed the idea of synced elections: Law Ministry

The law ministry has clarified that it has always supported the idea of holding simultaneous elections, and its “concept paper” should not be treated as its official position. Responding to a news report in Wednesday’s ET, the ministry said “certain negative viewpoints generated in public domain were included as ‘posers’ only for the purpose of incorporating all the pros and cons on the issue so as to help generate critical public opinion, which would help in evolving an implementable proposal.”

It clarified that the para 9 of the “concept paper” prepared by the ministry “clearly seeks to generate opinion on the points included as posers.”

The ministry said it has “always supported the concept of simultaneous elections and had given it’s in principle approval” keeping in view several disadvantages of multiple/frequent elections.


It added that it had referred the matter to the Law Commission on April 13 requesting “the whole issue may be further examined by the law commission so as to work out feasible and practicable roadmap and framework for synchronisation of Lok Sabha and state assembly elections.”

The ministry maintained that the “covering note forwarded to the law commission does not contain any of the points included in the concept paper” and that it “was never intended to be the views or opinion of the law ministry”.

It had referred the matter to law commission posing 18 questions, of which only three, as reported by ET, contained elaborate context.