Parliamentary committee for holding Assembly, Lok Sabha polls together

KOLKATA: A Parliamentary committee is of the view to simultaneously hold Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in an effort to save huge outgo from the public exchequer and smooth implementation of developmental programmes.

"Every year we have elections either in the Assemblies or the Lok Sabha and a model code of conduct kicks in which, according to the state governments, hampers development work," E M S Natchiappan, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Personnel, said.

This also meant that huge amount of money was spent every year on account of the elections, he said.

"We cannot have the luxury of so many elections. We have to think of a formula by which state Assembly elections can be linked with Lok Sabha polls. It will help ensure that the developmental work goes on smoothly," he said.

"Since 1999, we have seen that coalition governments have been successful and thus we have learnt the process of democracy, where both regional parties and national parties can coexist," he said.

Natchiappan, a Congress MP, cited examples of how there had been elections to various state Assemblies just after the last Lok Sabha polls.