Simultaneous polls ‘may not be feasible before 2029’

Animesh Singh

New Delhi, January 8

Even as an eight-member panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind is examining the issue related to holding simultaneous elections under the concept of “one nation, one election” and has also invited suggestions from various stakeholders till January 15, the possibility of holding polls under this arrangement may not happen before 2029, say sources privy to developments.

According to the sources, there are two major challenges before implementing this exercise. One is coordinating simultaneous holding of panchayat and local body elections and second is managing these polls alongside Assembly and LS polls. They further pointed out that though it was still too early to implement the concept, any final decision on this would only be arrived at after consulting various stakeholders.