Indian democracy operates at several levels, each with its own electoral cycle.
There are general elections to choose members of parliament, state elections to choose legislators, while village and town councils hold separate votes on local government matters. By-elections fill vacancies caused by the resignation, death, or disqualification of representatives.
These elections are held every five years, but at different times. Now the government wants to synchronize them.
In March, a panel, external led by Kovind suggested holding state and general elections together in its extensive 18,626-page report. He also recommended holding local government elections within 100 days.
The committee suggested that if the government loses the election, fresh elections will be held, but its mandate will last only until the next simultaneous elections.
Although it may sound stressful, simultaneous polls are not new to India. They have been the norm since the first elections in 1951. until 1967, when political upheaval and early dissolution of state assemblies led to staggered voting.
Efforts to revive the system have been mooted for decades, with proposals from the Election Commission in 1983, the Law Commission in 1999 and the Niti Aayog, a government think tank, in 2017.
