Lok Sabha Question No. 2574 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-04
Subject: Conducting Elections
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Pradeep Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

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## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2574

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 4 TH AUGUST, 2021

## Conducting Election

## 2574. SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the frequency of elections conducted in some States or the other every  year  in  the  country  not  only  affects  the  administrative  and  policy decisions but also puts heavy burden on the State Exchequer;
- (b)  if  so,  the  total  number  of  Legislative  Assembly  elections  conducted  in addition to the 16th Lok Sabha elections and the total expenditure incurred thereon;
- (c) the Year-wise and State-wise details of the total number of States where polls were held during the period from 2014 to 2019 and the total expenditure incurred thereon and the total number of days spent in conducting elections;
- (d) whether the Law Commission of India in its 170th Report has endorsed simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government for the implementation of the report concerning political and electoral reforms?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a) : The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on simultaneous elections on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law & Justice in its seventy ninth Report has observed that frequent elections lead to disruption of normal public life  and  impact  the  functioning  of  essential  services  and  that  it would  reduce  the  massive  expenditure  incurred  for  conduct  of  separate elections every year.
- (b) & (c): Elections were held for thirty eight State Legislative Assemblies during the  period  from  2014  to  2019.    The  details  of  the  States  are  attached  at
- Annexure  'A'. As  per standing instructions on the subject, the entire expenditure on conduct of elections to Lok Sabha is to be borne by the Central Government  and  such  expenditure  on  the  conduct  of  election  to  the  State Legislatures  is  borne  by  the  respective  State  Governments  when  such elections are held independently. In case the elections are held simultaneously, the expenditure is borne by the concerned State Governments and the Central Government  on  50:50:  ratio  basis.    The  details  of  the  funds  released  to  the States/Union territories during the period from 2014 to 2019 are given below:
- (d):  The Department Related Parliament Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice had examined the issue of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies in consultation with various stake-holders including Election Commission of India.  The Committee has giver certain recommendations in this regard in its 79 th Report.  The matter now stands referred to the Law Commission for further examination to work out  practicable  road  map  and  framework  for  simultaneous  elections  to  Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
- (e): The issue of electoral reforms in its entirety was examined by the Law Commission. After consulting various stake holders, the  Commission submitted  its  244 th and  255 th Reports  encompassing  various  aspects  of electoral  reforms.    The  recommendations of the Law Commission are under examination.

| Year    |   Rs. (In Crore) |
|---------|------------------|
| 2014-15 |           510    |
| 2015-16 |          1490.16 |
| 2016-17 |           356.14 |
| 2017-18 |          1199.85 |
| 2018-19 |           886.11 |
| 2019-20 |          1372.03 |

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## STATE WISE AND YEAR WISE ELECTIONS FROM 2014-2019

|   Sr. No. | State Name        |   No. of Days from Announcement to Completion of Election |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|      2014 | 2014              |                                                      2014 |
|         1 | Jharkhand         |                                                        66 |
|         2 | Jammu &Kashmir    |                                                        66 |
|         3 | Haryana           |                                                        41 |
|         4 | Maharastra        |                                                        41 |
|         5 | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                        80 |
|         6 | Andhra Pradesh    |                                                        80 |
|         7 | Odisha            |                                                        80 |
|         8 | Sikkim            |                                                        80 |
|      2015 | 2015              |                                                      2015 |
|         9 | Bihar             |                                                        65 |
|        10 | NCT of Delhi      |                                                        32 |
|      2016 | 2016              |                                                      2016 |
|        11 | Assam             |                                                        79 |
|        12 | Kerala            |                                                        79 |
|        13 | Puducherry        |                                                        79 |
|        14 | Tamil Nadu        |                                                        79 |
|        15 | West Bengal       |                                                        79 |
|      2017 | 2017              |                                                      2017 |
|        16 | Gujarat           |                                                        56 |
|        17 | Himachal Pradesh  |                                                        70 |
|        18 | Goa               |                                                        71 |
|        19 | Manipur           |                                                        71 |
|        20 | Punjab            |                                                        71 |
|        21 | Uttar Pradesh     |                                                        71 |
|        22 | Uttrakhand        |                                                        71 |
|      2018 | 2018              |                                                      2018 |
|        23 | Chhatisgarh       |                                                        69 |
|        24 | Madhya Pradesh    |                                                        69 |
|        25 | Rajasthan         |                                                        69 |
|        26 | Mizoram           |                                                        69 |
|        27 | Telangana         |                                                        69 |
|        28 | Tripura           |                                                        47 |
|        29 | Meghalaya         |                                                        47 |
|        30 | Nagaland          |                                                        47 |
|        31 | Karnataka         |                                                        53 |
|      2019 | 2019              |                                                      2019 |
|        32 | Jharkhand         |                                                        56 |
|        33 | Haryana           |                                                        37 |
|        34 | Maharashtra       |                                                        37 |
|        35 | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                        79 |
|        36 | Andhra Pradesh    |                                                        79 |
|        37 | Odisha            |                                                        79 |
|        38 | Sikkim            |                                                        79 |