May 17, 2026 09:45 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Kathak to Garba: Indian diaspora stuns PM Modi with grand welcome in Amsterdam | ‘Geography or history’: Indian Army chief issues blunt warning to Pakistan over terror support | India, UAE ink key energy deals during Modi’s visit amid West Asia tensions | ‘There can be no better Bengal CM’: Mithun Chakraborty praises Suvendu Adhikari | PM Modi adviser Sanjeev Sanyal frontrunner for Bengal Finance Minister: Report | FIR against Abhishek Banerjee over ‘provocative speeches’ during West Bengal poll campaign | Madhya Pradesh High Court holds Bhojshala complex disputed site to be a temple | ‘Even ex-CM can be probed’: Suvendu Adhikari’s big statement on RG Kar case | Big action in RG Kar case: Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari suspends 3 IPS officers, including ex-CP Vineet Goyal | Modi’s UAE visit delivers major defence, energy deals amid Middle East tensions

Ready to hold joint election in 2018: Election Commissioner Rawat

| @indiablooms | Oct 05, 2017, at 06:01 pm
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IBNS): Hinting at a landmark electoral reform in the country, Election Commissioner Of India, OP Rawat, on Thursday said the commission is ready to hold a joint election, Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha together, in 2018 if more machines are available.

Supplementing the proposal put forward by the Modi government, Rawat told the media: "Simultaneous elections are possible in the country if more machines are available."

Earlier, the central government has proposed for holding a unified election across all levels, panchayat, Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Now, the question has cropped up whether the government will push for a constitutional change to hold a joint election in all states and union territories of the country or only organise the Lok Sabha election with the poll bound states in 2018.

Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Mizoram are scheduled to be held in 2018.

Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s ally partner in Bihar, the Janata Dal (United), has supported the central government's plan of unified election, the ruling party in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) objected to it, calling it "a wild idea".

While the assembly election in Bihar is scheduled to be held in 2020, West Bengal still has more than three years to go for the state polls.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.