Delhi CM Rekha Gupta offers: Can cut House term for simultaneous polls

In a statement, the Chief Minister’s Office said: “Referring to Delhi, she (Gupta)  pointed out that elections in the national Capital are held roughly a year apart from the Lok Sabha elections. If aligning election schedules at the national level requires a suitable adjustment in Delhi’s tenure, the Delhi Government is willing to consider it with a positive approach. If required in the national interest, she said, Delhi could be among the leading states to extend such cooperation.”

The next Lok Sabha elections are likely in April-June 2029, as the term of the House ends on June 23, 2029, while the Delhi Assembly’s term ends on February 23, 2030.

Since its formation in December 2024, the committee has held consultations with stakeholders in Delhi and visited several states.

Reached for comment, Chaudhary said the meetings Wednesday were productive. “We have asked the Chief Secretary to prepare a report on the impact of frequent elections on different sectors like education and labour,” he said.

While the Bills in their current form provide for the first simultaneous elections in 2034 by cutting short the terms of all Assemblies elected after the Lok Sabha elections of 2029, Chaudhary, speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of  The Indian Express recently, that if some states want, they can curtail the terms of their Assemblies to align with the 2029 elections too.

According to the CMO statement, the Chief Minister said One Nation One Election was the need of the hour.

A statement from the Assembly Secretariat said Speaker Vijender Gupta made suggestions to the committee during their meeting, including conducting a “comprehensive examination of issues relating to the synchronisation of electoral cycles, constructive votes of no-confidence, premature dissolution of legislatures, harmonisation of electoral rolls, strengthening the logistical preparedness of the Election Commission, and institutional mechanisms to ensure political stability while preserving India’s democratic and federal character.”

It is learnt that during the meeting with the Speaker and MLAs, it was suggested to create a national forum with representation from each Legislative Assembly of the country to discuss the way forward and the need to extend the provisions of One Nation One Election to Rajya Sabha and municipal body elections.

A source said, “The Speaker made two out-of-the-box suggestions with repercussions on national legislative practice and procedure. These included the creation of a forum, similar to the Goods and Services Tax Council, to provide a common platform to representatives from legislative bodies across the country for the airing, discussion and final resolution of disagreements and disputes related to the implementation of ONOE.”

“The Speaker also sought to underline that for the initiative to truly live up to its expectations, there was a need to sync the general election with municipal and Rajya Sabha polls; other suggestions related to the conduct of elected representatives were also discussed during the meeting,” the source said.