<p class="bodytext">A day after the President and the Prime Minister pushed for simultaneous polls, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday called for a debate among legal fraternity on the idea.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the launch of its monthly journal 'SCBA Times', Pasad asked whether the journal could provoke a national debate on whether simultaneous elections should be held in the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">President Ram Nath Kovind, in his address to Parliament, had pitched for simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, saying frequent polls imposed a "huge burden" on resources and impeded development process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The journal was launched by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in the presence of several other apex court judges, including justices M B Lokur, Kurian Joseph, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. SCBA president Vikas Singh was also present.</p>.<p class="bodytext">CJI Misra did not make any comments on the recent controversy caused by dissenting seniormost judges on allocation of cases.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prasad said every year there were several elections in the country and every poll entailed a heavy expenditure with deployment of huge manpower.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Can your journal provoke a debate in the country, purely as a constitutional issue - should we have simultaneous elections in the entire country? I do not wish to make any political comment but just now we had two state elections - Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Every year, there are six-seven elections and I am not talking about municipal elections. Every election entails heavy expenditure. And when the model code of conduct comes, there is a problem of not taking any action. So much security personnel are involved in ensuring free and fair elections. I think your platform, in a way, can consider having a debate," he said.</p>
<p class="bodytext">A day after the President and the Prime Minister pushed for simultaneous polls, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday called for a debate among legal fraternity on the idea.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the launch of its monthly journal 'SCBA Times', Pasad asked whether the journal could provoke a national debate on whether simultaneous elections should be held in the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">President Ram Nath Kovind, in his address to Parliament, had pitched for simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, saying frequent polls imposed a "huge burden" on resources and impeded development process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The journal was launched by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in the presence of several other apex court judges, including justices M B Lokur, Kurian Joseph, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. SCBA president Vikas Singh was also present.</p>.<p class="bodytext">CJI Misra did not make any comments on the recent controversy caused by dissenting seniormost judges on allocation of cases.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prasad said every year there were several elections in the country and every poll entailed a heavy expenditure with deployment of huge manpower.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Can your journal provoke a debate in the country, purely as a constitutional issue - should we have simultaneous elections in the entire country? I do not wish to make any political comment but just now we had two state elections - Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Every year, there are six-seven elections and I am not talking about municipal elections. Every election entails heavy expenditure. And when the model code of conduct comes, there is a problem of not taking any action. So much security personnel are involved in ensuring free and fair elections. I think your platform, in a way, can consider having a debate," he said.</p>
