25% chance that Narendra Modi might call for an early election, says Nomura

Tokyo based global financial services firm, Nomura said there’s a 25% chance that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might call for Lok Sabha elections earlier than scheduled.

Conducting Lok Sabha elections in the last quarter of 2017-18 will make them coincide with the state elections of Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. The Tokyo based firm said that this would prove to be advantageous to BJP as it would be easier for them to campaign.

Nomura also said that the party would even have a chance to beat the strong anti-incumbency it has been strongly facing in the states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has responded positively to conducting simultaneous elections as this would allow the government to focus on governance without being interrupted by elections. Many people also feel that simultaneous elections would save a lot of expenditure.

The Election Commission too supported the idea of simultaneous elections but said there is need to make several constitutional amendments to facilitate the same.

In a report presented to the Rajya Sabha in December 2015, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said, “Almost all political parties who appeared before the Committee felt that simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies is a cost-effective noble proposition but difficult to implement because of our Constitutional arrangement.”

On the other hand, the opposition parties have said the thought of conducting simultaneous elections is an elections gimmick by the Narendra Modi government. They also termed the idea as unrealistic and unfeasible in the current scenario.

The story was first published in The Economic Times.