Vadodara: Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi on Monday cautioned that simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies could dilute democratic accountability and undermine the federal character of govt. Quraishi was speaking on the sidelines of the Vadodara Literature Fest (VLF) 4.0, organized by city-based Parul University.Responding to a query on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, Quraishi said while synchronised elections may offer administrative convenience to the election commission, they risk marginalizing regional issues and state-level political discourse. “From the election commission’s perspective, it is the easiest thing to do — the voter is the same, polling stations are the same and security requirements are similar. However, the larger concern is the reduced mind-share for state-level parties and local issues,” he said.
