NEW DELHI: The Niti Aayog has favoured conducting synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and assembly elections from 2024 in "national interest".All elections in India should happen in a free, fair and synchronised manner to ensure minimum "campaign mode" disruption to governance, the government think tank said in its report released recently. "We may begin work towards switching to a synchronised two-phase election from the 2024 election to the Lok Sabha. "The time is also ripe for a constructive debate on electoral reforms and a return to the practice of the early decades after Independence when elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held simultaneously. "It is for the Election Commission to take this exercise forward in consultation with political parties," the former president had said.Modi had in February said simultaneous elections would "cause some loss to all, including us" but political parties should not look at the idea through the narrow prism of politics. Thus, the continuous exercise causes maximum harm to the education sector, he had said.Security forces also have to be diverted for the electoral work even as the country's enemy keeps plotting against the nation and terrorism remains a strong threat, Modi had said.

Source: Times of India August 27, 2017 06:22 UTC