Top law ministry officials brief panel chairman Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous polls
A day after the Centre notified an eight-member high-level committee to explore the possibility of holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats across India, senior Law Ministry officials on Sunday held a preparatory briefing for the committee’s chairman, former president Ram Nath Kovind.
Law Secretary Niten Chandra, Legislative Secretary Reeta Vasishta and others reportedly met Kovind this afternoon to understand how he would like to go about the terms of reference of the committee, sources privy to the development said.
Chandra is the secretary to the high-level committee, while Vasistha’s department deals with elections, the Representation of the People Act and related rules which were included in the committee’s terms of reference.
The other seven members of the committee are: Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, noted jurist Harish Salve, former Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General and constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari, a resolution issued by the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice said.