Undermining Federalism: Aligning State Assembly elections with the Lok Sabha elections could undermine the autonomy of State governments. States should have the freedom to dissolve their assemblies based on local political situations, rather than being bound to a national election cycle. The Indian Constitution provides a federal structure, and this proposal risks disrupting it by curtailing state autonomy, as stated by P.D.T. Achary.

Political Instability at State Level: States may face political crises that require mid-term elections. However, the Bill’s fixed tenure system could prevent them from responding flexibly to these crises, potentially exacerbating local political tensions. For instance, Madhya Pradesh (2020) and Karnataka (2019) saw significant political shifts, with mid-term elections required to resolve instability.

Loss of Political Plurality: Simultaneous elections could push voters to choose the same party for both Centre and State Assemblies, reducing the diversity of regional political parties. This could lead to the dominance of national parties, potentially marginalizing regional political voices. The 2014 Delhi elections demonstrated that voters can distinguish between state and central elections, but such distinctions may become harder under simultaneous elections.

Reduced Flexibility in Response to Political Crises: The current system allows for the dissolution of legislatures to address changing political conditions (e.g., hung Assemblies or coalition failures). Fixed tenures would reduce this flexibility, hindering the ability to address political deadlocks. The 2013 Delhi elections, where the AAP and Congress could not form a government, highlight the need for flexibility in addressing such situations.

Risk of Shorter Tenures: If mid-term elections occur, the newly elected legislature would serve a reduced term, which may lead to inefficiency and instability. For example, a government collapse early in the term could result in a Lok Sabha with a tenure of only one year or less, as seen in Karnataka (2019) after MLA defections.

Potential for Erosion of Regional Identity: Aligning State elections with the Lok Sabha elections could overshadow regional issues by shifting the focus to national politics. This could erode regional identity, as seen in Tamil Nadu, where local issues often dominate the political discourse, and national party politics may overshadow them.

Uncertainty in Governance: The Bill does not guarantee that simultaneous elections will result in improved governance. The U.K.’s Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (2011) was criticized for constitutional crises and policy paralysis, and there is a risk that similar issues could arise in India, especially with the added complexity of mid-term elections and truncated terms.