Voting simultaneously

Kovind committee should consult extensively

The Union government last week unveiled two significant political surprises. It first announced a brief Parliament session scheduled from September 18 to 22, without disclosing any specific agenda. But the bigger surprise was the constitution of a high-level committee under the chairmanship of former President of India Ram Nath Kovind to examine the possibility of holding simultaneous elections. Other members of the committee are Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N K Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap, advocate Harish Salve, and