A high-powered committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies, followed by nationwide local body polls within a 100-day window.

The committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, also recommended common electoral rolls for parliamentary, state, civic and panchayat polls and a single identity card for a particular voter.

Concurrent polls will save money and reduce stress for all involved, the government-appointed panel said.

It clarified that all the changes would require constitutional amendments, while those relating to local body polls, common electoral rolls and common I-cards would require state ratification as well.

The committee has suggested a solution to the thorny problem of what happens if a state government collapses and mid-term Assembly polls need to be held.

Its answer: the tenure of the new Assembly and government will end as soon as it’s time for the next round of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to be held countrywide.

If a mid-term general election has to be held, the new Lok Sabha’s tenure “will be only for the unexpired term of the immediately preceding full term of the House of the People and the expiration of this period shall operate as a dissolution of the House”.

“The Committee recommends introduction of Article 324A for enabling simultaneous elections in Panchayats and Municipalities with the General elections of the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies and amendment in Article 325 for enabling Single Electoral Roll and Single Elector’s Photo Identity Card, which shall be prepared by the Election Commission of India in consultation with the State Election Commission(s),” the report says.

It adds: “The Committee recommends that in the first step, simultaneous elections to the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies be held. In the second step, the elections to Municipalities and Panchayats will be synchronised with House of People and State Legislative Assemblies in such a way that Municipalities and Panchayat elections are held within hundred days of the holding of elections of the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies.”

Currently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) prepares the electoral rolls for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and issues voter I-cards applicable to all elections. In some states, the ECI’s rolls are used for local body polls, too, while in others, the state election commission now draws up the rolls for panchayat and civic polls.

Apart from Kovind, the panel included Union home minister Amit Shah, minister of state for law (independent charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal, veteran parliamentarian Ghulam Nabi Azad, constitutional expert Subhash C. Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve, retired bureaucrat Sanjay Kothari and Nilesh Chandra.

The panel, formed on September 2 last year, has submitted its 18,626-page report, drawn up after consultations with stakeholders and experts, to President Droupadi Murmu.