The Presidential election will be held on 17 July and the Monsoon session of the parliament also coincides to begin on the same day. The parliament is now frantically trying to figure out how the double duties of both the events will be carried out smoothly.
It is the second time that the parliament is facing the situation of hosting two events at the same time. The same had happened 16 years back in 2002, when the elections coincided with a session.
To ensure smooth working of the events, the responsibilities of the secretariats of both the houses have been increased. The secretaries-general of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are made returning officers for the two elections and joint secretaries are assistant returning officers.
This means that they will have to be present during the casting and counting of the votes as well as be present during the proceeding of both the houses. This is almost like one person being at two places at the same time, but the government is trying to figure the smooth working of the events.
Additional staff from other departments are being kept on standby if the request is rejected in the business advisory committee, which decides the agenda in Lok Sabha.
Room no 62 has been booked as the polling booth for all the electors. All the ballot boxex will be kept in the same room after the voting is concluded on July 17. The other ballet boxes flying in from other state will also be collected till July 19 and will be kept there and the room will be sealed.
The service staff from other departments may be called upon to work on shift basis, to take care of the additional duties.