The common man goes with the tide. Whatever the government imposes, they will bend. Why change the time tested arrangement. It is all a paradox, saving money and all. The citizens have to bear the expenditure anyway. It is all imagination. Priority to common mans’ needs are important. All other things can wait. Where is drinking water? Think of connecting rivers. More water is flowing into fruitless talks only.
Moral of the story is that the idea of simultaneous polls is a non-feasible one. I am also of the opinion that it is not a workable idea from the democratic point of view. Everything must not be seen from the economic prism as it is wrong. There can be many other options to enforce cost cuttings or savings or austerity.
The popular will of the general public is surely in favour of One Nation One Poll. It is only the politicians, who are in regional and minority parties doing protest for their own existence and crying wolf and making excuses like “federalism” “constitution” etc. I think the government of the day is justified in heeding to the popular views of the public and go ahead with this proposal if it can push through democratically using whenever they gain the majority in both houses. Money and time can be saved from other unnecessary projects.
The foundation of our Constitution should not be shaken and probably reducing the number of days to one or two days of polling can be done instead of holding it for more than a month. It will only cause greater confusion and money can be saved from many other unnecessary programmes and projects. Elections are the foundations of our constitution and there is no point in breaking it down.
It would be best if we think of the expenditure incurred by parties in the recent past elections. In a country where most of the people are unaware of education the thought of one nation one election is not a cup of tea to them. Let us strive for a free, justifiable and ideological democracy to be taken place by any means for a brighter India.
One Nation One Poll is a good idea to reduce the cost of election and people will give more importance to the election. Save time and money, as well as Political speeches against divisive Parties. One clear vote in each State and the Nation can work better. Till 1967 in almost all states Congress was the ruling party. So the electorate fund it easy to elect its representatives. Now caste and language are new factors which mostly are influencing the voters adversely. Simultaneous elections are beneficial no doubt but it may be difficult to implement in this fouled environment.
Seems like a noble idea on paper. However, rather than concentrating on these type of issues, which needs a detailed examination and once it goes haywire for any reasons the whole system would be in the doldrums. Analysis and evaluations need not bring in a clear picture prior to its implementations. It is likely that there could be lots of merits. However, in the worst possibility, the government encounters irreparable damage which could be attributed to the ransacking of democracy getting things to revert to its original form would be hazardous.
GST and all can be fine-tuned in the course of time. However, these reforms are not that similar and it will reflect irreparable damages to the existing fabric of the democratic system. So better the government concentrates on more burning issues like unemployment and agriculture. The nation is facing burning problems; instead of opening a Pandora’s Box at this moment, let us concentrate only on development. Once such issues are resolved, people can’t feel sceptical and time would be ripe move on.
The proposal, if adopted, would have the following consequence: this will be a blow to democracy and federalism. More deeply, the founding pact of the Indian Union is based on federalism. It is the choice of the founding fathers of the Union. Of course, the Constitution of the Union can evolve because a Constitution is not a fixed text for eternity. What seems to be emerging through the announced project is the questioning of the founding pact that can lead to the destruction of the Union. It becomes more than necessary to have in mind what was said seventy years ago, on November 25, 1949, by B.R. Ambedkar at India’s Constituent Assembly for the last time. It is important to re-read this speech and especially to make it known to younger generations.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
