By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 26 Sep: Rotary Club Dehradun organised a talk on the topic, “One Nation, One Election”, at North Point, Doon Club.
Dr AK Srivastava, Principal, DAV Inter College, Dehradun, was the keynote speaker at the event. Dr Srivastava delivered an informative and enlightening lecture on the topic. He discussed the pros and cons of the proposed scheme. He stated that these days elections are extremely expensive, and political parties spend a colossal amount of money on them. If the elections at, both, central and states levels are organised at the same time, this expenditure will be reduced significantly. This would be good for the economy of the country. Secondly, it has been observed that political parties are in election mode all the time. Hence, they fail to concentrate on reforms and the development process. Leaders keep traveling round the year from one state to another, ignoring their focus on public welfare. Continuous elections in different parts of the nation involve a constant and heavy administrative setup and security forces. All government agencies are occupied in conducting elections and maintaining law and order. The location of security forces has to be reshuffled frequently in sensitive areas. Policies get paralysed as before every election the Code of Conduct is to be observed and it disturbs ongoing or new welfare policies.
But the opposition parties are not willing to accept the policy of One Nation, One Election. According to them, a lot of amendments are needed to the constitution in order to make this possible. This is a very time-consuming and cumbersome task involving all political parties. Moreover, it is against the spirit of democracy to delay or postpone elections. In principle, representatives should be elected as soon as possible, not later than six months. The term of a state assembly cannot be curtailed or extended arbitrarily. Opposition parties have expressed their apprehensions on this point.
There are many regional parties, and they are well received in their states. But they have very little influence in other states. This will impede their interest, and they will find it very challenging to manage the whole affair. Local elections are fought on local issues, and central elections are contested on national or international issues. That is why the same voters like to vote for different parties at the state and central levels.
If the term of a state assembly is reduced, the leaders will not take any accountability for their obligations. They will safely say that certain tasks could not be completed because they did not have enough time.
Dr Srivastava also answered several questions of the audience on the topic. President Dr RK Bakshi thanked the speaker for the informative speech.
Besides, President Dr RK Baksho and Secretary Megh Bansal, a large number of Rotarians and their spouses, including PDG Rakesh Agarwal, PP Dr S Farooq, PP DC Bansal, PP Tarun Bhatia, PP Joginder Singh, PP Pawan Agarwal, PP Rakesh Malhotra, PP Dr SL Gupta, etc., were present on the occasion.
