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– Photo : Amar Ujala
The news that made headlines last week also included a report by former President Ramnath Kovind. This report is about holding Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local body elections simultaneously in the country. The Union Cabinet has approved this report. It is expected that the government may bring a bill related to this in the upcoming winter session of Parliament. At the same time, the opposition has also started protesting on this issue. This issue was discussed in 'Khabron Ke Khiladi' this week. Senior journalists Ramkripal Singh, Vinod Agnihotri, Sameer Chaugaonkar, Rakesh Shukla, Purnima Tripathi and Awadhesh Kumar were present for the discussion.
Sameer Chaugaonkar: There has been a discussion about one country one election in the country for a long time. It gained momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. The government formed a committee regarding this. The way the committee worked shows how serious the government is about it. There will be a complex process to implement one country one election. The government will have to work on the complexities related to it. What will happen if the government falls in the middle? How will the concerns of smaller parties be addressed? The government will have to find answers to these questions. The government will try to build a consensus on this. I believe that this is a very big reformist step.
Vinod Agnihotri: This is the agenda of the BJP government. It has been on their agenda since the Jansangh era. One country one election has emerged from that. This used to happen after independence, but it changed later. There was no provision for this in the Constitution. I believe that basically this will harm the basic concept of democracy. It may sound very good when said. I do not agree with the argument that work cannot be done under the pressure of elections. This will be a system leading to monopoly.
Awadhesh Kumar: This was discussed a lot during the period of instability that our country witnessed. Since 1999, there have been stable governments in the country, so this may not seem like such a revolutionary step in this period. Anyone who reads the Kovind Committee report carefully has answers to all the questions that are arising in our minds. Even examples of different countries of the world have been given in it.
Rakesh Shukla: The basic question is whether One Country One Election will be successful or not? I believe it will be successful. The election process is constantly being improved. Now there is talk of a new reform. All kinds of concerns that are being expressed will be addressed in the report of the Kovind Committee and in the draft that will be prepared in future. Questions were raised even on the day EVMs were introduced. Questions will continue till eternity. The responsibility of conducting elections and arrangements lies with the Election Commission.
Purnima Tripathi: There are valid reasons to criticize this idea. The Election Commission is not able to conduct simultaneous elections in four states, then how will it conduct simultaneous elections in 28 states. This is also against the spirit of our Constitution. States and the Centre have their own sovereignty in this. This sovereignty will be affected if simultaneous elections are held. Another truth of our country is that elections are also won through the atmosphere. The second biggest danger is that this will take away a weapon from the voters, which keeps the governments alert. This weapon of check and balance through elections will be snatched away.
Ramkripal Singh: Right now it is a sealed envelope. It would not be right to question its content right now. The apprehensions that we have, those apprehensions must have definitely been discussed in the committee as well. If this law is passed, then it is certain that the views of those who are experts in it will definitely be included. We should wait for it to come in the Parliament. The code of conduct remains in force for more than 800 days in five years in the country.