A government appointed committee that was set up last September to look at the controversial issue of holding simultaneous elections in India is said to be close to ready with its report, which could be submitted within the next few weeks. However, he entire process, starting from the formation of the panel to its terms of reference, has been somewhat questionable, with the outcome seemingly predetermined.
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Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/india-why-one-nation-one-election-has-sparked-nationwide-debate-1.100709914
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #India #politics
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NewsTranscript
00:00A government-formed committee on looking at holding simultaneous polls to state legislatures
00:09and the Lok Sabha is nearly ready with its report.
00:12And law ministry officials have been telling journalists in the last few days that more
00:15than 80 per cent of the responses that they have received on the proposal are overwhelmingly
00:20in favour of a one-nation, one-election.
00:22The problem, however, lies with the credibility of the process and the credibility of the
00:27panel itself.
00:28The panel is headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, who has publicly expressed support
00:32for simultaneous polls in the past.
00:34In fact, every member of this eight-member panel has either expressed support for one-nation,
00:39one-election publicly or is seen to be close to the BJP.
00:43There was only one opposition voice that was included in this panel originally.
00:47That was the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Congress's Adhirajan Chaudhary.
00:52But he dropped out and refused to be part of the proceedings, saying that the entire
00:55exercise was an eyewash.
00:57Actually, that doesn't seem to have been a very good idea.
01:01Because at the end of the day, this is an important issue.
01:03And even if the Congress was the sole opposition voice there, it was important for them to
01:08record their opposition in black and white in front of the official committee.
01:12But that aside, the process too has been marred with controversy.
01:16If you look at the terms of reference of the committee, it's quite clear from the very
01:20beginning that they have made up their minds about which way their report is going to go
01:24and what it is going to suggest.
01:27And there really hasn't been any meaningful consultation with regional parties and others
01:33to have a robust debate on this.
01:35Because if India does go in for simultaneous polls, it will have a huge impact on the way
01:41electoral democracy is conducted in the country.
01:45Regional parties in particular are going to lose out.
01:47They stand to have the biggest disadvantage as a result of this.
01:51And it is a national party like the BJP that stands to gain the most from it.
01:55An exercise like this required an honest and meaningful debate and discussion to take
02:01place, not the kind of process that we are seeing now.