Letters: Political hara-kiri

With reference to Shreekanth Sambrani's article, "One nation, one election?" (September 13), elections in India are influenced more by the personality of the candidates contesting them than by larger electoral issues.

This leads to creation of vote banks. As B R Ambedkar cautioned, "In India, bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world." It is this blitzkrieg that is unleashed upon voters by election strategists and the media.

The Constituent Assembly did not explicitly lay down any provision for simultaneous elections to panchayats, local bodies, state Assemblies and Parliament. However, Syed Muhammad Saadulah did express his views on the objection raised against simultaneous elections - "the bogey of expenditure".

He said: "In the polling booths there is one box for the provincial election and another box for the central election and hence no additional cost. The same polling office is there; the same returning officer is there and all the polling staff is there. The voter has simply to put in his vote for the provincial legislature in one box and his vote for the central legislature in another box."

While the idea of simultaneous elections sounds promising, it could be political hara-kiri for a diverse nation like India. In a politically charged atmosphere, the election of a common regime to office, though improbable, could be a constitutional nightmare. Therefore, sacrificing representative democracy at the altar of administrative convenience is not a prudent idea.

Shreyans Jain, New Delhi

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