The call for having a single election throughout the country has grown louder. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, too, has rooted for having one big election throughout the country for Parliament, Assemblies, and even local bodies so that developmental work does not get affected due to the model code of conduct observed during polls.
Addressing the State Election Commissioners at their 24th all-India conference here on Wednesday, he also mooted restricting the by-elections to the constituencies to be held twice in a year — January and June. Stating that what he was going to suggest was based on the people’s perceptions, suggestions, and complaints he has been receiving, Mr. Narasimhan made no bones about where he stood on these issues.
Further, the Governor called for a single voters lists based on the Aadhaar card, and wondered the need to maintain separate lists for different elections. “The Representation of People’s Act should also be made more stringent, and Prevention of Corruption Act should be included in it to arrest the money power rampant during the polls.”
“What happens to the money and vehicles seized during the elections? No one knows,” he observed, adding that the complaints redressal of election-related issues was a “tedious process” with fewer punishments.
The Governor said he does not subscribe to the proposal of having minimum educational qualifications for contesting candidates, pointing out that “common sense” was more important, and the more educated one was, it could get easier to beat the system.
While making voting mandatory was not possible, Mr. Narasimhan wanted the SECs to consider inserting the ‘Right to Recall’ provision, at least among the local bodies.
Tablets to enrol voters
On pilot basis in Telangana and Punjab, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced around 5,000 tablets for block level officers to enrol voters and maintain lists, said Election Comissioner Achal Kumar Jyothi. In fact, the EC has taken to IT, digital and social media, and these were used in the recently held State elections.
“Not only youngsters but even rural voters have accepted the digital initiatives. Our three online modules — Samadhan (complaints redressal), Suvidha (single window permissions for meetings, transport, etc.), and Sugam (management of EC transport fleet and billing) — has been successful and helped take quicker decisions,” he said.
Chairman and convenor of the SECs committee Rakesh Mehta said the biggest democracy in the world is also the strongest democracy because of the successful conduct of the local bodies elections. The ECI was the benchmark for all SECs, he said.
Telangana State Election Commissioner V. Nagi Reddy, AP SEC N. Ramesh Kumar, and Telangana Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, also spoke.
