With reference to "India's political diabetes" (April 25), I fully endorse the writer's views that many modern Indian liberals have developed a tendency to reject an idea not on its merit but on the basis of who came up with it, as has happened in case of a suggestion from the Sangh Parivar that the Parliament and Assembly elections must be held simultaneously. Curiously enough, the reasons extended for an outright dismissal of such an idea attributed mainly to their administrative "practicability" and being "undemocratic" may have other political overtones, too.
The author aptly observes that "India is forever in election mode because there is always an election to be held, somewhere or other, in one or more of its 29 states" and that no country can be governed effectively if "its governments are always making electoral calculations". It would be naive to agree with the Congress party's stance that continuous elections make the central government accountable. But, put in another way, such an "arrangement" keeps the power-savvy political parties "alive" on the national horizon by short-selling their "lofty" slogans to woo voters every time any election takes place. As regards the writer's concern about fixing the length of time for a party consecutively in power, which provides a breeding ground for both corruption and awful governance, such a drastic suggestion may not find many takers in our political fraternity notwithstanding that they have amended the Constitution umpteen times to suit their own convenience.
Holding two sets of elections separately implies that the elections to Parliament may be held in the first phase and all 29 state Assemblies may together go to polls in the second. Both sets of elections could be held in September-October, so that the exercise does not coincide with examinations of the student community (February-March) and weather extremes.
SK Gupta, New Delhi
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The author aptly observes that "India is forever in election mode because there is always an election to be held, somewhere or other, in one or more of its 29 states" and that no country can be governed effectively if "its governments are always making electoral calculations". It would be naive to agree with the Congress party's stance that continuous elections make the central government accountable. But, put in another way, such an "arrangement" keeps the power-savvy political parties "alive" on the national horizon by short-selling their "lofty" slogans to woo voters every time any election takes place. As regards the writer's concern about fixing the length of time for a party consecutively in power, which provides a breeding ground for both corruption and awful governance, such a drastic suggestion may not find many takers in our political fraternity notwithstanding that they have amended the Constitution umpteen times to suit their own convenience.
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Holding two sets of elections separately implies that the elections to Parliament may be held in the first phase and all 29 state Assemblies may together go to polls in the second. Both sets of elections could be held in September-October, so that the exercise does not coincide with examinations of the student community (February-March) and weather extremes.
SK Gupta, New Delhi
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number