Letters to The Editor — December 19, 2024

‘One election’ Bills

It is surprising that the government has taken the trouble of preparing and introducing the Bills for implementing the concept of simultaneous national and State Assembly elections knowing fully well that the Bills may not muster the necessary two-thirds votes in Parliament for their passage (Page 1, “Two Bills on simultaneous elections rock Parliament”, December 18). The government has a valid point when it puts forth the reasoning that simultaneous elections would save expenditure and the country would be rid of the situation of ‘constantly being in election mode’. But, given the negative impact of such simultaneous elections on the polity, democracy, existing State legislatures by way of curtailment of their tenure, and the federal structure as enshrined in the Constitution, the implementation of the concept of simultaneous elections is not desirable. The cost of conducting separate elections cannot be considered prohibitively high, compared to the country’s total revenue expenditure. In a democracy, the cost of conducting elections should never be a matter of debate, as the exercise of conducting elections is the basic necessity for the survival of democracy in a country.

Kosaraju Chandramouli,

Hyderabad

While ‘cost reduction; appears to be a reasonable benefit, it cannot be the sole justification. In reality, the government has not adequately addressed other forms of wasteful spending. Nor has it tackled the issue of using money to unfairly influence elections. The primary focus of any change should be on what is best for voters, not politicians.

V. Nagarajan,

Chennai