Simultaneous polls will turn India into managed democracy: AAP
New Delhi, July 8: Rejecting the idea of simultaneous polls floated by the Narendra Modi government, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said that such a system would turn India into a "managed democracy".
AAP leader Ashish Khetan, who appeared before the Law Commission to present his party's views, said after the meet: "We are against the idea of the so-called one-nation-one-poll because it will turn India's federal democracy into a managed democracy."
He added that for simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies to happen, the Constitution of India will have to be "mutilated and rewritten completely".
"What will be left will be a pretense of democracy. The current dispensation will curtail the democratic rights of the people of this country. It will snatch away people's right to vote or vote out a government. There will be a domination of muscle and money power," Khetan said.
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its absence from the Law Commission's meeting, he said it was "bizarre" that the party which floated the idea is itself missing from the discussion.
The AAP leader also emphasized how simultaneous elections would turn a "thriving, open and transparent democracy" of India into a "Stalinist democracy" where people will get the right to vote once in five years and not get the chance of self-correction if the chosen government fails to impress.
"You are taking away the people's right to self-correction because often we have seen in this country that people vote differently in Parliament elections and six months down the line, people vote differently in a state election," Khetan argued.
"It is basically a reeking of a dictatorial mindset," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress’ downfall will start from Baramati if it doesn’t let Sunetra Pawar win unopposed: Bawankule
Nagpur (PTI): The Congress will have to face consequences if it doesn't allow NCP president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar to win the Baramati assembly bypoll unopposed, said minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday.
The party’s “downfall” will start from Baramati, he said, stressing that the people of Baramati and Maharashtra wish that she is elected unopposed, said the BJP leader.
The April 23 bye election was necessitated after the tragic death of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who headed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. After his death, his wife Sunetra became the party president.
The NCP, BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.
“The Congress will face consequences if it doesn’t let Sunetra win unopposed from Baramati. Its downfall will start from Baramati if it doesn’t withdraw its candidate,” Bawankule told reporters in Nagpur.
Amid efforts to ensure an unopposed contest, the Congress has fielded advocate Akash More for the bypoll.
The party had said that it would withdraw from the contest only if an FIR were registered in Ajit Pawar’s death in the Baramati plane crash.
Replying to another question, Bawankule said the BJP’s performance will be more robust in Assam and Kerala elections compared to the last assembly polls in these states. Assembly polls are being held in a single phase in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on Thursday.
“These elections will once again show Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership commanding support among the people,” he said.
