Here are a dozen random reasons which convince me , a very ordinary, unknown citizen of India, why I must express my full support the ONOP Bill being tabled in the Parliament by the Government :
1. Holding state assembly and parliament elections simultaneously will bring about much greater political stability throughout the nation . It will in fact strengthen Unity in Diversity.
2. Simultaneous elections will ensure voters across the nation cast their vote with far greater sense of political responsibility, keener exercise of political judgment and truer appreciation of “what’s good for the nation has to be good for the state too” .
3. Voter apathy will be discouraged when voters realise that there’s going to be a full 5 year period of electoral tranquility. “Every vote counts” will no longer be a cliche .
4. The “Andolan Jeevis” of the nation will have to shut shop. Less politicking and more genuine politics.
5. Elected Politicians’ behaviour in both parliament and state assemblies is likely to become more responsible, more adult, more business-like, far less vagrant and capricious once they all realise that their term in office is going to be stable for 5 years and far less exigent on such toxicities as “operation Kamal” or the invoking of Art.356 etc. State Governors too will no longer have to needlessly meddle in politics and stick to their constitutional remit.
7. Throughout the nation , whatever money-power and muscle-power seen today being exercised at the time of elections is bound to get curtailed since the frequency of occasion to exercise such rampant malpractices will now get reduced to just once every 5 years …. rather than all the year-round incidence of corruption and criminality we see today .
8. The Election Commission of India can become even more efficient than it is today and be subjected to far less calumny and vilification by electoral losers.
9. Bureaucrats and public officialdom can be freed of frequent election duties. Their services on deputation for elections will be needed only once in 6 years … not once every 5 months as is the case now . They can focus on their real jobs — administration and public service.
10. Campaign expenditure — which today is assuming humongous proportions running into lakhs of crores — is bound to get reduced since it will happen only once in 5 years and not all the year around . Fly by night political outfits and “name plate” or “letter-head” political parties will wither away into oblivion — thankfully .
11. The scourge of black money in politics is bound to get tamed once its circulation gets restricted to once every 5 years instead of all the year round as witnessed today . The market for black money will automatically shrink in size.
12. Public physical infrastructure will not suffer the extent of ravage and mindless misuse as seen today across the nation every time an election is held. Roadsides are dug up , city corners are littered, ugly giant billboards, cutouts, buntings and festoons flutter everywhere , normal traffic disrupted, poll violence etc — all in the name of holding election rallies , road shows, “maanaadu”, paadayaathra, rath yaatra, pageants and parades— all such ugly, wasteful public nuisances and all similar forms of civic pollution will surely get reduced.
Above all, and finally, Democracy in India will cease to be the ridiculous burlesque circus-tamaasha it has become today and become genuine electoral and popular process through which Vox Populi becomes Vox Dei.
Sudarshan Madabushi