Hyderabad:Senior journalist N Ram has opposed the Centre's 'One Nation One Election' proposal calling it an “assault on the diversity and pluralism and Indian civilisation”.
Speaking at the DMK legal wing conference in Chennai, Ram said that the One Nation One Election proposal has to be seen in a wider context of Hindutva authoritarianism.
“It is an assault on the diversity and pluralism and Indian civilisation. We are multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-linguistic, multicultural, multi-political and multi-everything. This is to impoverish the diversity and pluralism of India,” he said.
Ram further said that the NDA government's proposal was also an “assault on federalism”. He quoted Ambedkar how the states were sovereign in their own realms. “It is an assault on people of various states,” he said.
Citing the Lok Sabha election results from Tamil Nadu, Ram pointed out how it was different from the national trend and that of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
“They want to ride on the roughshod over the diversity and plurality of India, that is the basic political objection,” he said.
On expenses on the One Nation One Election proposal, the senior journalist said the expenses will triple when the elections are held simultaneously. “You will require three times the number of EVMs and (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail)VVPATs,” he said. Ram also cited an essay by former Chief Election Commissioner, SY Quraishi, who, he said, had written it in one of his essays arguing against the proposal of "one nation, one election". "That's going to be huge," Ram said.
“Now, the expenses. This is the cost of democracy. So you can't really quarrel with that,” he quipped.
Ram said that Indian elections were among the most expensive ones in the world. “Not so much because of the infrastructural requirements and the administrative requirements. As because so much money is being paid illegally by political parties to voters, spending on candidates, and so on,” he said.
While quoting senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was also present at the event, Ram said that the "expense" thing was completely irrelevant in the Indian elections saying it was just an excuse.
“Who follows the model code of conduct should be the real question. There were electoral bonds issue. There were quid pro quos. The Supreme Court did well to strike it down. But I was disappointed that they didn't go far enough. I don't know why. They could have done more. They should have made them accountable. There is no penalty. There is no recovery of the money that has been spent. Maybe it was not freezable. I don't know. I am not a lawyer. But we were disappointed by the fact that, while that was a good thing it was struck down as unconstitutional. But the people who were involved in massive corruption are not held accountable in any way,” he said.
“So that the argument falls to the ground that we will be able to save costs”.
Read more:
- DMK Legal Wing Conference: Sibal, Quraishi, Ram Reject 'One Nation, One Election' Pushed By The BJP Govt
- Best Tribute To Ramoji Rao Would Be To Stand Up For Values He Cherished: N Ram At Andhra Govt Memorial Meet
