Emergency in slow motion: If we don't resist soon, we risk losing our democracy for good. 1/n
Law Commission (LC) recently released a draft proposal for conducting simultaneous elections to the Parliament & all State Assemblies. Why does the gov want to do it? Stable governance. Save money. But this proposal will only lead to chaos. 2/n
Elected representatives in the US have a fixed term. But they are directly elected. But India follows a Parliamentary model. In a Parliamentary model, the government's life squarely depends on support in the Lok Sabha. But LC is not recommending Presi model for fixed term 3/n
LC cites examples of South Africa, Belgium & Sweden. But all 3 follow Proportional Representation (PR) system unlike our First Past The Post (FPTP). PR => Parliamentary seats allocated on vote share across the country. With PR in 2014, BJP would have had 169 (not 282) seats 4/n
Very difficult for 1 party to rule in a PR system. Different parties need to come together and form a gov. Hence in a PR sys, additional levers such as fixed legislative tenure are reqd for overall stability. 5/n
So although LC cites few countries, let's be very clear. The proposed system has NEVER been tried ANYWHERE in the world. It's not wrong to be the first. But Simult Polls is incompatible with our Constitutional Framework 6/n
LC admits Founding fathers didn't envisage Simult Polls. Imposing this artificial construct goes against the Basic Structure of our Constitution 7/n
"We, The People of India...give to ourselves this Constitution" State exists for citizens, not vice versa. When a gov loses support in the legislature, our sys requires the gov to go. If a Money Bill is defeated & it can't decide how to spend money, it has to go. Else CHAOS. 8/n
LC proposes that a gov can be toppled only if opposition can propose an alternative government. Lameduck government without majority will be CHAOS. Also, LC proposes waiver of Anti-Defection Law for installing a government. Say hello to horse-trading. CHAOS plus Money Power 9/n
Our Constitution inherently believes in regular elections. 1/3rd Rajya Sabha reps retire every 2 years. It ensures legilsatures dont radically change with every election. In 1984 Rajiv Gandhi won with 49% vote share. If we'd had Simult Polls, Rajiv wouldve swept many states 10/n
In 2-4 years, Congress would've got a solid majority in RS also. Instead, in our current sys, a party has to prove its mettle consistently to earn that mandate of a solid majority in LS & RS. 11/n
Simult Polls provide a blank cheque to gov for 5-yr period. Regular polls keeps the gov in check. Consider US. Trump was elected for 4-ys @ 2016. Lower House elections for 4yr term @ 2018. Elections happen once every 2 yrs. Like RS, 1/3rd US Senators are elected every 2 yrs.12/n
Repeat after me... Regular Polls is the feature, not a bug, of democracy. 13/n
Now, let's move from the WHY to the HOW part of the question. LC wants to change the tenure of elected State governments. Even if Constitutional Amendments were passed by the Centre and more than 1/2 the states, this will lead to CHAOS 14/n
Can the Centre and a bunch of states choose to curtail the tenure of another State gov? Say West Bengal? When a gov has been elected for a set tenure, how can we have such a mechanism to throw out the will of the people? CHAOS.15/n
Can an elected legislature extend its own term? LC seems to reco UP gov's term be inc to 7-yrs till 2024. When votes were cast last year, that wasnt the understanding. Can it be changed later? If so, where does it end? Can an elected Parli extend its tenure to 10/20 yrs? 16/n
It is definitely ok to pass Consti Amendments to change tenure of legislature. But that has to be done before, not after, the legislature is elected. 17/n
Next qn: How will a party approach governance after winning Simult Polls in Centre & a whole bunch of states? Will BJP use that mandate to bring in economic reforms etc instead of Mandir & Cow Protection? If you say yes, what if Rahul Gandhi wins the next term? 18/n
Constitution is nothing, if not a set of checks & balances. Power should not be concentrated in one group or person. This is not about Modi or Rahul. Do you seriously believe that all future govs will do no evil if we give them a blank cheque in the name of Simult polls? 19/n
Simult Polls is a BAD idea. It has to be junked. Modi surprised the nation on 8-Nov-16. Demonetisation was another bad idea served in the name of good intentions. It has hurt us for a couple of years. But this Simult Polls is a LOT more dangerous. 20/n
The Basic Structure of our Constitution has stood the test of time (even if there were several setbacks along the way). The proposed move will destroy our well-thought-out Constitution. Speak UP before it is too late. 21/n,
Long-form version of this thread is available at medium.com/@HopeIsAGoodTh…
LC's proposal was available at lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/SE-Summary.pdf but site seems to have gone down for sometime now 22/n
LC's proposal was available at lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/SE-Summary.pdf but site seems to have gone down for sometime now 22/n
Readers have pointed out that US House of Reps has a 2 yr term (not 4).
