The entire nation is in
the midst of General Elections to elect the 17th Lok Sabha. Every one of us can feel proud that we are
part of the world's largest democracy with more than 800 million people
electing the Government. We need to
compliment Indian Election Commission for their competence and neutrality.
Two major alliances one
under the leadership of BJP and the other under the leadership of Congress are
fighting in the election to get the mandate of the people to form the
Government. In addition, there are many
regional and smaller parties also in the fray.
Many suggestions are going
round in the social media advising people whom to vote. Some people suggest to vote for 'NOTA'
without even looking at the candidates.
Some people suggest to vote for people with highest qualification,
irrespective of their party, even if they contest as independent.
Though voting for any
candidate is a personal right, I suggest all voters to understand the
procedures of Parliament and the formation of Government and then calmly think
and go for voting without any bias or caste/religious consideration.
Before going in detail, we
should understand that as per Indian Constitution only three bodies are
directly elected by the people.
1. Lok Sabha
2. Lower House of State Legislative Assemblies
3. All Local bodies like village panchayats, Municipalities
and Corporations.
Duties of the elected
members of Lok Sabha, State legislature and the local bodies are
different. Generally people do not
understand their roles properly due to lack of awareness.
Duties
of the members of Lok Sabha
Though all of us discuss
politics in detail, many may not know the duties of the Lok Sabha Members. Without even knowing the role and duties of
Lok Sabha Members, people go for voting.
The Members of Parliament
have the following duties:
1. Legislation - Enact laws for the entire
country;
2. Discuss the financial budget and approve;
3. Participate in the Lok
Sabha Sessions and Committee Meetings and supervise the functioning of the
Government.
4. Represent the issues relating to the constituency,
state and the nation in the Parliament to find a solution. This includes
introducing new Central Government projects or improving the existing schemes.
Unfortunately, general
public do not have the awareness about the duties of Members of Parliament. They expect him/her to look after the local
civil needs, street cleaning, street lighting and other local works. Members of legislative Assemblies and the
local body councillors are required to look after the local civic
problems.
Most of the time, general
public perceives the MP who looks after the civic needs as the 'best MP'. These MPs get a good name from the local
people. There are many MPs, without
doing any Parliamentary work, get a good name from the local people by
resolving only local civic issues.
It is like a company
recruiting a General Manager to plan and execute higher projects, asking him to
do ordinary jobs. People should learn to expect higher performance from the
Members of Parliament and not ordinary works.
How
the Government gets formed?
After the General
Elections, the new Government will be formed. President of India will invite
the person who in his opinion commands the confidence of the majority of the
House to be the Prime Minister and form the Government. Though
Indian Constitution does not specify about political parties, in
reality, President will invite the Leader of the party or the Pre-Poll alliance
who has secured the majority in the House.
Presently, we have 543
seats in the Lok Sabha. The person who
commands the confidence of 272 members can become the Prime Minister. This person can be the leader of a single
party or alliance.
If there is no majority to
any political party or pre-poll alliance, it may lead to confusion and
instability. This will affect the governance
and the economy of the nation.
Since this General
Election is for formation of Central Government, every voter needs to be
careful while casting his/her vote.
Previous
Governments
1. 9th Lok Sabha was formed in 1989. The Government formed by VP Singh without
majority fell in 11 months. Chandrasekar
Government formed thereafter without majority also fell in 6 months. Lok Sabha
was dissolved. During this period, Indian economy suffered heavily. India had to pledge its Gold reserve to get
loan from England.
2. 10th Lok Sabha was formed in 1991. Congress formed the Government under the
Prime Ministership of PV Narasimha Rao, though there was a small shortage of
majority. Narasimha Rao provided a stable Government for five years. During this term, India opened up its
economy. Economic crisis was getting
solved.
3. 11th Lok Sabha was formed in 1996. None of the parties got the majority. As the single largest party, BJP formed the
Government under the leadership of Vajpayee.
This Government survived for 13 days.
Subsequently, Deve Gowda and IK Gujral formed the Governments without
majority one after other. All the
Governments could survive only for 18 months, as nobody could provide a stable
Government. The Lok Sabha was
dissolved. Due to power hungry leaders
of small parties, there was a political confusion and chaos, which led to the
collapse of Indian economy.
4. 12th
Lok Sabha was formed in 1998. This time
also none of the parties could secure majority.
BJP with 182 members formed the Government with the support of some
other parties. This Government survived
only for 13 months. Parliament was
dissolved, after Vajpayee lost vote of confidence in a single vote.
5. 13th Lok Sabha was formed in 1999. BJP led NDA secured 270 seats. NDA Government was formed with Vajpayee as
Prime Minister. Vajpayee provided stable
Government for five years. Indian
economy also was developed.
6. In the 14th Lok Sabha
formed in 2004, Congress secured 141 seats and BJP secured 130 seats. Congress formed UPA Government with alliance
parties, with Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. He provided stable Government for five
years. Though the Government was stable,
due to pressure from alliance parties, there were several allegations of scam
during this period, which came to light later.
7. 15th and 16th Lok Sabha were formed in 2009
and 2014. Congress formed the UPA
Government in 2009 with Dr Mahmohan Singh as Prime Minister along with alliance
parties. In 2014, BJP secured majority on its own. However, they formed NDA Government along
with alliance parties with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. Both the Governments were stable and improved
the economy.
From the above, one can
observe that whenever 'hung Parliament' happens without majority to any party
or alliance, political chaos, confusion happens leading to economic disaster.
We have seen smaller parties taking advantage of this situation, leading to
scam and corruption.
Appeal
to all voters
I humbly request all
eligible voters to consider the following:
1. Though there are several recognised and
registered political parties in the country, presently only BJP and Congress
are competent and experience to govern this large country with stable
Government. Our past experiences of
smaller parties heading the Government have led to disaster and chaos. Please
examine carefully without getting into emotion or bias, which party or pre-poll
alliance (NDA or UPA) can provide a stable, clean and efficient governance.
2. All parties, including
small parties release their manifestoes.
The promises by smaller parties are only for academic purposes. They do not carry any value. The manifestoes of BJP and Congress need to
be examined carefully. The promises by NDA and UPA can also be carefully
examined, if they have released.
3. If BJP or Congress or their pre-poll
alliances do not get majority and if the smaller parties and independents get
elected to 17th Lok Sabha in large numbers, it may lead to political chaos and
'horse trading' to woo the members to form the Government. The Government had to yield to their
unreasonable demands at the cost of the nation. India has seen those situations
earlier. I do not underestimate the
smaller parties or independents. They
have greater role to play in State Assemblies and Local bodies. Their role will be minimal in Lok Sabha,
where national parties play major role.
5. Some people campaign for 'NOTA'. Voting for NOTA is dangerous. It is like an invalid vote. As per the current rules, even if there is
99% NOTA in any Constituency, results will be declared based on the majority of
the remaining 1% vote. Please avoid
NOTA.
6. After examining the manifestoes and promises
of the major parties or their alliances, take an unbiased decision, to vote for
the party or alliance who can provide you stable, clean and efficient
governance, keeping in mind the economic growth, employment, national security,
etc. to take our nation to the next
level. As for as Lok Sabha elections
are concerned only the political parties or alliances are important, than the individual candidates.
7. Your vote is sacred. It is not for sale. Casting our vote is not only our right, it is
also our duty.
Jai Hind
By Prime Point Srinivasan,
Chennai
