Posts Tagged ‘Lok Sabha’
America and India
Posted on: August 25, 2023
America
Reuter reports Donald Trump’s mug shot was released on Thursday evening after he was booked at an Atlanta jail on more than a dozen felony charges as part of a wide-ranging criminal case stemming from the former U.S. president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Inmate no. P01135809.
India
Varanasi, one of the holiest of the cities, shot into limelight in the beginning of this year for reasons other than religious or spiritual. BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had announced his decision to contest for Lok Sabha from Varanasi constituency. That catapulted Varanasi into the most watched city, by politicians, by the media, by professionals, by common people and, most importantly, by Election Commission of India (ECI).
As was expected, Varanasi witnessed a high-pitched electoral battle. Modi was declared elected by a margin of 3,71,784 votes over his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal of AAP. The Congress candidate came third followed by that of BSP. Modi’s party, with as well as without its electoral allies, won a majority of the seats in Lok Sabha. Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26.
As a routine revision of the voters’ lists was held this month, it came out that 3,11,057 fake voters had cast their votes in the May Lok Sabha polling in Varanasi. This figure had come out at the initial stage itself. The district administration expected the number of fake voters to go up to 6,47,085 by the time the revision of the entire constituency was completed. This is quite a mind boggling figure. Even three lakh fake voters in a single high-profile constituency is exceptionable.
Election Commission had of late been trying hard to gain greater credibility. But the Sampath-Brahma-Zaidi trio has reversed the process. A question mark now hangs over its credibility after the discovery of lakhs of fake voters in Prime Minister Modi’s constituency. Forgery of such a gigantic magnitude could not have been possible without the complicity of the Election Commission machinery. One should be excused for presuming that only the touts and pimps were assigned the duty as observers and micro-observers in Varanasi.
The people’s faith in the integrity of the Election Commission of India has been badly shaken, though it is difficult to say at this stage in which form it will manifest.
Rahul Gandhi’s missed opportunity
Posted on: August 28, 2011
Rahul Gandhi’s first major speech in Lok Sabha on Jan Lokpal Bill was a disappointment. The AICC general secretary, who is touted by his party men as the next Congress president and Prime Minister, missed the opportunity of putting before the House a definitive programme of action to tackle the corruption which he himself admitted “is pervasive”. All he came out with was an anthology of some stray suggestions made repeatedly by many people inside the Parliament and outside over the past decades. In all respects, it appeared a populist speech by a mediocre politician.
Rahul Gandhi seemed confused also. In the past few years, he said, he had travelled the length and breadth of the country, met “scores of countrymen, rich and poor, old and young, privileged and disempowered who have expressed their disillusionment to me.”
He then added: “Annaji has helped the people to articulate this same sentiment. I thank him for that.” But a few minutes later the perceived future Prime Minister says: “However, individual dictates, no matter how well intentioned, must not weaken the democratic process.” How come that Annaji deserves thanks for helping the people to articulate the sentiments which Rahul Gandhi had heard from various sections of people in the past few years but Annaji is also weakening the democratic process? Where did Rahul Gandhi want Annaji to stop?
Rahul Gandhi says, very truly, that the corruption cannot be wished away by the mere desire. This requires, he adds, a comprehensive framework of action and a concerted political program supported by all levels of the state from the highest to the lowest. Most importantly, it requires firm political will. Then he enumerates what is needed to eradicate corruption, like election reforms, transparency in public procurement (why not the whole gamut of the government?), grievance redress mechanism, et cetera.
Who does Rahul Gandhi expect to bring forward necessary legislations in respect of these fields? Sushma Swaraj? Lalu Yadav? Sharad Yadav?
The UPA government is led by the Congress. By virtue of his ancestry, Rahul Gandhi is in a position to persuade the government to act. He should have come out with the unequivocal statement that he expected the government to present the legislations which he considers necessary for redressing the people’s grievances, in the present session of the House.
But taking such a stand required political honesty and will power!
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