Connect with us

National

Simultaneous polls impractical, government ended transparency: Former CEC Quraishi (IANS Interview)

Published

on

By Mohd Asim Khan
New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) The idea of holding simultaneous polls to Parliament and the state assemblies — for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others have been strongly pitching — is good but has very low practicality in the real world, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has said.

He also slammed the government’s move to introduce electoral bonds, which would only make political funding more opaque and end public scrutiny.

“The idea (of simultaneous polls) is good, and the two major reasons cited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also valid, but it is fraught with huge practical problems. Its practicality is low,” Quraishi told IANS in an interview.

“To begin with, you need a constitutional amendment. Then you will have to reduce the terms of certain state assemblies and extend those of certain others. You will need political consensus for that, which will not be easy as many would not agree to reduce their terms,” he said.

Quraishi has also touched upon the issue in his latest book “Loktantra Ke Utsav Ki Ankahi Kahani”, that was released recently by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.

While unveiling the book, Naidu, too, pitched for simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and even went ahead to say that elections to the local bodies and village panchayats can also be clubbed with these.

He reiterated — as said by Modi earlier — that perpetual elections cost the exchequer a bomb and also hamper development due to the model code of conduct that kicks in when the poll dates are announced.

However, Quraishi, who as the Chief Election Commissioner has seen the process of elections very closely, is not very enthusiastic about the idea.

Asked about the Centre’s power to dismiss elected state governments, and if this should be curtailed, Quraishi had another poser: “Alternately, what if the central government falls much before its term? We saw the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government fall in just 13 days. And we have had central governments that just lasted around a year.”

“Will you again stoke the entire country, all the states and UTs, which might be having stable governments, into election? So, again I would say this idea is fraught with practical problems.”

He said that there has been a parallel view that perpetual elections are good.

“I heard a senior parliamentarian saying that the public likes continuous elections. The media also likes it for their TRPs. Then I heard someone saying in Pune ‘Jab jab chunav aata hai, ghareeb ke pet me pulav aata hai’ (The poor get to eat well during elections),” he said.

On electoral bonds, Quraishi said that vis-a-vis transparency in political funding, the Modi government said one thing and did the opposite.

“The Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) in his Budget speech said that in the last 70 years we have not been able to achieve transparency in political funding, and that fair and free elections are not possible without transparent funding. Very good. But what he did was totally the opposite.

“Electoral bonds se bada nuksan hoga (electoral bonds would cause much harm). Earlier, parties had to submit details of donations above Rs 20,000 to the Election Commission. The idea was that the public must know how much a corporate house gives to a political party.

“So if a certain corporate house received a big contract, licence, etc, from the government, the public would know that it is quid pro quo, a return of favour for their donations. However, now the parties are not bound to disclose their donations received through electoral bonds. Only the government would know who donated what or who got what. This has ended transparency,” Quraishi maintained.

He termed as ridiculous Jaitley’s contention that the donors want anonymity.

“What does it mean? Naturally, the donor would want anonymity so that the public does not know why they got favours from the government,” he said.

He said that another damaging move from the government was removing the cap on corporate funding.

“Earlier no corporate house could donate more than 7.5 per cent of their profits to political parties. That cap has been removed now. Does it mean that now companies will only work for running political parties? This is farcical,” the former CEC said.

He said the move to cap cash donations from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000 is not likely to have any impact either, as parties would break the donations in smaller amounts.

“At best, it would just increase their clerical work,” he said.

(Asim Khan can be contacted at [email protected])

–IANS
mak/vm/tb/sac

Continue Reading

National

Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok

Published

on

By

Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.

The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.

Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.

Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.

For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.

During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.

Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.

Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .

Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.

In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.

In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.

He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.

Continue Reading

Trending