“If Independence is granted to India, power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air and water would be taxed in India“.
– Winston S. Churchill, British statesman
The above quote was delivered by Winston S. Churchill who foresighted that India would balkanise into smaller fragments and the electoral Democracy will fail and it will give rise to authoritarian regimes. But here the country is nearing its 76th Republic Day, reminiscing for being the largest Democracy with 144 crore citizens, surging as the 5th fastest growing economy and playing a crucial role at global platforms uniting the world against terrorism, climate change, poverty, food insecurity, post-pandemic recovery, wars. A major reason behind this is the festival of democracy i.e. Elections being at the major forefront of its political setup. The Free, fair and transparent elections accompanied by strong body of Election Commission (Article 324) have sailed India through the choppy waters of democracy.
Most of the neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Myanmar have fallen to vices of democracy giving rise to the authoritarian regimes while India has showcased the testament of its democratic strength by maintaining electoral integrity. A major Debate which has surfaced on the socio-political landscape of Indian political system is the issue of One Nation, One Election which arose in 1983 when Election Commission and later Dinesh Goswami Committee professed for continuing the norm of One Nation One election, which was initially prevalent till 1967. But due to various reasons this issue was put under carpet and yet the country is discussing this in 2024 again.
Conundrum Behind this Concept
References
1. Quotes. Goodreads, 31 Mar. 2024.
2. India’s Economic Triumph: A Chronicle of the Fastest-growing Major Economy.” The Economic Times, 18 Dec. 2023, economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/indias-economic-triumph-a-chronicle-of-the-fastest-growing-major-economy/articleshow/106083873.cms. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.
3. Is One Nation, One Election a DISASTER or MIRACLE for India? : Political Strategy Decoded.” Youtube, uploaded by Think School, 5 Sept. 2023, youtu.be/og_ob8Xdlvk?si=5M3rI2ZrKtkSQc7Q.
4. ANALYSIS OF SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS : THE “WHAT”, “WHY” AND “HOW” A Discussion Paper.” Semantic Scholar, 1 May 2017, www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Analysis-of-Simultaneous-Elections-%3A-The-%22What%22%2C-Debroy-Desai/4bc09e96fca79209d0f29d2dfc964113d3e03b4b. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.
5. One Nation, One Election? India Will Enter a 3-country Club.” India Today, 1 Sept. 2023.
All the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
About the Author
Adinath Rohamare holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Government and Administration with Political Science as a major subject from MIT World Peace University. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Political Science from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
