Saturday, October 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India
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Gandhiji’s views on electoral system ON October 2, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi was celebrated. Floral tributes were paid and prayer meetings held. This ritual is done on this day every year but what the Mahatma wanted to be done is immediately and comfortably forgotten after paying lip tributes to the great man. It is really regrettable that though Jawaharlal Nehru is said to be the political heir of the Mahatma, he brought into being a Constitution much against what Gandhiji wished. He did not care to materialise the dreams of the Mahatma after the attainment of Independence. Gandhiji felt that a candidate for election should only be motivated by the love of social service and should not derive any benefit out of the elected office. Today, when a party comes to power, every member is provided with a highly lucrative office. Mahatma proposed that only those between 18 and 50 should have voting rights. Senior citizens should have no voice in the running of the country. He believed in four ashrams, each with a span of 25 years. As regards the mode of elections, he was in favour of indirect elections to the state legislatures and national Parliament instead of the mass adult franchise as is now obtaining in India. In his ideal India, the villages would elect their representatives and these representatives would form the electoral college, choosing members of legislatures and federal Parliament. To him this method would make it possible to reduce the election expense. It will further ensure that all the voters would know the moral status of their representatives. Thus, there would be complete decentralisation of political power to its ultimate unit. |
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