The Voice of the People Party (VPP) in Meghalaya has voiced its agreement with the central government’s proposal for ‘one nation, one election’ while questioning the underlying motivations.
Batskhem Myrboh, the spokesperson for VPP, expressed concerns about the frequency of elections in India, observing that they occur every six months, potentially affecting the quality of governance as political leaders are often preoccupied with campaigning.
Myrboh suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put forward the ‘one nation, one election’ idea primarily for its own political advantage rather than the broader public interest.
However, Myrboh acknowledged the constitutional challenges associated with implementing ‘one nation, one election.’ Such a change would necessitate a constitutional amendment and subsequent approval by state assemblies. While similar practices existed in the 1950s and 60s, the differences in the number of states and population size today pose logistical challenges.
Myrboh noted that as long as by-elections and the power to dissolve legislative bodies prematurely exist, the concept of ‘one nation, one election’ remains unattainable without constitutional amendments.
Furthermore, Myrboh pointed out the differences in voting patterns between parliamentary and state elections, suggesting that the BJP’s motivation might be to capitalize on its popularity at the national level and sway state elections accordingly.
Regarding the proposed renaming of the country from India to Bharat, the VPP spokesperson emphasized that both names coexist, with Bharat being the Hindi term and India in English. Myrboh stressed the importance of respecting the constitutional choices made by the framers and the preference of different regions for one name over the other.
In conclusion, the VPP expressed its support for the ‘one nation, one election’ concept but underlined the need for constitutional amendments, while also defending the existing dual nomenclature of the country.
