CHETAN RAI, Gangtok 21 Mar:
A seminar on ‘One Nation, One Election’ was held here today with Chairperson and Trustee of the Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation in New Delhi, Dr Anirban Ganguly, delivering the keynote address.
The ‘One Nation, One Election’ concept aims to align all elections nationwide for the purported benefit of reducing election costs, and governance disruptions. Today’s seminar, apart from the keynote speaker, brought together a diverse group engage in discussions on the potential benefits and challenges involved in implementing a unified electoral process across the country.
While addressing the gathering, Dr Ganguly discussed the benefits of the proposed electoral reform, highlighting its potential to improve governance, reduce electoral fatigue, and ensure political stability.
While speaking about Sikkim, he stated that the state already has simultaneous parliamentary and assembly elections, adding that panchayat and urban local body elections are however still not aligned, unlike in countries with a ‘One Nation, One Election’ system.
He also argued that simultaneous elections were fully approved by the Constituent Assembly and that it would not be anti-democratic or anti-federal, nor will it violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
Dr Ganguly further argued that simultaneous elections will boost voter participation by reducing voter fatigue.
Students from Sikkim Manipal University, Sikkim Government College-Burtuk and Sikkim Government Law College attended the seminar and actively joined the Q&A session.
