Simultaneous elections

There is virtually no possibility that the ‘One Nation One Election’ Bill, which proposes to synchronise elections to State Assemblies with the election to Lok Sabha, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to align the polls of the UTs, will garner the necessary two-thirds support from either House of Parliament to become laws.

The assertion that frequent elections hinder economic growth lacks validity. In the US, the elections for President, Senate, House of Representatives and gubernatorial offices are held simultaneously or at different times, depending on various factors, yet the nation flourishes.

One feasible approach to tackle the identified challenges is to assign the task of conducting the Assembly and Local Bodies’ elections to independent State Election Commissions. Local party leaders should lead the Assembly election campaigns, while the involvement of central ministers is kept to a minimum as a general practice. If Central policies and projects are not tailored for the State that is poll-bound, they are not to be held back. It is possible to come up with alternatives to address the perceived election-related aspects without changing the basic structure of the Constitution or altering the duration of State Assemblies.

Haridasan Rajan

Kozhikode, Kerala

Functioning of Parliament

The news, ‘BJP, Congress protests escalate to ‘push and shove’ in Parliament’, (December 20), is worrisome and indeed a sad commentary on the functioning of our sacred institutions. That many a member fails to measure up to the basic standards of mature debate and discourse is a curse we have brought upon ourselves — giving in to political affinities — throwing out rectitude and dignity in civil behaviour. The decorum and grandeur of ‘august temples of democracy’ have been the casualties of this. All political parties should strive to ensure proper functioning of Parliament and other legislative bodies. That is the least they owe the people whose hard-earned money pays for the perks privileges of the elected.

Jose Abraham

Vaikom, Kerala

Fed’s rate action

With inflation remaining stubbornly high, the US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by only 25 basis points. Since there are expectations that Donald Trump will announce tariffs on major US trading partners, a move that will be inflationary and raise the government deficit, the Fed would keep rates high for long. With US bond yields rising and the dollar strengthening against other currencies, including the rupee, the policy choices have become very narrow for the RBI, which now needs to do a tightrope walk when it comes to deciding on interest rate cuts.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, TN

Uplift of women

Apropos ‘Ease care burden on women’ (December 20), the time has come for all political parties to look beyond freebies and provide social security, skills and jobs so that women from underprivileged sections of society get to lead a dignified life. It is unfortunate that four out of five young women in villages do not attend school. Providing crèches will encourage women to seek jobs and will also improve the productivity of working women in need of such a service.

Bal Govind

Noida

Published on December 20, 2024