Elections 2014
Image Courtesy: indiatimes.com
“Namo-raga [NArendra MOdi RAhul GAndhi]” featured in Vidvata, was based on the most awaited Lok Sabha elections 2014 with Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi being the lucid contenders who will be taking up the reins of government and hence the country. This platform of discussion had brought on the crucial issues and the aspects which the nation would soon be exposed to.
Students panel comprised of Akansha Chaturvedi, Rita Devi, Priyanka Rajdev, Ankit Jaiswal, Himanshu Mistry & Devyani Thakur. Deliberations were initiated by Ashish Sharma, the moderator for the event. Few issues that were volleyed across to the participants were as given below:
What is the function of Election Commission of India and what are the major changes that impact the election system in India.
1) Electronic voting machine
2) NOTA
3) Motives of NOTA (None of the above )
4) What if the percentage of NOTA increases?
Starting with the discussion, NOTA came into focus that how NOTA can influence the elections and the future of the country. The panel discussed that if the NOTA come out to be in the majority then how the governance will be transferred to the various authorities in specified conditions and how this will affect the foreign investments and the common people of India. Panel members also suggested that much of the population is not aware of the NOTA and thus they do not know the pros and cons of the same. The panel discussed over the evolving of the constitution of India and then a video was shown that described the election commission and the operations that are involved in conducting elections in India. It was discussed at this point of time that how big India’s constitution is all about and even United Nations recommends it as the biggest and richest constitution of the world as stated by Mr. Shashi Tharoor.
The terrorist attacks which took place during the UPA government, now how the coming government will tackle the issue?
1) Many activities have been taken to save the life of major chunk of people.
2) TADA & POTA– are the bodies which are responsible for the prevention of the people’s safety.
3) More independency is needed and the permission from CM of the particular state has to be taken and this consumes a long time thus these calls for a fast action.
4) Mutual consent between the ministers has to be taken care of.
Terrorist became the point of concentration at this point that how this government is working towards this terrorist issues and how they are reacting to POTA and TADA. Since, the terrorism has got on the nerves of not only India, but also of other super powers like US, UK and Russia. The terrorism issue then took a turn and the Panel opened a point that this issue has already become an alarming condition now and the upcoming government needs to focus on this area with utmost priority. Article 370, J&K special status did not get out of focus due to this and thus got into action sooner. Panel discussed that India-Pakistan relations are facing issues due to this issue mainly. The history of India, Instrument of accession and lapse of Paramountcy act by the British Empire, and Pakistan’s sentiments regarding the J&K were the points on which intense and clear cut discussion took place.
What do you think of coalition government like UPA and NDA? Is it unlike that one party on its own will come in power?
After this discussion, coalition government came on the ground. Very proactively the panel discussed the history of the coalition governments like NDA and UPA and example of AAP with the Congress in Delhi recently was stated. However, the pros and cons of the point were very well stated by the panel and hence the point of federalism couldn’t be avoided by the panel. During this point, the scams and corruption couldn’t hold anymore by coming into the discussion. The panel stated that corruption and scams are present in every part of the earth but it has to be controlled in our country and they said that how the government is working towards it by introducing the Lokpal bill and other necessary equipment that can become helpful in reducing the same. The point of human tendency also caught the eyes because of one saying “Humans do not want to wait and to avoid this waiting, they bribe”.
How to deal with the corruption the raising concern for today’s citizen of India? The UPA government is full of scams what is the surety that next government won’t be full be such type of scams?
The panel said that 1.21 billion population of the country is being affected because of this corruption and scams like Fodder scam, coal scam, etc. happened and affected the same. They discussed that Government has introduced a bill that if a politician has a criminal background, he or she cannot stand for the elections, but also recommended that the upcoming government should amend a bill saying that the families of the same politician should also not get the leverage to stand in the elections.
What are the food security bill and RTI in the next election?
Food security bill was talked upon that was passed under UPA government and it is estimated that it would affect the 80 crores of the population. Panel suggested that it is not sufficient to satisfy the stated population. Also, the issues of warehousing came in the scene and the challenges were stated for the upcoming government after the elections. Thus elections 2014 should show the execution plans to overcome such challenges as the upcoming government needs to resolve these issues. Since the scams and corruption was playing the cards, RTI did not take much time to take the lead. RTI and its requirement became the focus of the panel and CBI and other authorities of the Government got concluded that they are not independent and as the elections come closer, the bills and such scams gets sorted out along with the society welfare schemes like RTI, but then it gets vanished when the whole operation ends.
What do you think the Telangana bill and Lokpal bill have an impact on upcoming elections?
State divisions and their requirements in the current government were also talked upon. The very recent example of Telangana issue came into the picture and Telangana bill snatched few minutes. As the issue of revenue generations of the states was heating up into the discussion, one of the major points of inflation took the time as directed by the moderator. The upcoming elections and the upcoming government, their actions and the pros and cons of the same point were being discussed. Women empowerment bill, why is it required and how the government is addressing this issue in the time to come. Elections 2014 has various agendas and this issue is one of them and hence upcoming government has an important issue to charge upon as stated by the panel. Pros and cons of this bill and why this bill was also the area of discussion in which examples of Damini and Nirbhaya case mainly were in the limelight. One main issue was stated that girls at the age of 4 years or 5 years cannot be empowered as such as raised by the panel.
What would be the role of paid media and paid vote upcoming elections?
The panel also explained the role of the paid media and its impact on upcoming elections. Panel suggested that media has to be neutral over here so that the news cannot be fabricated and the original picture can be shown to the public so that voting can happen without any biasing. The panel on this point discussed on youth empowerment and the focus of young power as India has a demographic dividend and thus elections would be impacted due to this. Thus economic growth was included in the discussion in which current account deficit, balance of payments and other important features caught the focus as the upcoming government has to address such issues very carefully. Hence the panel discussed the economic slump and various aspects of it. The panel suggested that the youth and media has to think in a way very wisely while putting the votes as it affects the upcoming education system of the country, economic growth and the quality in every field of production and processes.
What are the options if the “third front” party comes into power rather than the nationalist party?
The panel discussed that third front party would eat up the votes of the major political party in the upcoming elections and this aspect do have the negative impacts on the country. The examples of leaders like Mr. Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mr. Arvind Kejrival from AAP along with other small political parties were taken over here. The panel stated that the election commission has invested a huge amount into the elections and thus appealed everyone to vote for the right candidate with integrity and honesty according to them. Hence, the panel said that structure of the hierarchy, judiciary and the legislation of the country should become more flexible and the focus should be towards the betterment of the society and increase the efficiency in every field. Hence to address such things, we require a strong party, strong vision along with a proper execution plan and the country as a whole to stand.
With this learning spirit and inquisitiveness to acquire the best, students participated with full zeal. The gusto of the students spoke the minute details and gave a chance to bring out the viewpoints and perceived thoughts. IPER PGDM 2013-15 in its first learning forum and discussion – Vidvata has been successfully able to put forward their fresh insights and give an edge to a remarkable dilation held at the IPER’s Auditorium. Guided in the presence of their mentors and prestigious faculty members the students conducted the event with novel angle and enthusiasm.
