Monday: Legal Aptitude at High Altitude
Directions: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given beside.
Simultaneous elections are not new to India. They were the norm until 1967. But following dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies in 1968 and 1969 and that of the Lok Sabha in December 1970, elections to State Assemblies and Parliament have been held separately. The idea of reverting to simultaneous polls was mooted in the annual report of the Election Commission in 1983. The Law Commission’s Report also referred to it in 1999. After Mr. Modi floated the idea once again in 2016, the Niti Aayog prepared a working paper on the subject in January 2017. In the working paper that the Law Commission brought out in April 2018, it said that at least “five Constitutional recommendations” would be required to get this off the ground. The final decision on holding simultaneous elections is yet to be taken.How will it work? There were two proposals to conduct simultaneous elections along with 17th Lok Sabha elections. One proposal was to make the shift to simultaneous polls in a phased manner, where general elections, 12 State Assemblies (which by themselves face elections in late 2018 or 2019) and a Union Territory may be synchronised in 2019, as the rest of the states are in the middle of their five-year term.These 12 states were Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan. NCT of Delhi (UnionTerritory with Legislature) also faces polls in 2019. For such a synchronisation to happen, besides political consensus and extension of term up to six months in some states, amendments to the Constitution have to be made. Elections to the remaining State Legislative Assemblies and Union Territory with Legislature (Puducherry) will be synchronised by the end of 2021. Thereafter, elections to the Lok Sabha, all the State Legislative Assemblies and Union Territories (with legislatures) will be held simultaneously from 2024. The second option involved synchronisation in two batches. First, elections to the 12 State Legislative Assemblies and one Union Territory would be synchronised with elections to the Lok Sabha in 2019.
Next, elections to the remaining State Legislative Assemblies will be synchronised with that of one Union Territory by the end of 2021. This makes elections across the country synchronised in such a manner that they will be held twice every five years.
1. Which of the following best supports the idea of One Nation- One election in a democratic setup like India?.
A. India being the cradle of world civilization, the challenge posed by its diversity makes it imperative to decide its leaders in the shortest time possible to avoid time-wastage.
B. One- Nation one poll will lead to reduction in corrupt practices employed by parties over several elections.
C. One Nation- One Poll will defeat that India is a fragmented polity and we can choose our leader collectively and with clean conscience as a mature democracy.
D. One Nation- One poll will lead to better governance and better leaders being elected as the voter has to apply his mind with logic one time after every 5 years.
2. Which of the below best describes an odd outcome of One-Nation One Poll?
A. Simultaneous polls will reduce enormous costs involved in separate elections.
B. The system will help ruling parties focus on governance instead of being constantly in election mode.
C. Simultaneous polls will boost voter turnout.
D. Simultaneous polls will lead to more accountability to the people.
3. What can be the odd one out of the shortcomings of the Simultaneous polls being carried by poll bodies?
A. National and state issues are different, and holding simultaneous elections is likely to affect the judgment of voters.
B. Repeated elections keep legislators on their toes and increases accountability.
C. When an election in a State is postponed until the synchronised phase, President’s rule will have to be imposed in the interim period in that state.
D. The Governance will suffer on account of one nation one poll.
4. The government of Haryana wishes to conduct simultaneous polls in Assembly and Municipal bodies of the state. Which of the reasons is the best that can be given by the civic bodies legally to stop such an exercise?
A. Municipal bodies are smaller elections and State elections are on a much larger scale.
B. State Body elections are under supervision of Election commission of India whereas Municipal body elections under the State Election Commission.
C. Municipal Election bodies are only located at bigger urban cities whereas state elections cover villages, tehsil, etc.
D. State Elections are fought on different principles than Municipal elections
5. The Commission of Law gives a direction to government to postpone all the elections of state governments which were due after May 2019 to May 2024 to fulfill its mission of One Nation One Election. Which of the following issues may arise in case it is actually brought into action?
A. The delay in elections will lead to long government rule of the elected Union Government.
B. The elections will lead to more accountability of the Union Government as it will have to fight both the state and the Union government together.
C. The elections will lead to loss of accountability of state government.
D. The elections are going to cause a severe handicap on the number of issues as the people are not yet trained to vote differently in central and state election.
Correct Answers:
1. B
2. D
3. D
4. B
5. C
