Former APSRTC chairman and ex-MLA Gone Prakash Rao pens open letter to PM Modi on 'one nation, one poll'

New Delhi: Former Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation chairman and ex-legislator Gone Prakash Rao wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the proposed 'one nation, one election' move on Wednesday.

Rao called out the idea of 'one nation, one poll' and asked "Why the drama of simultaneous elections, Modiji? 

"Instead, why can’t you take steps to reform the anti-defection law first?" he wrote. 

Here's the full letter:

"Respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, 

It is surprising that you are in a rush to hold simultaneous elections’ when the general elections are due in another nine months. Did you really set up a committee headed by former President Mr. Ramnath Kovind with sincerity towards reforms in electoral system, our democratic process? Or, is this another drama to divert public attention from your government’s failures during elections? Such doubts are natural and felt by many in the country. I don’t think you are trying to attract the attention of the people of the country to such a process without knowing that it is not easy to bring crucial constitutional amendments for ‘Jamili elections’ (simultaneous/joint polls) without two-thirds majority in the Parliament and more than half of the state legislatures. BJP is in power in about 15 states in the country. If you are interested in holding such elections, you can dissolve the governments in BJP-ruled states and hold elections in these states with the general elections to be held in April and May 2024. Due to this, joint elections can be held without requiring the support of any single party for the amendments made for the same. You really like elections. If there is any intention to hold then first dissolve the BJP-ruled state governments and go for early elections.

Do you mean to make the Prime Minister and Chief Minister act in such a way that they exercise their power without any hindrance and control for five years in the name of joint elections? Do you mean to dissolve the governments in the states and make them come under the President’s rule and make the central government run without elections? Many such questions arise on this occasion.

And how will you handle the situation if a certain state government collapses without completing its term? Discussions about joint elections have been going on in the country for the past 50 years. They were held in the country till 1967 when the Congress was the only strong political party at the centre and in the states and there was no other party to challenge it. But after that, as the influence of Congress is gradually decreasing, as many regional parties are growing as a formidable political force not only at the national level but also in various states according to the wishes of the local people, and joint elections are now impossible.

We pride ourselves on ‘unity in diversity’ as our strength. There is no other place in the world where India has such contrasts in languages, customs, religious beliefs, food habits, dress etc. It is because of such diversity that we have been able to preserve our original culture that has been under foreign rule for about two thousand years.

I don’t understand your slogans like ‘one country, one tax’, ‘one country, one ration’ and ‘one country, one election’ like in totalitarian systems, to limit such diversity. Simultaneous election aside, you don’t really care about the more urgent matter of strengthening the defection law that makes a mockery of our democratic system. Amend Party Defection Act. If you have any interest and sincerity towards reforms in our political system, I want you to strengthen the party defection law first. This Act has already been amended twice. I respectfully request to save our democratic system from making a mockery of defection by bringing the amendment once again. This Act is becoming useless as no time limit has been fixed for Lok Sabha, Speakers of various State Assemblies, Rajya Sabha and Chairman of Legislative Councils to take appropriate decision on party defections. With that, it is not possible to approach the courts in this matter. It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court, which rejected the attempt to remove Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, expressed hopelessness that they cannot make him the Chief Minister again following Thackeray’s resignation.

We see instances in two Telugu states of party defectors holding ministerial posts without any problems. Speakers are destroying our democratic system by not announcing their decision till the end of MLA’s tenure. Therefore, I would like to bring an amendment to the law so that the presidents must declare a decision on notices related to violations of the Anti-Defection Act within two or three weeks. If the Chairperson does not announce the decision within the specified period, then the courts can be approached. Are frequent elections a financial burden? You say that frequent elections, cause a financial burden and we are not able to undertake development programs.

However, I think your arguments are moot. India is the fifth largest economy in the world today. Soon we are going to become the third largest economy. The annual budget of the central government this year is around Rs 45 lakh crore. Calling election management, a burden to such a large economy raises doubts about your sincerity towards democracy. Moreover, don’t forget that during the conduct of elections, cash is distributed in various ways and many people are employed. Secretly hidden black money also gets distributed. Also, the ‘Election Code’ which is in force during the elections will not in any way hinder the normal administration and government programs. Only the party in power will find it difficult to carry out programs to entice the voters. Therefore, it should be noted that your argument that if elections are held frequently, development programs will be crippled will mislead people.

After showing the performance of your government for the last nine years and losing the courage to ask the people for votes, it gives the impression that you are indulging in such dramas. If you want to strengthen our political system, I want you to amend the party defection law first.

With Warm Regards
Gone Prakash Rao"