Deprived electorates (December 1)

Democracy sometimes act in funny ways and in many cases this noble form of governance takes on a quixotic turn that the very essence and ethos of democracy are thrown to the wind. A tragic twist can be given to such a situation when the powers that be and the Government of the day looks the other way and refuse to do anything to remove the anomaly. The fact that electorates of eight Assembly constituencies are not given the right to contest election but are free to vote stands out like a sore thumb in the form of democracy practiced in the biggest democracy in the world-India. 

These electorates do not have the right to contest the Lok Sabha election as they fall under the Outer Constituency, which is a reserved seat for the Scheduled Tribe. While there is nothing wrong in reserving seats for the tribals it would be complete injustice if a certain section of the electorates are not allowed to contest election. That India which has completed fifty years of democratic rule successfully should closed its eyes to this peculiar situation is hard to digest. 

Understandably the electorates of these constituencies are a peeved lot and they have been demanding, though in vain, through the years that something is done to correct the flaw. If the Government is willing to listen to the woes of these people, then the peculiar situation can be dealt with a little political willingness.

As parliament has already frozen delimitation of Parliamentary seats till 2026, the best way to assuage the hurt sentiments of these electorates would be to transfer them to the Inner Parliamentary Constituency and restore them the fundamental rights to contest elections as citizen of the country. Even the State Assembly could have done something to minimize the hurt and angst of these electorates. A prominent member from one of the eight constituencies could have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha where the voice of these deprived electorates could be highlighted effectively. 

On hindsight this may be asking for too much as democracy is the least interesting factor in the minds of our political leadership. This is what is galling. Successive Governments here have failed to address the peculiar situation faced by the electorates of the eight constituencies and we cannot help but wonder what the elected representatives from these eight constituencies have been doing all these years. 

Surely something as ridiculous as granting the electorates the right to vote but barring them from contesting the election should have grabbed the attention of the Government long back. That it still has not woken up to this is ample proof of how far the political leadership of the country is ready to implement the noble principles of democracy and involve each and every single citizen in the process of Government formation. India may pride herself as the biggest democracy in the world but ridiculous situations like this color the democracy practiced here in a farcical paint.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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