SYQ: Wider debate has been happening. They should have debated it in Parliament maybe. 15-16 parties which have opposed are all from the Opposition, and the ones who have supported it are all part of the government. So that is more on political lines. But the merits should be discussed by jurists, political scientists and the media. Serious, organised debate. After all, Parliamentary Committee, Niti Aayog and Law Commission studied it, why did they not recommend that it be implemented? A friend of mine, a BJP leader said that ask the people what they want, it is our convenience that we are looking at. People love frequent elections, because otherwise they are powerless, but for their votes. At least because of that, the neta comes to them repeatedly. How many times have we seen MPs and MLAs going missing? They have to put up wanted posters. Saying gumshuda ki talaash. They never come back otherwise. So people love elections.
In a youth parliament in Pune, a girl from Chhattisgarh made a very interesting remark on the money aspect. I have said that ₹60,000 crore is spent on every election, I think it getting spent is a great thing for India. It is getting transferred from politicians’ coffers to the poor man. They will employ labourers, carpenters, help the economy so why do you want to cut it down? If you do want to cut it down, there is a very easy way for the government. There is a cap on spending in elections for candidates, but none for a political party. As an MP candidate, you cannot spend more than 95 lakh, but your party can spend as much as it wants. What kind of ceiling is this? It is a joke. So put a cap on this, the 60,000 crore will come down.
Source: Barandbench
