AA Edit | President Murmu Highlights Constitution’s Legacy Amidst Challenges
President Droupadi Murmu’s message to the nation on the Republic Day was justifiably imbued with a sense of pride in that the Constitution has sustained this country and the country, too, in its turn, sustained the Constitution for 75 years. The President also noted the all-round progress the young republic has made in this span of time. However, she chose to ignore some of the big challenges that the ideals on which the Constitution and the country have been founded, including democracy, federalism, diversity and secularism, have been facing.
The President rightly pointed out that the Constitution has guided the path of our progress in the last 75 years. It is welcome that she reiterated the fact that “at the time of Independence, many parts of the country faced extreme poverty and hunger. However, we maintained a belief in ourselves and created conditions for growth”. It is now for the people to build on it.
The President’s push for the bill, now before Parliament, seeking to introduce simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, however, sounded a jarring note. She listed the advantages the proposed reforms would bring, such as promoting consistency in governance, preventing policy paralysis, mitigating resource diversion and alleviating financial burdens on the state. True, each of these goals merits discussion and we, as a nation, should think of how to make them happen, but all that should take place in the realm of administrative reform.
To prescribe a “one nation-one election” pill in a parliamentary system of governance would be like missing the woods for the trees. The ideals of democracy and the respect for people’s choices in a democracy cannot be sacrificed at the altar of administrative expediency. If India chooses to do so, it would be nothing short of writing the prescription for a totalitarian government. It may be remembered that the President entered her office with a vow to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” and she must defend its foundational ideals as well.