Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan strongly opposed the idea of ‘one nation, one election’, calling it as “ridiculous and unconstitutional”, and said holding simultaneous polls was impractical in a parliamentary democracy. He also hailed the recent apex court judgements that gave a stay on lawsuits about reclaiming religious places, especially mosques, and ‘bulldozer justice’.
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NEW DELHI: Senior advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan expressed strong opposition to the idea of ‘one nation, one election,’ calling it “ridiculous and unconstitutional.”
He stated that holding simultaneous elections in a parliamentary democracy is impractical.
He shared these views during his speech at the Parwana Oration 2024, organized by the Comrade H.L. Parwana Memorial Trust, on the theme of “Whither Economic Democracy in India.”
Speaking to reporters after his address, Bhushan criticized the concept of simultaneous elections in a parliamentary system. He said,
“It is ridiculous and unconstitutional because one cannot have simultaneous polls in parliamentary democracy for the reason that the government depends on enjoying the confidence of the majority in the House.”
Bhushan explained that if a ruling government loses its majority due to defections or internal splits, fresh elections are necessary. He added,
“If there is a split in the party or if some people defect, then the government can fall and if the government falls and no other government can be formed, then what will you do? Either you impose President’s rule for the remaining term and if the central government falls, what do you do? You cannot impose President’s rule there. Therefore, you will have to have fresh elections; otherwise, it is against democracy.”
He also criticized the proposed mechanism of holding elections only for the remaining term, describing it as impractical and flawed.
“Now, they are saying that fresh elections will be only for the remainder of the term. So how is that helping? You are now increasing the number of elections because now you are holding elections only for the remaining two years if, say, two years are left. This is totally bogus…There is no way this is practical and in my view this is totally unconstitutional,”
-he emphasized.
Bhushan praised recent Supreme Court rulings that aim to uphold the rule of law and protect religious sites. The apex court stayed lawsuits related to reclaiming religious places, particularly mosques, and passed a judgment against ‘bulldozer justice.’
Equating ‘bulldozer justice’ with lawlessness, Bhushan quoted the Supreme Court’s ruling:
“No property should be demolished without a prior show cause notice and the affected must be given 15 days to respond.”
Referring to the stay on lawsuits concerning mosques and temples, Bhushan remarked,
“We have seen that a few good things happened in the Supreme Court. One is the stay on all these suits about mosques being taken over for temples or being investigated as to whether there are temples below that or not.”
He further commented,
“They (SC) have said that for the time being, these suits will not proceed. This is a very important development that has taken place.”
On ‘bulldozer justice,’ he highlighted,
“They have passed a very good judgement effectively putting a stay on it. They have also passed many judgements regarding the misuse of powers of the Enforcement Directorate.”
Bhushan accused the Enforcement Directorate of misusing its powers to target opposition leaders, journalists, and activists. He stated,
“ED has become the main instrument of harassing opposition leaders or activists, journalists, etc., wherein anything can be said to be money laundering and therefore ED gets into anything, whatsoever.”
He welcomed recent judgments that curbed the ED’s powers and ensured accountability.
“Fortunately, in the recent last few months, there have been a number of judgements which have put brakes on the power of the ED,”
-he noted.
Bhushan opposed the Finance Minister’s proposal to impose an 18% GST on the margin value of used car sales.
“I don’t know whether she misunderstood what the scheme is, and if this is the scheme it will have to go. It will also be struck down in the court,”
-he said.
On Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ statement that urban Naxal organizations supported the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Bhushan dismissed the claim.
“That is all absolutely bunk. I mean they call any dissenter urban Naxalite,”
-he said.
During his speech, Bhushan stressed the growing gap between economic and political democracy. He highlighted the alarming rise in wealth inequality in India.
“Economic inequality has increased so much that 10 to 20 families of this country own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of people of this country together,”
-he claimed.
Bhushan emphasized the need for progressive taxation and wealth tax to reduce inequality.
“We say that we have political democracy, but is the system in the country run by the opinion of the people?”
-he questioned.
He proposed measures like higher personal income tax, progressive wealth tax, and inheritance tax.
“Maximum personal income tax in India is around 35 percent, which is less than most of the other countries that are regarded as capitalist countries,”
-he observed.
Bhushan called for corporate tax reforms and urged the government to ensure basic necessities like food, education, healthcare, and shelter for all.
“The government should ensure that a person lives a dignified life with basic food, education, healthcare, and shelter,”
-he concluded.
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