Over the past 3 days , we watched a “ tamaashaa “ being
played out in Karnataka
Neither BJP , nor Congress , nor JDS had a clear
mandate from the people ( meaning a simple majority as far as the number of
seats won is considered )
And this kind of fractured ( ? ) vote is more of a “
norm “ than an aberration , whether it is a State election or the National
election, since voters have a fundamental right to support and vote for those
candidates who, they believe will represent their concerns
This is natural when different parties having different
agendas , which appeal to different sections of the society , contest elections
Just because a party got very few seats ( even just 5 %
of the house ) , does not mean that the voice and concerns of those voters who
voted for that party can be totally ignored / bulldozed !
Unfortunately , this is exactly what is happening ,
again and again !
Under our current system, the Governor invites,
* the party with
simple majority of seats won, or
* parties with “
Pre-poll Alliance “ , failing which,
* parties which have
formed a “ Post – poll Alliance “
Why is the post-poll alliance , “ unfortunate “ ?
Because it leads to horse-trading / purchasing members
with money or promises of minister-ship / flouting Anti Defection Law etc
MY SUGGESTION :
In the next few weeks , the Supreme Court is expected
to hear the petition ( from Congress + JDS + Ram Jethmalani ), to decide
whether Karnataka Governor was right or wrong in his action
But , it would be highly desirable that the Supreme
Court lays down a simple protocol to be followed in future , whenever such a
situation arises in future ( although, I believe , some guide-lines do exist ,
albeit , not absolutely clear )
For the reasons mentioned above , I strongly feel such
a protocol should NOT at all include POST –POLL alliance , as an option
It should be as per following priority :
* “ Pre Poll alliance “ if the combined seats won by
the alliance exceed simple majority,
with provision for a Vote of Confidence,
within a week
* If there is no
“ Pre Poll alliance having simple majority “ , then the party with the
largest number of seats won , should be
invited for forming the government
In such an
event , there will be no need for a Vote of Confidence by that party to
prove its majority on the floor of the house
Even though I consider this suggestion as “ far less than the IDEAL “
, its merits are as follows ,
* No scope of “
Opportunism “ by forming a “ Post Poll Alliance “ by warring parties
* No scope for
horse-trading
* Likely
acceptance by all parties concerned
* No scope for
the Governor to play favourites, by strictly defining his role
* Quick formation
of a STABLE government in a transparent manner
In case you want to know
what could be that IDEAL solution , read the
following ( without expecting such a miracle to happen any time soon ! ) :
Why
can’t we institutionalize Coalition ?
https://myblogepage.blogspot.in/2017/09/why-cant-we-institutionalize-coalition.html
20 May 2018
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
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Agree with your recommendations - completely
If the Supreme Court lays down the "law", as per
your recommendations, then it will be implicitly ruling against the Cong-JDS
alliance for all future scenarios - if it does do that, it will take a lot of
steam out of the INC-JDS victory -
Surjit
Sun 20-05-2018 13:12
Surjit Bhalla <ssbhalla@gmail.com>
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Better first step is to implement similar thing as in UK. . Which I think is that the largest party or largest pre-poll alliance is given 10% grace marks (read seats) to reach the magic mark.
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