ONOE: Arguments Matter, Not Numbers
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-01-24 06:02:18
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
When the government forms a panel to look into some important policy matter and if the panel issues a public notice calling for suggestions from interested individuals and entities, the exercise is not a referendum. It is an exercise to collect the views and arguments for and against the policy matter from the public based on which the panel, after incorporating its own expert opinion, submits its report to the government. In no case can the public opinion collected be treated as a vote on the policy matter and the panel should not, in fact cannot, put much weight solely on what the public thinks either for or against the subject matter on hand. It must go into the arguments put forward by the public, take the best of both that support or reject the policy matter and form its own opinion. It is then expected to submit this opinion to the government.
Hence, the panel formed to look into whether One Nation, One Election (ONOE) can be implemented in India, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, is wrong when it publishes figures that more than 80% of the more than 20000 respondents who have filed submissions before it have voted in favour of having simultaneous elections in the country. The numbers who have favoured the change is not important. It is the quality of arguments that matter. It can be that 16000 respondents have argued for change to ONOE but their arguments are same or similar. In that case, given the context, their submissions will count as just one. On the other hand, there can be 4000 respondents who have given forceful and different arguments against the change. Their opinion will matter more due to the fact that they have argued better.
There are many arguments both for and against having simultaneous elections in India. The panel needs to study all these arguments in depth and then submit its opinion to the government. It does not need to be swayed by the numbers who have argued for it if their arguments are similar. ONOE is a momentous electoral reform and it cannot be rushed.
