India's Vote Revolution and Election Commission

Numerous political analysts in India believe that the voting revolution that occurred during the country's freedom movement has not been adequately assessed since independence. As a result, the political freedom and equality granted to the Indian populace have also not been properly evaluated. The right to vote, given to all Indians without discrimination, was a peaceful revolution that erased the distinction between royalty and commoners. It empowered every impoverished individual with sovereignty in independent India, as their vote held the same weight as that of a king. This enabled them to shape the destiny of the nation and their own future. With the power of their vote, they could establish or dismantle governments. Every five years, they exercised this right to elect a government of their choice, which was accountable to them.

This was the idea of ​​Mahatma Gandhi because he wanted to root out the feeling of slavery from the minds of Indians. But the people of India fought hard to get this right and our older generations endured the tortures of British jails and even faced lathi-charge and bullets. The British thought that a country like India, which is a collection of different ethnic groups, classes and communities, did not have the courage to write its own constitution. Mahatma Gandhi accepted their challenge and in 1928, a constitution writing committee was formed under the leadership of late Moti Lal Nehru in which an attempt was made to include almost all the recognized groups of India at that time. But Jinnah's Muslim League opposed it and did not join it, although many Muslim leaders joined it in their individual capacity.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose were among the members of this committee. The report given by the committee was an eye-opener for the British. The committee first described India as a country with a federal structure, against the concept of the British, in which various provisions were made to establish coordination between the states and the center. The list of rights of the states and the central government was divided and above all, it recommended giving the right to one vote to every adult citizen of India without any discrimination.

The matter of giving fundamental rights to the citizens was mentioned in its report. After this, in 1931, a convention of the Congress Party was held in Karachi, which was presided over by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. In this convention, a resolution was passed that fundamental rights will be given to the citizens and elections in independent India will be held on the basis of adult franchise. In fact, this was such a lion's roar that even the then British Parliament was shaken by its sound. In its House of Lords in 1932, two British scholars said that India has decided to jump into a blind well about which no one knows what is in it. Mahatma Gandhi responded to this by saying that the people of India may be illiterate and poor but they are not fools because their practical life is full of common sense. This prediction of Gandhi proved to be timeless because in the election history of independent India we see that in every election the people of India showed maturity and gave India stable and far-sighted governments. Of course, there was an atmosphere of political instability for some time but it could not last for long.

Another characteristic of India is that the credibility of political leadership has never been in danger. Even if it was questioned for some time, people have succeeded in resolving it with their political cleverness. All this happened only on the basis of the right of one vote given to the people of India. But currently, there is a debate in India about this right of one vote and the Election Commission remains at the center of the controversy. The Election Commission was formed in India only so that the right of people to one vote remains intact, but the Election Commission does this work only through the voter list and at present there are reports that the Election Commission wants to do a thorough revision of the voter list in the entire country. Recently, it had run a similar campaign in Bihar which was very controversial. The main reason for the controversy was that the Election Commission was trying to check the citizenship of the voters, which is beyond its jurisdiction.

Since India is a country governed by the Constitution and the Constitution says that only the Home Ministry has the right to identify the citizenship of the voter or any Indian. The main job of the Election Commission is to see that the name of the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich is also registered in the voter list. For this, it can ask the voter for his identity but cannot question his Indianness because any adult citizen can become a voter only when he swears before the Election Commission that he is a legitimate citizen of India. It is the job of the state to challenge his citizenship.

For the identification of citizens in Bihar, the Supreme Court ordered that their Aadhar card should be considered a strong proof and on the basis of that, their residence should be ascertained. It is not that this order of the Supreme Court will remain limited to Bihar only because in the eyes of the Constitution, the rights of citizens of every state are the same. Therefore, if the Election Commission is preparing to conduct an intensive revision of the voter list at the national level, then it will have to be ready to consider Aadhar card as an identity. The Election Commission will also have to consider that Mahatma Gandhi had started a revolution in enslaved India to give the right of one vote to the citizens of India. It is also the duty of the Election Commission to try to take away the right to vote from any Indian only when all the evidence speaks in its favour. Because in independent India, the Election Commission has been made the guardian of the right of citizens to one vote. This right is also very sacred because on this basis governments are formed in India. Mahatma Gandhi used to emphasize a lot on the sanctity of means and ends. The Election Commission will also have to keep this principle in mind.