MyVoice: Views of our readers 25th September 2022

Time for total revamp of electoral system

As a retired Telugu journalist, I beg to submit that it is high time for the Election Commission of India to take measures to streamline the electoral system in the country. After 75 years of independence, we find people with dubious and criminal past occupying entering legislatures. As a result, public confidence in our electoral system is eroding by the day. Because of this, people with respectable record and honest motives are getting reluctant to enter public life.

Having witnessed the political tamasha for over four decades from the ring side, I wish to submit a few suggestions for the kind attention of ECI.

Elections to Parliament and state legislatures must be limited to recognised political parties to contest, instead of individual candidates. That means, only symbols and names of political parties will be displayed on EVMs/ballot papers and not the names of candidates. Instead of the present constituency, a district is to be taken as a unit, for the purpose of elections. Each political party in the fray should be directed to submit a list of probable candidates (equivalent to constituencies in the district) district-wise - in advance to the ECI.

As per the election result, every political party will be allotted seats in the house, as per the proportion of vote share of that party For example, a district has 10 assembly seats. A political party which polls 25% of votes in the polling, will be allotted 25% of the 10 seats in the assembly. ECI will nominate 25% of members from the list, earlier submitted by that political party to it. That means 2 seats to that particular party and. 25% adds to another party which has 0.75% surplus votes.

The members' tenure will be for the term of the house and they will have to be with the political party that nominated them to the house. No defection is possible, as they are representing the political party, nominated them to the legislature. Hence; no need of anti-defection laws, which have now have become a mockery.

A government, even with by a 3 or 4 members majority will survive full term in this procedure, as a defecting member loses his/her membership then and there, if he or she defects. By discontinuing the system of individual candidates from contesting elections; all sorts of malpractices such as bribing voters with money, liquor, gifts, rigging, booth capturing etc., can be eliminated from the process. There will be no place for independents to contest in the elections to legislative bodies.

From the point of ECI also, a huge burden of allocating security forces and moving them from one corner to another corner of the country will be reduced to minimum. Also, deployment of a huge contingent of IAS/IPS personnel etc., is not needed to be deployed as observers, as there won't be any significant malpractices.

Should a seat fall vacant from a political party, a member from the earlier list submitted by the party will be nominated by ECI to fill the vacancy. There ends the matter. Political parties, instead of candidates, contesting elections is in place in Netherlands. Under this system, parties are bound to nominate people with less criminal history and more clean and educated people, to win a positive public perception.

- BV Rayudu, Hyderabad

Stop worrying too much

A very common and worrisome problem in the universe is tension or mental stress. Tension robs us of our peace of mind and kills self-confidence. Tension literally weaken us. If it continues for too long, the mind and body can fall ill, it can even destroy our life .Tension eats away both body and mind and like virus it spreads to those who associated with us.

There are people who without any reason start thinking that their future is filled with doom. For instance, the pressure is such that if the child delayed coming home from the school, mother will start thinking… Is the child safe? Has his bus or auto got into an accident? She carries pressure until the child returns safe home! A wife doubts if her husband turns up late home. She broods whether he went out for drinks with his friends or fears as his family has the medical record of chest pains, he could have suffered heart attack. The same way the husband doubts about his working wife, if she fails to turn up home on time, he starts thinking unreasonably. Later they realise that all their fear was over nothing. Most people have had moments like this. Even when we have real problems, worrying about them is not going to solve them. It just makes a problem the size of a mole seems a mountain.

Tension comes when we abuse our power of imagination. It is like riding the cycle backwards which is in practice not possible, we simply lament over this. Just by sprinkling water in to boiling milk to prevent overflowing may help for some time but the real solution is to turn off the stove. Similarly, we can only really solve our problems if we act understanding their real cause. For instance, if we give a toy to the child who is crying from hunger, he may stop crying for a short while, but after some time, he will throw the toy away and resume crying, to make the child stop crying, we have to feed the kid.

God has given all of us the ability to assess (discretionary power) each situation and solve our problems. But today we are using our power of imagination to create nonexistent problems and worry about them. If we maintain presence of mind and self confidence and apply reason, we can effortlessly solve our mostly imaginative or even real problems. Brain is the originator of all feelings, do not act with conditioned brains. Keep your brain calm and be positive in attitude; then our life will be a blessing or else it may turn out to be a curse if you brood too much about unpredictable future and non-rewound past. Remember the golden adage. 'Discretion is the better part of valour.'

- Rama Krishna M, Kakinada.

The moment of awakening

Of late I was making lots of mistakes. Each time I made a mistake, I found myself enveloped with negative criticisms and negative affirmations getting repeated at a faster uncontrolled speed. It resulted in feeling sad with a very very low state of mind.

Days were passing. I found myself helpless and hopeless. I became sensitive to small comments from people. I got disinterested in life and didn't enjoy it to the fullest. I started to cut off from my friends. Confusion was increasing day by day. Black clouds of internal pain engulfed me. I was focused on blaming myself all the time. It went on for a month or so. Then suddenly one fine day I got aware of the pattern of negative thoughts popping up. Every time I spoke negatively to myself – I used to get aware of what was happening inside. It went on for a couple of days. I continued writing down all these negative thoughts in my diary. A big change started to happen inside. Now the speed of negative self-talk was automatically changing from being too fast to slowing down with ease. A point came when it started to cease.

That was the "moment of awakening" when I realized those were the thoughts spoken to me by my family members, relatives, friends and colleagues from my childhood days until a time I worked in a company for a decade. Since I trusted them and not being honest enough to ask them why they said so - it started to get accumulated in my subconscious mind. The unbearable pain got suppressed. Now after four decades it emerged making me restless. The moment this deep realization touched my soul I found myself liberated from the negative self-talk. I got connected with my original self. I finally accepted that I too can make mistakes so that I can learn and grow. If I am not making any mistakes I am not growing. I learned to be kind towards myself thereby creating lots of space to found a new ME and move on.

- Priti Dhopte, Nagpur

An acid test for Congress party

The Bharat Jodo Yatra is in fact the last weapon in Congress party's armoury. The Yatra set out from Kanyakumari is expected to last for 150 days to cover 12 States across the nation. It is mainly set to inspire/influence people all along despite political motives

associated with the movement. It is need of the hour for Congress to send a message that the party has still power to come above its successive failures. Also it is necessary to ensure that the Congress can alone face off against Narendra Modi in the next elections without involving regional parties. There are no prominent leaders in Congress and hence Rahul was entrusted with the responsibility of leading Jodo Yatra. There has been a new spurt in enthusiasm among the party cadre after Rahul accepted the challenge.

Political Yatras in the country have not been uncommon, as such exercises are meant for mingling with people. The Jodo Yatra has become relevant only because of leadership undertaken by Rahul who is held accountable for the lapses as well as the objectives of the same.

After 2014, Congress has weakened and has faced successive defeats and the party is now in rule only in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and it has been replaced by the regional parties in the rest of the States wherever it was in power. The party system has collapsed in

states it got defeated. The leaders who left the party have adorned CM posts in their respective States. But for the Jodo yatra, Rahul Gandhi would not have visited so many states as he has begun to walk through.

Congress has categorically declared that its fight against BJP is against its ideology. It is an acid test for the party in the ultimate. It should focus and gear up for elections to be held at the end of the current year. All in all, it remains to be seen whether the scion of Gandhi family, Rahul would emerge out as a real national leader, following the end effect to be unleashed by the current Yatra.

- Bh Indu Sekhar, Hyderabad

Elders will be left high & dry if banks go under

It has been happening for a long time. The functioning of cooperative banks is not that good and many are collapsing, plunging its depositors in crisis. The Union government or Reserve Bank has not taken any concrete step to improve their functioning.

When a bank fails, its depositors are hit hard and of them senior citizens are the worst losers as they deposit their terminal benefits too along with their savings.

Whenever a bank collapses, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation pays to the extent of maximum cover that is raised to Rs 5 lakh from the earlier Rs 1 lakh. Actual deposit minus the insurance cover is the loss incurred by the depositor.

It is a considerable loss, especially for seniors, at the fag-end of their lives. I suggest to the Union government to stop giving licences for opening any more new cooperative banks, in view of the past experience.

Just as we get full value of an insured vehicle, depositors must be paid the amount for which insurance is paid. The fee for insuring the deposits is paid by the banks. When Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank was in trouble, 5 depositors died out of shock, following restrictions imposed on withdrawing their money. There was no regret by the bank or RBI or Finance Minister or Prime Minister, to my knowledge.

If there is such uncertainty about their money, depositors would be compelled to start investing elsewhere. They often suffer losses, if they turn toward stocks or other financial instruments. As such, the government should appoint an ombudsman to take care of the interests of senior citizens who are affected by the banking sector crises.

- K Lakshman Rao, Visakhapatnam

Congress chief election proving to be sham

V Ramu Sharma's write-up on Congress party's game plan in a bid to turn the fortunes of the party in the coming assembly and national polls after been reduced to a fringe player made an interesting read. In fact from the start of Bharat Jodo yatra undertaken by Congress, several state Congress committees are passing resolutions, urging Rahul Gandhi to take over as the chief of the party even before the filing of nominations to elect a new party president. It gave clear indications that the whole exercise is to only get a non-Gandhi elected at the helm of affairs of the party by hook or crook. Thus as this defeats the core of internal democracy, it is sad that no real corrective measures taken to rectify the defect. Therefore, the party claiming to show to the world that it strongly believes in internal democracy is totally absurd and a sham when the fact remains that party's ingrained feudal nature of strengthening the regressive concepts of dynastic rule has always taken precedence. Moreover, after certain PCC leaders have openly come out that they would consult Sonia Gandhi in case of election proves a point that election is only an eyewash.

However as the battle has just begun, one is certain to witness internal squabbles once the new congress chief takes over. Therefore, it needs to be seen how Congress faces the challenge and works to its advantage to gain supremacy over other parties in the changed circumstances is a million dollar question? Obviously, the task is herculean due to the fact that there are other keen contenders for the post of prime minister. Anyway, a puppet congress chief in all probability will take over at a difficult time ahead of crucial assembly and lok sabha polls, it gives rise to doubts whether will he be able to really rejuvenate and enthuse party workers because the path ahead is not a bed of roses for he has to come out with convincing answers to a volley of questions put forth by its members and other parties. All in all, looking back, the UPA rule was not only a tale of wasted opportunities but too many compromises made have only dented its image, therefore lack of clarity in strategy and vision despite the Yatra and a non-Gandhi party chief may not help the congress regain its lost glory.

- K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

II

The last paragraph of Ramu Sarma's article rightly sums up the whole political scenario that may emerge in 2024. All said and done, Modi is safe as of now and he has no threat unless there are fissures within his party in an implosive manner. What should not be missed is that Rahul has come of age though one has to see how his Bharat Jodo Yatra (presently getting good response) will turn out to be as a vote catcher. Otherwise, it will be a futile exercise though he gets the benefit of understanding India in a better manner.

- D Nagarjuna, Hydarabad

Stop Dragon's severe oppression of Uyghurs

The September 17 editorial dwelling on the cruel and shabby treatment meted out by China to the Muslims of Uyghur. It not only banned certain practices followed by Muslims connected with their faith but also placed unreasonable restrictions on their movements in their own homeland.As a result, theyare forced to live in fear. Not ending at that, a turmoil is caused by home-grown insurgents, Han Chinese, on the Muslims in Uighur by damaging and destroying properties,slaying all those who try to intervene and stop destruction.

In this context, despite a call by Uyghur Muslim leaders living in exile highlighting and appealing to the world to intervene and end genocide caused by China in their homeland, the response has been lukewarm. In fact the Islamic world turning a blind eye to several vociferous appeals for help by Uyghur Muslims in exile so far is not only shocking but also reveals that that they do not want to rub shoulders with China in this matter, thereby making a mockery to contribute to building a peaceful world. In this context, India is justifiably correct in sending a strong message to China that it cannot get away by committing human excesses in Uyghur and covet others lands as their own.

Also, whenever this issue of genocide of Muslims in China is broached, it is shameful Pakistan feigns ignorance and diverts its attention. Since the matter is serious, time has come for the world to unite and take up the issue before Chinese President XI Jinping and tell him in firm and strong terms that it cannot flex its muscles by committing human excesses and atrocities in its backyard and get away while expecting other nations to keep silent over its misdeeds that is causing a great concern for human race especially the survival of Uyghur Muslims in their homeland. It is only then, it is hoped, Beijing will learn its lessons and halt genocide in the interest of world peace and brotherhood

- K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad