Battle on the streets over Vote-chori | Radhakanta Barik

The struggle for universal adult franchise is a continuous activity in modern politics. American President Washington turned into President with ten per cent of white people having the right to vote. They were rich, and no tenant farmer was allowed, no black labour, no white woman or black women. Only ten per cent of white males had the right to election in the early phase of American Independence. The struggle continued for two hundred years to enact universal adult franchise in America. Women and slaves got the right to vote.

Here in India, the same situation prevailed in the Government of India Act 1935 [1], under the law of election was restrictive to landed families and income tax payers. Only those property owners paying a certain amount of tax to the state had the right. In a village of two hundred houses which I studied only 12 families, were allowed to vote. It is about only 6 per cent who were allowed to vote. During the national movement in Karachi Congress resolution was passed by Gandhi, Nehru, and Other national leaders, demanding universal adult franchise. Charles Beard wrote a classic on the American Constitution, stating that only the rich could interpret the text. Another Indian classic was written by Prof S K Chaube on the Indian Constitution found that although it started as a restrictive text, but work of the Constituent Assembly made it a progressive text where the poor could articulate their demands.

A parliamentary democracy believes in the rule of law. The speaker and chairman are working as umpires in a discussion and dialogue. This is the essence of legislative work. With debate and discussion leading to law-making. The SIR [Special Intensive Revision] is a major event planned and executed by the Election Commission of India, which is a public institution. The opposition parties wanted to hold a discussion over the working of the SIR, but were not allowed by the Speaker, who created a bad precedent as if geared towards disenfranchisement, as the implementation of the SIR is going to affect millions of people. Election Commission for the first time is going to create a list of voters on the basis of 11 items, which was not a practice earlier. Anything new needs to be debated, but it was not allowed.
This forced the opposition parties to go to the streets of Bihar, and a campaign is going on against Modi. He has been branded as a thief of people