Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Vice President (VP) of India M Venkaiah Naidu on September 15, 2017, said that a national effort is needed to further strengthening country’s democratic foundations. He was addressing a gathering after releasing the Book ‘Loktantra ke utsav ki ankahi kahani’ authored by Dr S Y Quraishi, here. Chief Election Commissioner A K Joti and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
The Vice President underscrored the need for people to vote for candidates based on the four positive Cs – ‘Character, Calibre, Capacity and Conduct’ not on the basis of three negative Cs – ‘Caste, Community and Cash’. He further said that there should be a debate on electoral reforms that can transform India into a more vibrant democracy. We must make our political democracy a social democracy, he added, according to a PIB release.
” Elections are the touchstone for a democracy. The regularity and the fairness of elections is an indication of the health of any democracy. Elections are an expression of individual freedom and potentially give each Indian a sense of participation in the governance of the country,” said VP Naidu., according to the PIB release.
Naidu also said, ” I feel the time has come to take a serious look at the possibility of conducting simultaneous elections for the parliament and various Assemblies. The current practice of conducting elections in one state or the other at different times tends to focus the attention of the country away from development and slows down progress.”