Is it right to declare PM and CM face before election?

Following the action taken by the Parliamentary or Legislative Party to elect its leader, the name of the person who will serve as Prime Minister or Chief Minister of the nation or of the state is made public.

Ankit Awasthi
Published on: 11 Feb 2022 10:49 AM GMT
Election
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New Delhi: According to the Indian Constitution, any person who is elected as the leader of a parliamentary party after an election by the members of that party's parliamentary majority is nominated by the President of the country to be the Prime Minister of the country. It makes no difference whether he is a Member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha or not. He is required to become a member of either House of Commons or the Senate within six months if the Prime Minister-designate is not already a member of either.

A similar process takes place in state legislative assemblies where the leader of the Legislative Party chosen by the majority party is nominated as Chief Minister by the Governor, who then advises that he create his own Cabinet from among those nominated. In this case as well, a person does not have to be a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council at the time of his nomination as chief minister, but he is needed to become a member of the Legislative Assembly/Council within six months of assuming office as chief minister. In this constitutional structure, one thing is very clear: following an election, members of the majority party of the elected Lok Sabha or Assembly are chosen to serve as Prime Minister or Chief Minister, respectively.

Following the action taken by the Parliamentary or Legislative Party to elect its leader, the name of the person who will serve as Prime Minister or Chief Minister of the nation or of the state is made public.

In recent years, it has been observed that the majority of political parties join the race by providing the public with a photograph of their chosen Prime Minister or Chief Minister before the elections. In addition, it has been observed that when a person loses an election to the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly, the party, taking into consideration the political stature of the defeated leader or realizing his utility, elevates him to the position of Member of the House through either the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council and appoints him to important positions in the Cabinet.

Simply put, it indicates that the party is attempting to impose its leader on the people despite the fact that the people have rejected the leader's leadership. Inclusion of what the voters rejected and defeated in the Cabinet is up for debate as to whether or not it is a disrespect to their views.

In a similar vein, certain renowned leaders from other political parties are seen running in two distinct seats. All of this is being done solely for the goal of ensuring that they get elected at all costs without taking any risks. Now, if they have won an election in one region but lost an election in another, that is OK. After winning both seats, he may continue to serve as an MP or MLA from either of the two winning seats, while being forced to retire from the winning seat in the other race.

That is, a person cannot be elected to the House of Representatives if he or she is elected to two seats at the same time. Only after that will he be required to resign from one of his seats. In addition, the Election Commission must convene a special election to fill the vacancy in that seat within six months. Obviously, the costs of the by-election to fill the vacancy in that seat will have to be covered by the general people via their own tax money. After all, what exactly is the public's responsibility in this exercise for which they are being forced to pay?

It is possible that such handy attempts by politicians are not done in the name of constitutional systems, but from a moral standpoint, they do not seem to be rational. In fact, it is becoming so prevalent that if a party does not disclose the name of its candidate for the POST of PM-CM before the elections, its opponents cite this as a sign of the party's inability to compete in this election. As long as they can convince people that such a party does not have a popular face, they will not be able to proclaim their claimed promise after the election. Let's see what people will think about the face value while voting.

Ankit Awasthi

Ankit Awasthi

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