As part of IR MUN, the All India Political Parties Meet was organised which was an event for that promoted unrestricted political debate, discussion and deliberation, free from the legislative functions of the parliament.
DAY 1
There were a number of motions set on the floor, however day 1 involved most party representatives discussing their agendas and conceptualizing their ideas of ‘one nation, one election’. The maximum participation was seen from regional parties like- RSP,AIMIM, Marxist Forward Block Party, AAP, TDP, SAD, AITC, SP and MNS. National party INC had the maximum contribution in both private and public sessions. The major concern expressed by the regional parties involved - the disrespect of the spirit of democracy by the government by undertaking the decision, the breaking down of the federal structure and one of the most important concerns over national interest taking over regional issues that need addressing.
While most regional opposition parties focused on the governmental propaganda of side lining southern states, AIMIM very strongly verbalized opposition against a Hindutva led India. Another important concern raised during the public and private session was the issue of dissolution of the parliament and the future of elections in such cases. CPI(M) tremendously spoke of the governmental agenda of propagating one nation, one vote, one party.
Motions raised in the first session focused primarily on the issues concerning the elections -
l DMK - disadvantages to simultaneous elections
l AAP - violation of MCC
l AIMIM - legality of the simultaneous elections
l INC - law commission report of electoral reforms
Most of the motions thus heavily focused on discussing the problems around the election, however the discussion was slow to take place. As advised by the EB,the participants took an informal round of half an hour, to come to a concencous of the terms they’d liked t be discussed for the second session. The terms of discussion were then taken up as follows - election commission reforms, MCC, legal reforms and government expenditure.
This led to en extremely effective private discussion, however not much of reforms came across from the participants. The EB, then declared an emergency in Delhi and suggested a round Robin. In the rounds, a majority of the opposition accused the government of taking over the nation and ruling with their ideologies. This promoted an effective discussion of election methods, machines used for elections, constitutional amends and the motion for the involvement of women in the parliament.
Thus the first day ended with the participants coming across with solutions for women representations in parties, identifying underlying problems with the election mechanisms of the machines and discussing the moral code of conduct during the elections.
DAY 2
The second day involved the participants fully prepared with amendments discussing the previous issues. However one of the major motions that was further propagated even by the government, was the motion of voting systems for immigrants, disabled and the old. This gained the largest momentum and saw maximum participation. Another motion dealt with was the methods of the election, the opposition suggesting Ballot system revival while the government proving their case with EVMs and their reforms.
Conclusion
The sessions saw a great take on the concept of democracy where discussion was promoted. The EB did an extreme fair job, helping participants develop better solutions and expanding their purview to addressing issues of gender, ethics and media during elections.
The meet ended with the INC’s amendment on the ‘one nation, one election’ scheme focusing on election commission reforms and addressing of regional issues, that received approval from the parliament.
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