Elections in Goa were held on February 4 and counting of votes has been scheduled for the March 11. This delay of 5 weeks between the election and the counting day is unprecedented in the election history of Goa. Both the voters and candidates feel that this long period of delay is causing anxiety and irritation to everyone in Goa. They wonder what could have happened if counting was taken up soon after the election was over. How could the outcome of a tiny state influence the election performance of much bigger state like UP?
In this era of IT and advanced technology at the disposal of our nation, it is surprising that Goans have to wait so long, when even complex tasks are happening in seconds and not in hours.
Of course these dates have been fixed by the Election Commission of India with the best intentions in their minds for the sake of the law and order situations and to provide maximum security and arguably level playing field to the voters as well as to the candidates contesting the elections.
Now imagine what would happen if elections were to be held simultaneously in all the states of India, as being contemplated by the present central government. It probably could take several weeks to complete the voting process and months before the counting of votes is taken up and results are known.
Besides the prevalence of code of conduct in the states, the governments will not be able to take important decisions related to welfare of its citizens.
All this doesn’t speak well about the overall political and security situation in India, since free and fair elections cannot be ensured and held without the intervention of thousands of strong armed security personnel. Moving this huge number of trained army personnel from state to state and to different areas within very big states can be challenging.
So it is important for both the central and state governments along with ECI officials to examine the state of health of law and order situation and identify the factors and circumstances that are responsible for poor safety and security in many states and take appropriate and effective measures to improve the law and order parameters.
