Page 81 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Democracy Marches Ahead Chapter 3

CEC S.P. Sen-Varma addressing Chief Election Officers in New Delhi, 1969
Mid-Term elec ons to Haryana Legisla ve Assembly was conveyance at the cost of the candidate, should be
held in May, 1968; and those to the legisla ve tolerated under any pretext” (Representa ve Government
assemblies in Punjab, U ar Pradesh, Bihar and West Chapter X). The reduc on in distance to polling sta ons led
Bengal, Nagaland and Pondicherry (now Puducherry) to decrease in voters' dependence on conveyances
were held in February, 1969. They affected one-third of arranged by the candidates.
India's electorate. However, the mid-term polls also
afforded the Elec on Commission of India an The increased frequency with which the Centre imposed
President's Rule on various states under Ar cle 356 of
opportunity to try a number of innova ons.
the Cons tu on, mid-1960s onwards completely
A “Minimum Code of Conduct” for poli cal par es was disrupted the synchrony of elec ons. Individual states
issued for the first me under the signature of the Chief emerged from the President's rule at different points of
Elec on Commissioner on September 26, 1968. The me to face new elec ons. While the term of the Fi h
distance between two polling sta ons was reduced from Lok Sabha (1971-77) was extended during the
three miles (4.8 km) to two miles (3.6 km). The Chief Emergency (1975-77), the Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh and
Elec on Commissioner took a leaf out of John Stuart Mill's Twel h Lok Sabhas faced premature dissolu on.
observa ons, “the polling places should be so numerous as The concord between the terms of central and state
to be within easy reach of every voter; and no expenses of legislatures was irretrievably lost.

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