MCC needs to be reviewed
Keeping in view the chaos and confusion that has been caused in conducting the general elections and the controversial role of the Election Commission of India which from the common man's point of view has failed in conducting the elections in a smooth manner, the first thing all major political parties should do after the elections are over is to correct all the anomalies that had taken place and ensure that the elections do not push the State governments into a state of limbo for months together.
This becomes more important particularly in view of the ghastly terrorist attack that has been witnessed in Sri Lanka. A lot many tourists from Telugu States normally prefer to go to Sri Lanka on a holiday.
With the kind of restrictions, the Election Commission has been putting on the State governments and its argument that that they cannot hold review meetings as it could land them into serious problems. Who will coordinate with the Centre and take measures to rescue the tourists stuck in Sri Lanka?
Bureaucracy on its own cannot handle the situation. Should the people be allowed to suffer because the model code of conduct is in place?
God forbid, if some such major catastrophe strikes in the State where code of conduct is in force, should the government of the day be a silent spectator?
Can the Election Commission handle such situations? Can it be left to the mercy of the Chief Secretary? Rules should be to help the common man and should not become a curse for him.
The way the EC has been functioning, raises the question as to whether there are two different code of conducts for Lok Sabha and Assembly and also whether there is different code for the Centre and the State.
The Chief Minister cannot hold review meeting even on ongoing works, but the Prime Minister is allowed to hold Cabinet meeting and take decisions.
The Telangana Chief Minister has been holding review meetings with officials though the code is in force, but the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh cannot hold a review meeting on the ongoing works or on law and order.
In December last year, when the Telangana was in the midst of poll campaign, the main Opposition Congress commented that K Chandrashekar Rao was a caretaker Chief Minister.
The CM clarified that he was a full-fledged Chief Minister and no one can stop him from routine administration. Neither the EC nor any other authority had differed with it. That certainly is an ideal situation.
But in case of Andhra Pradesh, the EC puts all kinds of restrictions and its acts have resulted in creating a piquant situation where the Chief Secretary seems to be of the opinion that he has all the powers not the Chief Minister.
According to Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu, the CS was even questioning the decisions of the Cabinet which is in gross violation of service rules. He should also not comment on debts, rate of interest etc.
Telangana presents a different picture. Though the Assembly elections are over, about nearly four months back, the administration is limping. The worst affected are at the village level.
Though the sarpanch elections were over about three months ago and a lot of young blood has been infused into village administration, things are not moving as they have not been given cheque power.
As a result, they are not able to attend to problems like drinking water, clogged drains, borewells, etc. In some places, the sarpanches, it is said, are spending money from their own pockets in anticipation of getting cheque power.
Due to series of elections, the State government could not even constitute a full fledged Cabinet till recently. Even after that they are not able to function for various reasons including the Lok Sabha elections.
Hence a thorough review of the code of conduct and its impact on governments needs to be reviewed. Politics is a dynamic situation and hence periodical review of rules too is necessary.