Interview: Even if the ‘One Country, One Election’ bill is passed by the Parliament, will it get stuck in the court? Know Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s answer

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and national spokesperson, four-time Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi is in the news these days for his/her advocacy. Manjari Chaturvedi talked to him/her about the current politics of the country, the cases before the judiciary and other important issues. Here are the main excerpts –Today, there are many such cases, especially related to the governments of opposition parties or their leaders, which are reaching the court. You are directly involved in many of them

I see it from both positive and negative perspectives. Positive because at present there is only one organ left in the country (judiciary) from which you expect and trust justice, and you get it. Negative because in good governance it should not happen that you need to go to any other organ again and again. You go to the judiciary only when there is no other option left. Today many such cases are going before the judiciary which should not reach there.

You just spoke about trust in the judiciary. Recently, on one occasion, the Prime Minister had visited the house of the Chief Justice of the country. There was a lot of discussion about this.

Whichever side this decision came from, whether it was the judiciary or the executive, it could have been avoided. Even if there is no motive or malice behind it, it would have been better if this incident had not happened.

This time, going to the Rajya Sabha has been quite challenging for you, especially after what happened in Himachal Pradesh?

I saw the pinnacle of human values ​​in Himachal and also the disgusting form of negativity. For the first time in the history of India, there was a tie in the Rajya Sabha elections. A strange rule was applied in the tiebreaker where the one whose name comes out of the box loses. The day this strange result came out, the party expelled the tainted candidates after taking me into confidence. Call it natural justice or divine, out of those 9 tainted candidates, 6 lost the election. The issue is not my going to Rajya Sabha, the issue is that when such incidents happen in politics, they diminish our stature and tarnish our image among the public.

Will the ‘One Country One Election’ bill be passed by the Parliament and the court?

This in itself raises many questions. The question is how will three to five constitutional amendments come from when you have lost 80 seats. Even if it is passed by some magic wand, which seems impossible at the moment, the question is can you deny the mandate of democracy by law? This exercise is a waste of the country’s energy and time, because you do not have the capacity to build a consensus on this.

Delimitation of Lok Sabha is also to be done in this term of Parliament. The southern states are opposing this. How do you view the issue legally?

Delimitation is a complex problem in itself, but it is very important. Many things depend on it, for example, the women reservation bill will be implemented only after this. Some solution will have to be found for this, because the states which control their population should not be penalized in any way. But, delimitation cannot be delayed any further due to such problems. The only solution to this can be that such states should be compensated with economic benefits.

BJP and the government are constantly questioning Rahul Gandhi’s intentions…

It is unfortunate that the government and the ruling party think that everyone except their people is anti-national or anti-national. If you want to improve the democracy of your country, if you want to remove its disorders, then you are declared a traitor. The biggest quality of democracy is that you can criticize and give suggestions. If you cannot understand even this simple thing, then it is pathetic. I think Rahul Gandhi is being targeted due to political animosity. This reflects the panic and frustration of the government, which is due to the questions being asked by the people of the country, for which it does not have an answer.

There is a continuous controversy going on in the country regarding PMLA related to ED. What is the problem with this?

This government proudly built a fortress called PMLA. A series of decisions in the last two years have turned this fortress into a dilapidated little house whose walls are crumbling. I feel proud that I have appeared in most of these cases myself.

The government brought the Wakf Board Amendment Bill in Parliament, which was sent to the Joint Committee of Parliament. What is your opinion on this bill?

The government has only two dark intentions on the issue of Wakf – to put the government in the controlling seat in this matter and to end the autonomy of those for whom this law was made, who give donations or do social welfare through Wakf. This bill was sent to JPC because the opposition raised this issue strongly. The government should somehow withdraw this bill at its own level.