Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has approved the formation of parliamentary friendship groups with more than 60 countries. Big leaders from the ruling party and the opposition have been included in these groups. Through these groups, Parliament to Parliament and people to people connect with the countries of the world will be promoted. Even after Operation Sindoor, the government had sent similar delegations to many countries of the world.

These prominent MPs have been included
Parliamentarians from different political parties have been included in these friendship groups, thereby attempting to present the multi-party and inclusive nature of Indian democracy on the global stage. Prominent MPs include Ravi Shankar Prasad, P. Chidambaram, Ram Gopal Yadav, T.R. Many senior leaders including Balu, Gaurav Gogoi, Kanimozhi, Manish Tiwari, Derek O’Brien, Asaduddin Owaisi, Akhilesh Yadav, Supriya Sule, Shashi Tharoor and Anurag Thakur are included.

With which countries have these friendship groups been formed?
The countries with which these friendship groups have been formed include Sri Lanka, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Africa, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Maldives, USA, Russia, European Parliament, South Korea, Nepal, UK, France, Japan, Italy, Oman, Australia, Greece, Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Iran and UAE.

What is the purpose?
The purpose of these groups is to increase direct communication between MPs, exchange legislative experiences and deepen bilateral relations. Through this, coordinated dialogue will also be promoted on diverse issues like trade, technology, social policy, culture and global challenges. Through these groups, parliamentary diplomacy will emerge as an effective platform parallel to traditional diplomacy that will strengthen ‘Parliament-to-Parliament’ and ‘people-to-people’ contacts.

In the first phase, friendship groups have been formed with more than 60 countries, while preparations are on to include more countries in the coming time. This initiative is considered important towards establishing parliamentary participation as a permanent and strong pillar in India’s diplomatic strategy.

Voting for the first phase of Bihar Assembly has been done. Now it is the turn of the second phase of voting, which is to be held on November 11. After this the results are to come on 14th November. On 14th it will be decided who will occupy the seat of power in Bihar. Talking about elections, today India’s democracy is riding on the fast pace of technology, but once this democracy was based on a pile of ballot papers. That era when every vote was counted not by machines but by humans.

When a small mark on a paper could change someone’s fate. The atmosphere of elections was as heated as it is today, but the wait for the results was much longer and more exciting.

How was voting done through ballot paper?

In earlier elections, the voter was given a big paper i.e. ballot paper, on which the names of the candidates and election symbols were written. The voter simply had to put a mark, either with a stamp, or with a pen or pencil, in front of the symbol of his favorite candidate. Then this ballot paper was folded and put in the ballot box.

How was the counting done?

After the voting was over, the real work of counting started. Every ballot box was brought to the counting center under security. There the seal was broken, then the papers were taken out one by one and the validity of the votes was checked. If the marks were placed at two places, or were at the wrong place, that vote was declared invalid. In this entire process, not only the election officials but also the agents of every party were present so that transparency was maintained.

Separate piles were made for each candidate. Each ballot was counted and then the numbers were added by hand. Even a minor mistake during counting could lead to a dispute, so officials worked very carefully. This was the reason that even counting of one Lok Sabha seat took not hours but several days.

In how many days did the results come?

From the 1950s to the 1990s, until EVMs were introduced, it took an average of 2 to 3 days to get results. Many times, if there was a dispute in the counting of votes or the difference of votes was very small, then the counting was done again, due to which the results were postponed for a week.

On the day of counting the atmosphere was like a festival. People used to listen to updates every hour through radio or newspapers to know who is ahead and who is behind. But no one knew when the final result would come. It was this election excitement that made the era of ballot paper so memorable.

difference between today and then

While now results are available through EVMs within a few hours, in those times it was a real test of both patience and transparency. Counting of ballot papers depended on human effort and not on machines. But it is also true that the same period laid the strong foundation of democracy in India, when the value of every vote, the meaning of every mark was understood.

Also read: For how much will you get 100 grams of diamond dust, how can you buy it?

One nation one election news: The tenure of the Joint Committee of Parliament constituted to consider the Bills proposed to conduct the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in India simultaneously has now been extended. This decision was taken on Tuesday (March 25) when the committee was entrusted with the task that it would present its report by the last week of this year.

The 39-member Joint Committee formed to consider the two Bills submitted with the objective of holding the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously- ‘Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024’ and ‘Union Territory of Law (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ now proposed to extend the tenure. The chairman of the committee and BJP MP PP Chaudhary kept this proposal in the Lok Sabha, which was approved by the House. This committee has been given time to make intensive views and final recommendations on these bills.

Deadline set for committee report

These bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 17 last year and now the committee has been directed to submit the report by the first week of the upcoming monsoon session. These bills are in the direction of implementing a step under which elections of Lok Sabha and Assembly can be conducted simultaneously. Due to this, there is a possibility of saving time in the election process and better use of resources.

Committee supported under the chairmanship of former President

The proposal is based on the basis of the high-level committee constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, which supported the concept of ‘one nation-one election’. Accepting the recommendations of this committee, the Union Cabinet introduced two bills, one of which is the Constitution Amendment Bill and the other is the Union Territory of Law (Amendment) Bill.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constituted a 39 -member joint parliamentary committee under the chairmanship of PP Chaudhary in this regard which is considering these bills. Now the committee will have to submit its report in the Lok Sabha within the stipulated time. If these bills are passed then they will indicate a major change in the election process.