top of page

By:

Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

When Uddhav’s own party tied Maharashtra’s electoral hands

A forgotten 1996 amendment has come back to haunt Uddhav Thackeray, crippling the State Election Commission’s powers over local polls. It has come to light that when the (undivided) Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition was in power, a legal provision was introduced allowing the use of Assembly electoral rolls for local body elections. Nearly three decades later, that decision has returned to haunt the Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. During the tenure of late Chief Minister...

When Uddhav’s own party tied Maharashtra’s electoral hands

A forgotten 1996 amendment has come back to haunt Uddhav Thackeray, crippling the State Election Commission’s powers over local polls. It has come to light that when the (undivided) Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition was in power, a legal provision was introduced allowing the use of Assembly electoral rolls for local body elections. Nearly three decades later, that decision has returned to haunt the Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. During the tenure of late Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, the state legislature had amended the relevant municipal laws in 1996, deciding that the same electoral rolls prepared for the Assembly would be used for local self-government bodies. What seemed then a simple administrative measure has now emerged as a major political and constitutional headache. As Maharashtra prepares for long-delayed local body polls, the issue of defective electoral rolls has reignited political tempers. Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) recently met the Chief Electoral Officer, S. Chokkalingam, and the State Election Commissioner, Dinesh Waghmare, to demand corrections before any election schedule is announced. They claimed that thousands of names are missing or misplaced. Waghmare’s response was that altering electoral rolls did not fall under the purview of the State Election Commission (SEC). He pointed out that it was governed by provisions that date back to 1996. The MVA, particularly the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena (UBT), has accused the Election Commission of failing to ensure a fair process while demanding that polls to Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and municipal bodies be deferred until the lists are revised. But the problem lies not with the present SEC, but with a decision taken when the Shiv Sena and BJP were in power together. It was one that had effectively clipped the SEC’s wings. Controversial decision The controversy stems from Sena-BJP government’s decision in 1996 to amend The Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, and The Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. Section 7A was inserted in the former, and Section 19B in the latter. Both stipulated that electoral rolls used for the Legislative Assembly would also serve as the rolls for municipal elections, subdivided into wards. This change, made during Manohar Joshi’s tenure, was intended to simplify the process by saving time and costs by avoiding the preparation of a separate list for local bodies. Yet, by choosing administrative convenience over constitutional clarity, the government unwittingly stripped the SEC of the very autonomy the Constitution sought to guarantee. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, enacted in 1992, gave local self-government institutions a distinct constitutional identity. Articles 243K and 243ZA specifically empowered State Election Commissions to supervise, direct and control local body elections including the preparation of electoral rolls. The spirit of these amendments was to insulate local democracy from state-level interference. But by tying local rolls to those of the Assembly, the then government diluted that independence. The SEC could conduct elections but not decide who could vote in them. The state did pass The State Election Commissioner (Qualification and Appointment) Act in 1994, laying down procedures for appointment, tenure and service conditions of the Commissioner. But the Act said nothing about the preparation or revision of electoral rolls. Had Maharashtra enacted a separate law empowering the SEC to prepare and update electoral rolls, as Article 243K(4) permits, the present impasse would not exist. Instead, the 1996 amendments made the SEC dependent on the Assembly rolls prepared under the supervision of the Election Commission of India. The result is that the Commission is now responsible for conducting local elections without control over the very lists that determine their fairness. Successive governments - the Congress-NCP coalition and the BJP-Sena as well as the erstwhile MVA - have all lived with this contradiction. None saw political advantage in changing the law. The SEC’s lack of authority suited ruling parties of every stripe, since it left local election machinery aligned with the state administration. Uddhav’s irony It is this legislative legacy that has now cornered Uddhav Thackeray. At a press conference this week, he accused the government of “killing” the State Election Commission. Yet, as critics pointed out, the real act of constitutional euthanasia was performed in 1996 - by the Shiv Sena-BJP government led by his own party. By choosing to amend old municipal laws instead of enacting a new one, the Sena-led government effectively ‘killed’ the independent powers that the Constitution granted to the State Legislature and the SEC. Article 243K(4) explicitly authorises state legislatures to frame their own laws governing local polls. Maharashtra, despite being one of India’s most politically developed states, failed to do so. Article 243K (4) clearly states that the State Legislature can make laws independently in relation to elections to local bodies. So, why was such a law not made in 1996, why was it decided to amend the existing laws and use the electoral rolls of the Legislative Assembly itself, is this a violation of the constitutional rights granted to the State Legislature? The row over electoral rolls underscores how political expediency and administrative shortcuts can undermine constitutional design. The framers of the 73rd and 74th Amendments imagined empowered, locally accountable institutions. Instead, Maharashtra’s local democracy remains tethered to Assembly-level bureaucracy.

Healing History, Shaping Futures

This International Daughters’ Day should remind us that every daughter’s dream is part of a nation’s future.

AI generated image
AI generated image

Every September, a quiet celebration dares to question centuries of silence - International Daughters’ Day. This September 28 will remind us that while sons were long treated as heirs to lineage and property, daughters were often denied equal worth. In countless households, a daughter who tops her class is still asked when she will get married, rather than what career she will pursue. Honouring daughters is not simply symbolic; it is a way of healing history.


History shows how power reinforced prejudice. In the mid-1800s, the East India Company introduced the Doctrine of Lapse, which allowed it to annex kingdoms whose rulers had no natural-born sons. Adoption, long respected in Indian families as a way of continuing lineage, was brushed aside. Kingdoms like Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur were taken over. When Rani Lakshmibai’s adopted son was denied recognition, Jhansi was seized, and she rose to lead the revolt of 1857.

 

Although the doctrine ended, its shadow lingered, mixing with dowry and patriarchy to harden son preference. Against this backdrop, the sight of a daughter today signing a property mutation form beside her mother is nothing less than a quiet rewriting of history.

 

Modern technology gave this bias new ground. Ultrasound scans, intended to reassure families, were turned into tools for sex selection. India’s answer was the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, strengthened in 2003, banning disclosure of foetal sex and penalising sex selection. Laws are vital, but lasting change depends on culture and families choosing fairness. The dilemma is not unique to India. Technology mirrors the society it serves. Artificial intelligence now offers life-saving predictions in maternal health, but it could also be misused to reinforce outdated prejudices. The challenge is ensuring that innovation empowers rather than discriminates.

 

Women pioneers

Each field offers pioneers who opened doors and successors who widened them. In politics, Vijayalakshmi Pandit stood before the UN in 1953, while Nirmala Sitharaman stands before India’s Parliament today. In science, Kamala Sohonie broke barriers in the 1930s, while Tessy Thomas breaks new ground in missile technology. In the industry, Sumati Morarjee steered ships across oceans, while Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw steers a biotech enterprise across continents. In culture, Amrita Sher-Gil gave Indian art a modern idiom, while Arundhati Roy gave Indian literature a global voice. In sport, P. T. Usha ignited track dreams in the 1980s, while P. V. Sindhu turned them into Olympic medals. These names are more than symbols. They reshape imagination, showing families that daughters are not burdens but architects of possibility.

 

 

Numbers confirm the shift. Female literacy has risen from approximately 10 percent at Independence to over 70 percent today. Girls now account for nearly half of college enrolments. Women scientists account for a growing share of research staff, approaching a third in some agencies, and women officers are a rising force in the armed services. Yet progress is uneven. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with strong social investments, report healthier sex ratios and higher female education, while parts of Haryana and Punjab still struggle with imbalance. Urban India offers daughters new horizons, but rural areas remain a more challenging terrain.

 

China’s one-child policy left a skewed generation and a marriage squeeze, where millions of men struggle to find partners. This has fuelled social stress and even trafficking. Demographers use this term to highlight how gender imbalance creates structural risks for society. South Korea, once deeply skewed, corrected course through law and public persuasion, showing that social attitudes can change within a single generation. Many Western societies, where daughters were never systematically devalued, use ultrasound purely as a medical tool. Global rankings underline India’s task. The World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report places India in the lower half, while countries like Iceland and Finland have closed more than 90 per cent of their gaps. The UN Development Programme’s inequality index shows India improving, but the distance remains.

 

Enforcing rights

To honour daughters, India must enforce rights, expand opportunity and recognise contributions. Daughters must inherit property as smoothly as sons through transparent, time-bound processes.


Scholarships and apprenticeships must connect girls directly to careers in science, technology, and skilled trades. For countless families, the simple addition of a safe school bus or hostel has determined whether a girl continues her studies or is pulled out after puberty.

 

The unpaid labour many daughters provide, from nursing parents to running family businesses to holding households steady, should be valued through tax incentives or social security. Adoption, once dishonoured by colonial policy, should be simpler and more dignified, giving families a humane way to grow.

 

These steps turn sentiment into substance. They also show why equality is not only a moral issue but an economic one. When half the population contributes fully, productivity rises, innovation multiplies, and society grows more resilient. Each daughter who completes school, claims her inheritance, or leads in her field becomes a force multiplier for the nation. Nations that have empowered women consistently report faster economic growth, better governance, and greater stability. The evidence is overwhelming: societies that invest in their daughters invest in their future.

 

The Doctrine of Lapse once made it appear that only sons could carry a legacy. Today, India can close that chapter for good. International Daughters’ Day is a reminder that continuity and strength do not rest solely on sons. Daughters uphold traditions, extend family lines, and create new futures. Where dynasties once fell for want of a male heir, families and nations now prosper because daughters step forward with clarity and courage. To honour daughters is to heal history.

 

(The author is the former Director, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune and Visiting Professor, IIT Bombay. Views personal.)

Comments

bottom of page