Page 73 - SocialHarmony

A Harmonious Village: A Journey towards Belonging and Prosperity 77

have been selected as sarpanch with the idea of promoting
harmony in their villages, as well as the members of the
panchayat. However, those who have sacrificed their rights and
stayed away from participating in the elections also deserve
congratulations. My idea of a Samras Gram was based on the
desire to see prosperity in the villages of Gujarat. There are some
who object to this. They believe that the concept of Samras Gram
does not match with democracy; it violates our Constitution;
Modi has killed democracy because he does not allow elections
to take place. I have never said that elections should not be
allowed – I have said that the entire village should together
take the decision of election. Democracy considers all
proportions to be equal – whether it is a 60:40 ratio, 75:25, 80:20
or 90:10. If even a ratio of 99:1 is considered as democratic, how
can a ratio of 100:0 not be democratic? When everyone agrees
to one decision, it is not the murder of democracy but indicates
its health. If elections are won without unnecessary expenditure
and conflicts, what is the harm? If a sarpanch can be elected by
all the villagers through consensus, how does it mean the end
of democracy? Our friends in the Congress have declared that
they will not allow a single village to function in this harmonious
manner. I would like to ask them whether they know that the
President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, has also been elected in
this harmonious manner. All the political parties mutually
decided not to have presidential elections and it worked. If the
President of the country can be selected without election then
what is the problem if villages also do so? We proudly proclaim
our unity and progressiveness by saying that our President is
selected, not elected; but if villagers select their Sarpanch, it
becomes an issue. It is very important to save Gujarat from such
people who have a negative mentality. In spite of such negative
approach, 28% of villages in Gujarat have panchayat selected
through consensus – this is not a small feat. It reiterates my
strong belief that people are always interested in progress.

Taking Progress to the Villages
Gujarat has passed the test of real democracy as even the

common man is interested in development of Gujarat. I do not