158 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Clause 21
(Meaning of ‘qualifying date ’ and ‘qualifying period’)
- Dr. Ambedkar : I beg to move :
For sub-clause (a), substitute :
“( a ) in the case of electoral rolls first prepared under this Act, shall be the first day of March 1950, and the period beginning on the first day of April 1947 and ending on the thirty-first day of December 1949, respectively; and”
This is the result of the agreement that was reached this morning as regards the preparation of the electoral rolls and the qualifying period.
Clause 27
**** Dr. Ambedkar :** Sir, I thought that I had this morning explained to the hon. Member who initiated this debate why clause 17 was not applied, but evidently he was very keen that his objections should be heard by the whole House. I do not deny him that privilege.
Shri Ethirajulu Naidu : On a point of order, Sir, is it in order to refer to what transpired at the meeting in the morning ?
Dr. Ambedkar : Certainly ; there is nothing secret about it. The committee was constituted by the Speaker himself.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : There is nothing secret about it. It is in order.
Dr. Ambedkar : Now, Sir, the point is this. No doubt we have initiated in clause 17 of the Bill a very important principle, namely, that one man shall be registered in one constituency and that he shall have one vote, but it must always be understood that the prinicple can be made applicable only in the case of constituencies of the same class, that is to say, territorial constituencies. Now, the constituencies which we propose to form under clause 27 of this Bill are different classes of constituencies. They are not constituencies of the same class. A graduate constituency is a
*P. D., Vol. 4, Part II, 20th April 1950, pp. 3082.
**Ibid., pp. 3084-87.