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"Can you show me one free country where there are separate electorates ?
... The British element is gone, but they have left mischief behind".
Who among the following said the above mentioned statement in the Constituent Assembly debates ?
Explanation
The statement was made by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel during the Constituent Assembly debates on August 27, 1947. He was responding to the demand for separate electorates for minorities, a system introduced by the British that many leaders believed had led to the partition of the country.
Patel argued that separate electorates were a "poison" that had entered the body politic and were designed by the British to divide Indians. He challenged the assembly to name any free country in the world that maintained such a system. He believed that separate electorates would isolate minorities and prevent their integration into the national mainstream. His firm stance, along with that of other leaders like Govind Ballabh Pant, led the Assembly to reject separate electorates in favor of joint electorates with reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes.