ELECTIONS AND CORRUPTION
Government to seriously think about electoral reforms and very pointedly observed “… there is a lacuna in the law that political parties’ expenditures are not under any ceiling. Candidates are restricted but not political parties. What is this discrepancy? It is a very incongruous situation. Unless you correct these things, it is just money power that will distort your democracy. We have been talking about electoral reforms all these years, but that is required.”11
The order of the
, opens up possibilities of opening their accounts to public scrutiny.
Public Opinion and A Clean Electoral Process
There are several such proposals and recommendations which are there in the pages of the Commissions on Electoral Reforms. Such proposals and recommendations along with the proposals of the Director-General, Expenditure, Election Commission of India, Shri P.K. Dash, deserve serious consideration and implementation for the cause of purity and integrity of the electoral process.
These proposals along with the expenditure monitoring measures which he introduced and which resulted in massive seizure of money and liquor in successive elections over the last three/four years, would herald a new era in restoring the dignity and purity of our electoral democracy.
In an article entitled ‘India competes with election cycle’s dirty money problem’13
published
in the Washington Post, it has been observed by its author Rama Lakshmi that the crack team deployed by the Election
Central Information Commission Bench chaired by former Chief Information Commissioner, Shri Satya Nanda Mishra bringing almost all major political parties under the Right to Information Act12
Commission seized 31% more dirty cash in the 2014 election than during the last election five years ago, when there was no such coordinated effort. In spite of many challenges faced by the Election Commission, the success registered in seizing cash and other materials which were being unfairly used by certain political parties to their advantage is heartening. P.K. Dash was quoted in the aforesaid article in the Washington Post as having said that “We have created fear in the minds of candidates.”14 This augurs well for our
democracy which has been badly vitiated and distorted by manifold corrupt practices. Already we have been successful in controlling muscle power which earlier influenced the election process and prevented many voters including weaker sections of society to come forward and cast their votes. If muscle power could be controlled then we can control the power of money. There are bright officers who have given practicable proposals to do so. Earlier we saw the strength of the Election Commission to discipline political parties. The same strength is there. It has to be put into action to sternly deal with the power of money which is a serious threat to the fairness and purity of our election. There is yearning among citizenry particularly the youth to put an end to the power of money in elections. The vast number of young voters who cast their votes in the last general election indicates that they want positive and quick change so that democracy becomes meaningful for them. In an aspirational India we can hardly remain unaffected by the yearning of the youth who constitute a significant component of our population and whose talent and energy would reap us huge demographic dividend.
By putting an end to the power of money in elections we
can fulfill the long cherished desire of our youth to ensure that our democracy remains free from corruption and the evil influences of money.
As the aforementioned article of the Washington Post rightly observed “The drive against illegal campaign spending by the Election Commission comes as middle-class Indians are increasingly demanding greater transparency in politics.”15
We
need to be mindful of this to make our democracy not only more vibrant but also more clean and pure.
References 1
The author was Officer on Special Duty and Press Secretary to Late President of India Shri K.R. Narayanan and served as Director in Prime Minister’s Office during Dr. Manmohan Singh’s term as Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2009. He is currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. Views expressed are personal and not that of Rajya Sabha
As quoted in the ‘Report of the Committee on Electoral Reforms, 1 May 1990’, Government of India, Ministry of Law and Justice,
Secretariat. 2
Legislative Department, p.1-2 3
The Report of the (Santhanam) Committee on Prevention of Corruption, Home Ministry,
Government of India, 1964, p.104 4
All India Reporter 1996
Supreme Court, 3081 5
As quoted in ‘Background Paper On Electoral Reforms’, Prepared By The Core-Committee On Electoral Reforms, Legislative Department Ministry Of Law And Justice, Government Of India, Co-Sponsored By The Election Commission Of
India, December 2010, p.11 6
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Mayavati Memorial Edition, Volume 5, Advaita Ashrama Publication Department, 5 Delhi Entally Road, Koltaka 700 014,
pages 461-462 7
As quoted in unpublished speech of Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi
delivered at the Seventh National Conference on Electoral and Political Reforms in Chennai on 12 February
2011 pages 2-3. 8
Report of the Committee on Electoral Reforms, 1 May 1990, Government of India, Ministry of Law and Justice, Legislative Department, p.46
9
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s address at the CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) annual general meeting on 24 May
10
2007. 11
Uncorrected Parliamentary Debates, Rajya Sabha, 10th June, 2014 p. 252 (http://164.100.47.5/ newdebate/231/10062014/17.00
pmTo18.00pm.pdf) 12
“The rational rebel: How CIC Mishra is battling to make RTI more powerful”, Mail Online India, 18 June 2013. (http://www.dailymail.
co.uk/indiahome/indianews/ article-2344118/Satyananda- Mishra-How-Chief-Information- Commissioner-battling-make-RTI-
powerful.html) 13
Rama Lakshmi, “In election season, India competes with campaigns’ ‘black money’”, Washington Post, 2 May 2014.
(
http://www.washingtonpost.com) 14
15
Ibid Ibid
“By putting an end to the power of money in elections we can fulfill the long cherished desire of our youth to ensure that our democracy remains free from corruption and the evil influences of money.”
The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three | 199 As quoted in ibid, pages 4-5.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104