CHENNAI: Criminalisation of politics and corruption undermine the democratic principles of the electoral system, K.K. Venugopal, senior advocate, Supreme Court, said on Saturday. He made suggestions for neutralising these negative aspects, to redemocratise the electoral system.
Delivering the Fourth Rajaji Memorial Lecture organised by the Triplicane Cultural Academy and the Kasturi Srinivasan Library here, Mr. Venugopal said that on the threshold of the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha, political parties were vying with one another, at the cost of the model code of conduct, to win votes.
Talking on ‘Redemocratisation of the electoral system,’ Mr. Venugopal first focussed on criminalisation of politics — the tendency of parties to rely on gangsters, history sheeters and goondas and their muscle power to win elections. Internet data revealed that as many as 93 members of Parliament had criminal charges pending against them.
Disqualification
Mr. Venugopal said Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act talked of disqualification of the contestant on conviction and sentencing for not less than two years. Also, any person who had been declared guilty under special laws by a court of law would be disqualified irrespective of the number of years of conviction. The principle behind the move to protect a candidate from disqualification was the presumption of innocence. But it would be incorrect to apply this principle in a “wooden fashion” without taking into account the damage that might be caused to the democratic process.
Mr. Venugopal urged the Election Commission not to discriminate between taking action against a candidate with criminal charges pending against him or her and action against sitting MPs or MLAs facing criminal charges. Mr. Venugopal’s suggestion to prevent corruption and regulate expenditure by candidates was to get the state to fund the bulk of the election expenses. A corpus fund could be set up and corporates willing to donate could pool their money into this general fund. This could then be disbursed to relieve political parties and candidates of part of the expenses. The Supreme Court advocate also proposed that the negative vote or expression of no confidence against every one of the contestants be used forcefully. In addition to the names of the candidates, the machine should carry a button with the legend “None of the Above” for the benefit of those who wanted to cast the negative vote. If, in any constituency, the negative votes exceeded the number of votes secured by the successful candidate, then the election should be declared null and void, Mr. Venugopal explained.
The former Chief Election Commissioner, T.S. Krishnamurthy, commenting on by-elections, said if a vacancy arose during the first half of the tenure of the House, the Election Commission should consider conducting a by-election. If it arose during the second half, the party must be asked to nominate a candidate to take the place or the person who secured the second place should take charge.
N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, who chaired the session, said the electoral system of the country was extremely complex, involving over 700 million eligible voters. There were debates on the lengthy process involved, the massive requirement of resources, including security forces, and the huge costs that made contesting polls nearly prohibitive for the aspirants, he said.
G. Narayanaswamy, president, Triplicane Cultural Academy, and V. Murali, vice-president, spoke.
The news above from "The Hindu" shows that Supreme Court Senior Advocates and former CECs are also worried of the criminalisation of politics.
However, I do not agree to having re-election if an MP or MLA dies before completing his term.
Having an electoral college of eminent persons to fill the vacancies arising out of death or countermanding of elections is better.
This way we shall replace the scum of society with better people gradually until the whole system is cleansed.
Radheshyam
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Excellent blog.In India election season has come yet again. Political parties are upto palying the tricks of caste, religion, greed and liquor . All indians to be wise and broad minded, its the country, society which is more important than once's personal,religious or caste interest. We must accept we have very very limited scope to vote for a good person, but thankfully still we have a chance to vote for some one good. We can not expect much of change in our political system or in our governance, but atleast we should give a try to change. Every politician appeals to the intellectuals and educated people and even challenges them to enter the politics, bring the changes and clean the dirt. alas end of the day, all parties fields criminals on their tickets, misery is people who are convicted are fielded, who are in Jails are also fileded. Wise people saves our country and our democracy. Casting our vote is to for the satisfaction that,atleast let us bring a change.
Wisdom should work above sentimentalism and work earnestly without attachment. Should be be an authentic also. Communicate authenticity to voters by standing up for what you believe in and sharing with voters what it is that calls you to public service.Election Day is a turnout game, so make sure that you have a robust effort to get your supporters to the polls. Get-Out-the-Vote planning should begin on day one of your campaign. Work with reporters to earn media coverage to help communicate the message of your campaign to a broader audience. Even on a grassroots campaign, don't underestimate the importance of raising money. Start by generating a list of personal contacts and send a letter asking for their support. You won't get what you don't ask for. Ask directly for people's money, time, and, of course, their vote. Convert undecided voters into supporters, and supporters into active volunteers and leaders. Ignore the people you'll never convince!
Generate repeated, direct, personal contacts with voters. The more personal the conversation, the more effective it is at persuading voters to support you. Repeat that message over and over and over again. When you are completely tired of repeating your message, voters are just beginning to hear it. Develop a compelling message that connects with voters and conveys the central argument of your campaign-why you are running, and why voters should choose you. Lay out your path to victory in a campaign plan that you refer to often. Your plan is not a plan unless it's written down! There is an important distinction between effectiveness and efficiency in managing an election.· Effectiveness is doing the right things.
· Efficiency is doing things right.
The general principles of effective management can be applied in every field, the differences being more in application than in principle. The Manager's functions can be summed up as:
· Forming a vision
· Planning the strategy to realize the vision.
· Cultivating the art of leadership.
· Establishing institutional excellence.
· Building an innovative organization.
· Developing human resources.
· Building teams and teamwork.
· Delegation, motivation, and communication.
· Reviewing performance and taking corrective steps when called for.
Thus, election management is a process of aligning people and getting them committed to work for a common goal to the maximum social benefit - in search of excellence.
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