Canvassing
for the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections is in full swing and the Delhiites are lapping
up all that is on offer. People of Delhi are quite hyper- they do not mind to
enter into a heated argument even in chartered bus, especially the ladies. This
despite the fact that recognized political parties have yet to come out with
their manifesto- leave alone vision document. This shows the state of preparedness
of these parties and at the same time also puts a question mark on their commitment
to the electorates. It appears they have taken the Delhi voters for granted.
Instead of a proper manifesto they have been announcing freebies to lure
voters. What indeed is amazing is these offers (freebies) are common in nature,
irrespective of the political party in fray? Everyone is promising cheaper
electricity, regularization of slums, clean drinking water, more employment
opportunities, facilitating business, better education, more schools and
colleges, reducing corruption, improving cleanliness and lower fare in Delhi metro
for youth, aged and ladies (what crime have others, who are forced to pay
higher fare, committed). Do such assurances imply that till now Delhiites were paying
electricity at higher rates or that they were forced to drink impure water? And
if this is true, who is responsible for this plight of Delhiites? A number of
candidates contesting these elections have criminal past with cases pending in
court. They declare this while filing their nomination and yet they assure the
voters of controlling crime, if voted to power. Income of a number of
candidates saw an exponential increase in the last 5 years- by methods fair or
foul; yet they assure of controlling corruption in higher places if voted to
power. All this appear quite amusing. Nearly all organized political parties claim
to have a blueprint for development but their manifesto (one even goes a step
ahead with promise of a vision document) is bereft of any such blueprint. What each
of them has to offer ultimately are such freebies? But to lure is no cure. Such
luring amounts to bribing voters. The Election Commission (EC) must address the
issue of such bribing. This malady calls for a check to improve the quality of
leadership. Indeed the Indian elections have moved ahead from the days of booth
capturing, bogus voting and violence during elections. Elections also see
imposition of a model code of conduct but a lot needs to be done to make it
really effective. Even in the India of 21st century the Election
Commission is forced to deploy thousands of government officials for
surveillance duty to check influx of money, muscle or liquor power from
influencing voters- so much exercise to keep politicians in check who, in spite
of all their moorings, have failed to improve their conduct. This surveillance
continues for weeks together till elections are over. Government offices get
vacant and work comes to a standstill. This is sheer waste of human resources. If
this is the situation in the NCR, one can well imagine the situation in faraway
remote places. It is time the Election Commission (EC) rolls out the next
generation of electoral reforms, which may include measures such as preventing candidate with criminal records from contesting elections, control on such
luring, which no way can cure the malady that grips Indian society and economy
and above all heralding an era of online voting. Electoral reforms are overdue
since last such exercise was carried out by a gentleman named T. N. Seshan around
twenty years back.
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