“ Has Election Commission fulfilled it’s responsibility to prevent corrupt persons and criminals from entering the parliament and assemblies?”

Two years ago i participated in an essay contest but my name not be called. I learnt alot from this. so i share my views with you. must reply a comment.                                   

                         
                    

                                   Nandini Voice For The Deprived Essay Contest

      “ Has Election Commission fulfilled it’s responsibility to prevent corrupt

          persons and criminals from entering the parliament and assemblies?” 

        

Abstract

India has the distinction of being the largest democracy of the world. Elections are the most important and integral part of politics in a democratic system of governance. While politics is the art and practice of dealing with political power, election is a process of legitimization of such power. Democracy can indeed function only upon this faith that elections are free and fair and not rigged and manipulated, that they are effective instruments of ascertaining popular will both in reality and in form and are not mere rituals calculated to generate illusion of difference to mass opinion, it cannot survive without free and fair elections. The election at present are not being hold in ideal conditions because of the enormous amount of money required to be spent and large muscle power needed for winning the elections.

 Some of the candidate and parties participate in the process of elections to win them at all costs, irrespective of moral values. The ideal conditions require that an honest, and upright person who is public spirited and wants to serve the people, should be able to contest and get elected as people’s representatives. But in actual fact, such a person as aforesaid has no chance of either contesting or in any case winning the election.

Introduction:-

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state legislatures and the offices of the President and Vice President in India. Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act. The Supreme Court of India has held that where the enacted laws are silent or make insufficient provision to deal with a given situation in the conduct of elections, the Election Commission has the residuary powers under the Constitution to act in an appropriate manner.

Role of Election Commission:-
1. Guardian of Free & Fair Elections.
One of the most important features of the democratic polity is elections at regular intervals. Democracy is the Holding periodic free & fair elections are essentials of democratic system. It is part of basic structure of the Constitution.

2. Model Code of Conduct

In every election, it issues a Model code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to conduct elections in free & fair manner. . However, the code does not have any specific statutory basis. It has only a persuasive effect. It contains what, known as “rules of electoral morality”. But this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the Commission from enforcing it.

3.Registrationofpoliticalparties
The party system is an essential feature of the Parliamentary democracy. It helps to avoid confusion and headache of the administrative machinery as well as confusion of the electorate. It ensures that political parties can practice democracy only by their registration.

4.LimitsonPollExpenses
To get rid of the growing influences and vulgar show of money during elections the Election Commission has made many suggestions in this regard. The Election Commission has fixed the legal limits on the amount of money which a candidate can spend during election campaigns. These limits have been revised from time to time. The Election Commission by appointing observers keeps an eye on the individual account of election expenditure.                      

  5. Use of Scientific and Technological Advancements.
The Election Commission trying to bring improvements in election procedures by taking advantage of Scientific and Technological Advancements. The introduction of EVM – Electronic Voting Machines is one of the steps in that direction. It was used with view to reducing malpractices and also improving the efficiency.

6. Right to Know About Candidates.
In order to make democracy healthy & unpolluted, citizens have right to know about Candidates to whom they prefer as their Representative. To stop criminalization and in the public interest the past of candidate should not kept in dark.

Challenges:-

 The election at present are not being hold in ideal conditions because of the enormous amount of money required to be spent and large muscle power needed for winning the elections. The major defects which come in the path of electoral system in India are: money power, muscle power, criminalization of politics, poll violence, booth capturing, communalism, castism, non-serious and independent candidates etc.

 Money Power:

 Electioneering is an expensive affair in every democratic polity which plays a more vital role in India. Money power plays in our electoral system destructive role affecting seriously the working ofperiodic elections, It leads to all round corruption and contributes mainly to the generation of black money economy which rules at present our country? A prospective candidate in each constituency has to spend millions of money towards transport, publicity and other essential items of election campaign. In recent years the election expenses have increased beyond any limits due to the desire on the part of every political party to spend more than their rivals in the fray.

Muscle Power:

Violence, pre-election intimidation, post election , victimisation, most of the riggings of any type, booth capturing both silent and violent are mainly the products of muscle power. These are prevalent in many parts of the country like Bihar, Western Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. and this cancerous disease is slowly spreading to south like in Andhra Pradesh, Criminalisation of politics and politicalisation of criminals, freely indulged in now, are like two sides of the same coin and are mainly responsible for the manifestation of muscle power at elections. By using of violence, the criminals are able to achieve success at elections for their benefactors.

Criminalization of Politics:

 During the election period, newspapers are usually full of information about the number of criminals in the field sponsored by every party. The reason of the criminals behind entrance to politics is to gain influence and ensure that cases against them are dropped or not proceeded with. They are able to make it big in the political arena because of their financial clout. Political parties tap criminals for fund and in return provide them with political patronage and protection. Rough estimates suggest that in any state election 20 per cent of candidates are drawn from criminal backgrounds: Mafia dons and other powerful gangsters have shown that they can convert their muscle power into votes often at gun point. Voters in many parts in the country are forced to vote for the local strongman. Tickets were given to the candidates with criminal records even by National Party. All these instances reported time and again show that democracy in India has largely failed to be what it was meant to be because the electoral system has been perverted. Our politics have been corrupted because the corrupt and criminals have to entered it, Criminalization of politics has become an all-pervasive phenomenon. At one time politicians hired criminals to help them win elections by booth capturing. Today, those same criminals have begun entering parliament and the state legislature

The following suggestions should be taken into consideration for making electoral system free and fair manner:-

### The CEC should not be at the mercy to Executive and Parliament for its requirements. He should have separate and independent election department to enhance its objectivity and impartiality.

### Political corruption should be stopped by providing funds to genuine candidates through political parties whose account should be auditable. Candidate involving in corruption should be disqualified.

### Every voter must be perfectly free to vote as Eve likes without any fear of consequences and without being unduly influenced by anyone by improper means and inducement or pressure of any kind.

### For having a true democracy the registration and recognition of the political parties should be fair and without any kind of influence.

### Mass Media should play a non-partisan role in election and as a safeguard of democracy.              
 ### Parliament must pass a law dealing with this serious problem of de-listing of valid electorates from electoral rolls because illiterate electorate residing in far villages cannot watch over publication of electorate lists.

### Preparation of electoral rolls by EC are to be supervised at village level and certificates from officials who prepare electoral rolls to the effect that the electoral rolls have been thoroughly revised. They do not include that persons and legally disenfranchised citizens and intentionally no name should be left in them. Accountabilityto be fixed for intentional exclusion of name of voters from electoral rolls.

### Unearth and confiscate black money, which is widely used for buying votes.

### Strictly apply the Code of Conduct and punish those who violate it.

### Revise voters‟ lists in time to avoid bogus polling and correct mistakes in the lists.

### Prompt action by the judiciary, if any kind of violation is detected during elections.

### Declare elections results in mandatory.

Politics, Business and Bureaucracy-

                                           A Fatal Triangle

The world today is caught in the web of politics, business and bureaucracy (PBB). This PBB is really a fatal triangle. Politicians rely on big business for funds to contest elections. On their part, businessmen turn to bureaucracy to condone their misdeeds by seeking loopholes in the existing law. Bureaucrats advice politicians and businessmen on matters which are ostensibly outside their domain. When all these three indispensable ingredients of society are in tandem, corruption sets in; it seeps into the vitals of a society or a nation. In that event, nothing can save it from disintegration and ultimate decay. This happened in ancient Rome and is increasingly evident in many parts of the world today. Governments have been toppled in Japan and Italy with alarming regularity in the recent past on charges of corruption. In India and the rest of the third world countries, however, it has become a way of life. And, what is worse, it has come to be accepted by the masses as the sole mode of running an administration.                The recently-published Vohra Committee reports on the politician-criminal nexus and the efforts of crusaders like Kiranbedi and Khairnar to arouse the people to the fatal PBB triangle are mere ripples in stagnant waters. We have become so immune to the goings-on in the higher echelons of democracy that we cannot think beyond what exists today. The politician-business- bureaucracy triangle is fast eating into the vitals of the nation. People’s welfare is the least of their concern.  In a democracy like India, the PBB relationship is endless, no matter whatever official policy is adopted. Modern polity is ruled by this unholy trinity comprising politics, business and bureaucracy. Each of these is trying to assert its supremacy over the other two. At times, politicians call the shots, which is unusually after they have won an election with generous help from the uncounted wealth of big business who, in turn, are helped by the bureaucracy. It has become a chain reaction today and the conflict cannot be reasonably resolved to the advantage of one or another.

     The ideal situation, however, is when politics, business and bureaucracy work for the general good. But this is a lofty ideal, honoured more in breach than in promise. Politicians lay down the laws, bureaucrats implement them. But this is generally done for the benefit of business tycoons, who are the benefactors of the politicians and the bureaucrats. In reality, big business calls the shots in this unholy trinity. This is, indeed, a fatal triangle. This also explains why the rich are getting richer and the poor are increasingly poor with each passing day.      

Although politicians may swear by the law, the poor have hardly any access to bureaucracy or business or law courts. Poll time promises made to them always remain on paper because the politicians are too busy recompensing their business bosses for help during the elections. The bureaucrats, most of the time, are too happy carrying out the orders and wishes of the politicians because it is in their own long-term interest; they also feather their own nests at the expenses of the poor of the land. Corruption is, thus, institutionalized.

It is, therefore, rightly remarked that politics, business, and bureaucracy are a fatal triangle that may sound the death knell of our democracy unless people read the writing on the wall and act accordingly, to wipe out this evil. 

       FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

Democracy is more a way of life than a form of government. Defined by Abraham Lincoln as the government “of the people, for the people, by the people”, democracy is a form of government in which the sovereign power is in the hands of the people and is exercised by them directly or indirectly through their representatives. In a democratic form of government which we in India have adopted, each citizen, irrespective of caste, creed, sex or religion gets full opportunity for expressing his will and for developing his personality. He is assured justice- both social and economic.

India has been described as the largest democracy in the world with a population of over 127crore. However, it lags behind in many respects. It is a crying shame that nearly 30% of our people are still living below the poverty line even after about five decades of independence. There must be something wrong in our democratic system where the majority of the electorate wielding real power live and die in abject poverty, are malnourished, uneducated and unemployed. The hungry man is periodically asked to choose between the ballot and his daily bread; given a choice, he would any day prefer the latter. We may claim from rooftops that the country has achieved stupendous progress in agricultural and industrial spheres. But the fruits of this progress have been monopolized by only a handful and it is a fact that, with each passing year, the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. This lopsided distribution of wealth has generated cynicism among the people-a protent signal that poses a threat to our democracy.

For the proper working of democracy, there should be a healthy opposition, educated electorate, independent judiciary, free press and, above all, unimpeacheable moral integrity. Does the Indian democracy possess all these essential attributes. The answer, unfortunately, is in the negative.

But, to our credit, it must be said that we have had ten general elections so far and have had a fairly representatives government as well as a viable opposition. Democratic values, enshrined in our constitution, are our beacon light and our leaders follow them to the best of their ability within the given constraints of economic, ethnic, religious and cultural diversity as well as their political considerations. In this sense, the future of democracy in India is very bright. Most post Second World War nations, that attained independence almost at the same time as india, have either become dictatorships or are under material law or have simply degenerated into anarchies. There is hardly any semblance of democracy in most of the third world nations today.

It is, however, a crying shame that we still fight over cast, color, creed or narrow sectarian considerations. In a secular country, with no official religions, communalism raises its hydra head time and gain with the result that people lose allsence of values in getting at one another’s throats. A new dimension has recently been added to the destabilization process of the world’s biggest democracy in the form of terrorism, which has now entered the hi-tech era. This must be stopped forthwith and all our energies be channelized towards nation building activites. We must all gear ourselves to work for the amelioration of the lot of our people suffering from grinding poverty that has become their destiny from the cradle to the grave.

In order to remove or at least reduce poverty, we must ensure adequate education and means of livelihood to all able-bodied citizens. Once this is done, india will be in the forefront of developed nations with an enviable growth rate and a stable economy. Along with it shall come other benefits of development and progress like education, healthcare, old-age homes, full or near- full employment, etc. in this pursuit of industrial and material progress, however, we must not lose sight of the latest advances in agriculture, for India is predominantly an agricultural country.  

    Orthodox democracy has proved itself unequal to the exigencies of India. The problem is to modify the traditional institutions of democracy to suit the present day conditions. The inefficiency of democracy first became noticeable in its economic aspect. One of the most important problems for

 democracy in India, therefore, is to manage economic system in such a way as to ensure for everybody a reasonable standard of living coupled with a reasonable amount of security and liberty.

CONCLUSION

In democracy the public is most powerful entity. If the public do not vote in favour of criminals, dishonest and corrupt politicians who wish to purchase their votes by money or muscle powers, everything shall function nicely and the democracy will shine in the dark spectrum of hitherto corrupt and criminalized political system. So, though the EC is working hard in this direction, but it cannot succeed unless all political parties and voters realize their responsibility. Finally there should proper mechanism, fully functional and fully equipped to fight with any triviality.
The Commission over the years has conducted number of laudable electoral reforms to strengthen democracy and enhance fairness of elections. The commission has taken best steps to stop malpractices during elections by using advance technology. However, all these efforts taken by the Election Commission will help to grow democracy and its confidence in the minds of people. The Supreme Court always examined the legal and other issues of elections and always emphasized to protect the fundamentals of democracy, which reflected through its judgments. The Commission should be empowered to punish the greedy politicians for violation of Code, Laws, and Orders of the Courts. A country’s administration should be governed not by the bullet but by the ballot.