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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Anna wave coincides with vow to purge electoral ills by Manash Pratim Gohain

Anna wave coincides with vow to purge electoral ills by Manash Pratim Gohain

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published Published on Aug 29, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 29, 2011

Around the time Anna Hazare ended his fast at Ramlila Maidan and declared "electoral reforms" as his next agenda, 15 different organizations under the aegis of "Forum For Good Governance" kicked off a daylong deliberation on the same issue.

Eminent members of the judiciary, political class, civil society and bureaucracy participated in the national conference on the 'urgency of electoral and political party reforms'. The success of Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement featured in the discussion with the speakers praising people's participation in governance.

In his inaugural address, Member of Parliament Dr Karan Singh, called Anna's movement a remarkable victory for democracy while drawing the participants' attention towards how corruption had taken a horrendous turn in recent times. "In the late 50s I wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru that corruption is growing in our society. We are at present going through a series of multiple revolutions: economic, administrative, judicial, educational, social and political. We are proud of our growth, but if it simply means the number of millionaires tripling every year, it is a very poor index of our growth. Of all the reforms, electoral reforms are a priority and an urgent issue," said Singh.
The conference was attended by former Chief Justice of India, J S Verma, chief election commissioner of India, S Y Quraishi, former speaker of Lok Sabha, Balram Jakhar, chairman of Bihar Legislative Council, Tara Kant Jha, speaker of Uttarakhand, Harbans Kapoor, PWD minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Nabam Tuki, among others. Former speaker of Lok Sabha, P A Sangma, presided over the conference.

In the two working sessions, the participants debated issues like the representational legitimacy of the elected; high costs of elections and non-participation of people in selecting candidates; and role played by money, muscle, corruption, casteism, communalism and crime in election and party politics.

In his keynote address, Verma said, "The last few days have been a great learning experience turning my pessimism into optimism. What has pleased me immensely is that there is now reason to hope for an increase the participation of people in governance."

Verma added a candidate should be declared a winner only if he/ she manages to poll more than 50% votes. He recommended that party funding be audited with all sources being identified and an independent team monitor election campaigning. Singh opined said voting should be made compulsory and the funding of election expenses be streamlined. Countering the views of Verma and Singh, Quraishi in his address said more than 50% votes for the victorious candidate is impractical, while compulsory voting is against the spirit of democracy. He said voter education can do wonders for electoral reforms.

Quraishi said, "Debarring criminals involved in heinous crimes; bringing transparency in political transactions and accepting only cheque payments; and banning paid news and government advertisements six months before the elections will go a long way in bringing about electoral reforms."

The Times of India, 29 August, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Anna-wave-coincides-with-vow-to-purge-electoral-ills/articleshow/9775960.cms


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