-The Telegraph After the third general elections held in 1962, the scholar-statesman, C. Rajagopalachari, wrote a fascinating, if now forgotten, essay on the imperfections of our young democracy. "The Indian electorate", remarked Rajaji, "suffers from well-known defects from which Western democracies are relatively free. The Indian voters are in great measure poor and vulnerable to bribery: even a day's expense for food serves to buy a large number of the poor...

-The Hindu Disappointed by the government’s track record in implementing anti-corruption measures, a group of eminent citizens has decided to take the initiative of setting up a forum to hear complaints of corruption or malfeasance from whistleblowers. Called the Citizens Whistleblowers Forum (CWF), it would “act as a unique, credible platform to provide much-needed confidence to whistleblowers” to expose, without fear, “cases of corruption or wilful misuse of powers”, said a statement...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In the eleven years between 2004-05 and 2014-15, political parties of all colours, including ones which swore by transparency, got contributions worth more than $1 billion (Rs 6,800 crore) from unknown sources, a study by an independent think tank says. The historic financial `performance' of these parties which raked in more than Rs 11,000 crore in total income (this includes the Rs 6,800 crore) during this...

-The Indian Express Under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, individuals in lawful custody of the police and those serving a sentence of imprisonment after conviction cannot vote. The Election Commission (EC) has set up a seven-member committee to explore the possibility of lifting the ban on voting for prisoners. Under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, individuals in lawful custody of the police...

-The Hindu The politics of patronage and personality in the State has reduced the electorate to passive recipients of welfare. “The food is good. The place is clean. Actually, I prefer the cleanliness over the menu,” P. Divaraj chuckles. “The real reason I’m here is because it’s the end of the month and I’m running out of money.” A 10-minute walk from his office to Amma Unavagam on Santhome High Road in...