Electoral Reforms In India

Indian Democracy

• India is a vibrant democracy with people electing their representatives at several levels beginning from local bodies & panchayats to the Parliament.
  • India has Parliamentary system of governance which is based on Britain’s Westminster model of constitutional democracy.

India is the largest democracy in the world. Elections are the most integral and important part of politics in a democratic system of governance. True democracy can function only when elections to the offices of power are held in a free and fair manner.

However, corrupt politicians with criminal records, caste- and religion-based politics, and allegations of vote-buying, have defeated the very purpose of such democratic process.

Issues in Electoral Politics in India

There are multiple issues plaguing the electoral process in India. Some of the most prominent ones are mentioned below.

Money Power

In every constituency, candidates have to spend crores of rupees for campaigning, publicity, etc. Most candidates far exceed the permissible limit of expenses.

_{Muscle Power}

In certain parts of the country, there are widespread reports of illegal and untoward incidents during polling such as the use of violence, intimidation, booth capturing, etc.

Criminalisation of Politics and Politicization of Criminals

Criminals enter into politics and ensure that money and muscle power wins them elections, so that the cases against them are not proceeded with. Political parties are also happy as long as they have winnable candidates. Political parties field criminals in elections for funds and in return provide them with political patronage and protection.

Vote-buying: 

The rise of illegitimate expenditure on vote-buying has become a matter of great concern as it is making only the rich to be more qualified to become an MP (Member of Parliament) or an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) over a well-qualified public-spirited person.

• As can be seen, out of 533 candidates elected to the 17^th Lok Sabha (2019-present), 475 Parliamentarians (accounting for 88%) are ‘crorepatis’. This reflects the paradoxical situation of poor India with rich Parliamentarians raising concerns about the growing role of money power in politics.

Casteism

There are cases of certain caste groups lending strong support to particular political parties. Thus, political parties make offers to win over different caste groups, and caste groups also try to pressurize parties to offer tickets for their members’ elections. Voting on caste lines is prevalent in the country and this is a serious blotch on democracy and equality. This also creates rifts in the country.

Communalism 

Communal polarization poses a serious threat to the Indian political ethos of pluralism, parliamentarianism, secularism and federalism.

Flaws in the Criminal Justice System

• In India, an accused is presumed to be innocent unless pronounced guilty by the Courts. The rate of conviction for politicians is abysmally low, with just 6% in criminal cases. This implies that a large number of accused politicians with criminal background actually go unpunished from a Court of law, and are not disqualified from contesting elections further.

Measures by ECI:

• Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS): To allow an applicant to track the progress of his/her application.
• Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation Programme (SVEEP): ECI organizes voter awareness campaigns in order to educate the voters.

Measures by Judiciary

Supreme Court in following cases recommended various reforms:

• In Union of India versus Association of Democratic Reforms 2002 case: Contesting candidates need to disclose all their assets and liabilities, criminal convictions, etc. at the time of filing their nomination paper.
• In Ramesh Dalal versus Union of India 2005 case: A legislator is disqualified from contesting elections if, on the day of filing the nomination papers, he/she stands convicted in a Court of law.
• In Lily Thomas versus Union of India 2013 case: The nature of disqualification for being a member of the House as provided under Article 101(3) & 190(3) is automatic and takes place with immediate effect.
• In People’s Union of Civil Liberties versus Union of India 2013 case: Voters enjoy “Right to Negative Vote” in the election process and directed the ECI to include the choice of “NOTA” in the ballot paper.

Following are the Constitutional articles related to electoral reforms:

1. Article 324-329 deals with elections and electoral reforms.

2. Article 324 deals with the Superintendence, direction, and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission.

3. Article 325 states that no person to be ineligible for inclusion in or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.

4. Article 326 deals with the Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage.

5. Article 327 provides power to the Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures.

6. Article 328 provides power to Legislature of a State to make provision with respect to elections to such Legislature.

7. Article 329 provides to create a bar on the court to make any interference by courts relating to electoral matters.

Reforms needed:

• Law Commission in its 255^th Report on Electoral Reforms inter-alia recommended strengthening of the office of the ECI in order to provide more independence and tooth to the institution.
• The ‘First Past the Post System’, in which a person with the highest votes (even with one extra vote) is declared winner, needs to be changed. Rather, a minimum percentage of total votes polled can be fixed for declaring a candidate as the winner. This could restrict the criminals from getting elected as not everybody in a constituency votes on party lines.

At Party Level

• Limit on Party Expenditure: There must be a limit on the expenditure of the party. A time frame must be set for accounting the expenditure of parties and must be made public before the actual date of elections so that the voters and the concerned authorities could be priorly informed.
  • Consequently, audit of political parties accounts must be conducted in order to make them accountable.
• Political parties need to be brought under the ambit of Right to Information Act (RTI) Act, 2005.
• All parties should be given equal media space or air time so as to provide a level playing field.

At Voter’s Level: 

Voters need to be educated regarding the significance of their vote. They should be made aware & well-informed about the candidate they seek to vote, thereby rejecting those who try to entice them with freebies.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that the Election Commission of India needs to be stricter regarding the implementation of the election reforms. It is observed that the Election Commission is working on a “Chalta hai Attitude” which is not good for the development of the healthy democracy in the country.