The polls and the polis

The polls and the polis
Posted online: Nov 25, 2008 at 0055 hrs

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-polls-and-the-polis/390166/

Trilochan Sastry & Jagdeep S. Chhokar

In the current state assembly elections in Delhi, 28 per cent of the candidates fielded by each of the two major parties, the BJP and the Congress, have criminal cases pending against them, followed by the BSP with 25 per cent. Candidates from these three major parties face a total of 37 cases for crimes like murder and attempt to murder, kidnapping, cheating and forgery. This is after the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate announced in the “Vijay Sankalp” rally on October 18 that his party would henceforth not field any candidate with a criminal background even if he was likely to win (IE, October 19, 2008). Similar statements were made by leaders of other parties. Considering the 45 sitting MLAs of Delhi who are re-contesting the elections, the average increase in assets from 2003 to 2008, is 211 per cent or almost Rs. 1.8 crores per MLA. It is not known whether this increase is in keeping with their “known sources of earning” or not.

The situation in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections is similar. BJP, BSP, and Congress lead the field in terms of candidates with criminal cases pending against them. While 14 per cent each of the BJP and Congress candidates have criminal cases pending against them, the BSP leads the way with 16 per cent. The average increase in assets of the re-contesting Chhattisgarh MLAs is close to Rs.65 lakhs per MLA. In percentage terms it is 213 per cent, and very similar to Delhi.

The Supreme Court judgments of May 2, 2002 (Case No. SCC 399) and March 13, 2003 make it mandatory for candidates contesting elections to Parliament and state assemblies to disclose pending criminal cases, past convictions, and financial and educational backgrounds. This information can now be obtained from returning officers and from the election commission websites. The judgment was in response to a PIL filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (www.adrindia.org) and was vigourously contested by the political parties. Since then citizen election watches have emerged all over the country. Over 25,000 candidate records have been scrutinised and analysed. Information about how many candidates have declared assets of more than Rs. 1 crore but have not declared their permanent account numbers (PANs); how many candidates claim to have zero cash but their assets run into several lakhs and crores, and how many claim they have zero cash, zero deposits, and zero assets; and how many have declared assets of more than Rs.60-70 lakhs and say that they do not possess any motor vehicle, has now become available to citizens/voters.

At present over 1200 citizen groups have come together under the banner of National Election Watch (NEW). It is a citizen-led, non-political, non-partisan effort to cleanse the electoral and political systems. Several eminent citizens including retired justices of the high courts and Supreme Court, retired IAS and IPS officers, leaders of NGOs and people’s movements, media persons, academics and businessmen have joined this movement. Disseminating the above information to voters well before the day of polling, so that they can make an informed choice is part of the strategy. Starting this year, an SMS campaign is underway in which people can receive free alerts on a candidate’s financial and criminal background, and information on political parties. A toll-free helpline on which people can ask any questions related to their candidates or the parties is also working. Details are also available on the Internet. The strategy of these groups is to work closely with the local language media, and to also disseminate information through posters, pamphlets, meetings, meet-your-candidate platforms, help lines and SMS campaigns. The focus is non-English speaking grassroots voters.

At the same time, there is spiralling growth in election spending. Unless we tackle this, corruption in public life will get worse, and vitiate elections, democracy and governance. The campaign will also monitor election spending and educate voters about the consequences of electing someone who spends too much. The campaign will also disseminate information on income tax returns of political parties.
Almost ten years of effort has resulted in fewer candidates with criminal records. There is however, a long way to go. Information obtained under the Right to Information Act shows that a large number of parties have got significant income tax exemptions which should not be allowed under law as they have not submitted statements of donations. Action needs to be taken by the income tax department and the election commission. There are laws governing companies, cooperatives, charities, societies, educational institutions, hospitals and religious institutions, but not a single law governing political parties. There is an urgent need for this in line with best democratic practices in other countries. Greater citizen participation will make political parties more accountable to us, the people.

The writers are former IIM faculty