REWIND

New Delhi, 19 October 2023

TIMELY REMINDER ON POLL REFORMS

By Inder Jit

(Released on 10 November 1987) 

Top Opposition leaders deserve a hand, thanks to a thoughtful initiative by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr N.T. Rama Rao. They have jointly directed the country’s attention once again to electoral reforms, a matter which merits greater importance today than ever before. The threat to our democracy from money power has greatly multiplied. Something will need to be done before long if our system is not to go under. Successive Governments at the Centre have been promising poll reforms over the past two decades, but with little result. Mr Rajiv Gandhi raised great expectations by his Government’s first major policy pronouncement through the President’s address to Parliament on January 17, 1985. The President then declared: “Government are committed to a clean public life. They intend to initiate wide-ranging discussions on electoral reforms with the Opposition parties.” Not long thereafter, the Government enacted the anti-defection law. However, nothing else has come thereafter. 

Fortunately for the country, others stepped in where the Government failed. The Rajaji Institute of Public Affairs and Administration organised seminars on electoral reforms early in 1986 first at Madras, then at Bombay and finally at Delhi. The seminar at Delhi was presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Mr Bal Ram Jakhar, inaugurated by the then Union Law Minister, Mr A.K. Sen, and chaired by Mr C. Subramaniam, former Union Minister who is Vice-President of the Institute. Importantly, the seminar was attended by Mr S.L. Shakdher, former Chief Election Commissioner who was then Director of the Institute, and the present Chief Election Commissioner, Mr R.V.S. Peri Sastri. Also present among the select group were Mr L.P. Singh, former Governor of the North-East Region, leading MPs, constitutional experts, academicians and editors. The BJP President, Mr L.K. Advani, spoke for most of us present as he declared: I hope this seminar on electoral reforms succeeds in goading the Government to fulfil its promise made fifteen months earlier! 

Understandably, the seminar largely covered familiar ground. There is hardly an aspect of electoral reforms which has not been considered or advocated during the past decade and more. Nonetheless, the seminar served a useful purpose on at least two counts. First, a consensus was reached on some minimum electoral reforms which need to be put through immediately. The Law Minister, Mr Sen, himself agreed to some of the suggestions. What is more, he informed the seminar that he had submitted “a long memorandum” on the subject to the Prime Minister. Second, the seminar spotlighted a new threat to the independence of the Election Commission and the future of our young democracy --- a threat which regrettably had thus far not been taken up by our Parliamentarians. On February 25 last year, the former Chief Election Commissioner, Mr R.K. Trivedi, was appointed the Governor of Gujarat. Mr Trivedi had reason to rejoice as the first CEC to be awarded gubernatorial honours. But appointment flew in the face of vital democratic conventions. 

The Law Minister had unfortunately to leave the seminar by the time it agreed that the independence of the Election Commission should be ensured. It would have been interesting to get his response to Mr Trivedi’s appointment as Governor. (Circles close to Mr Sen indicated at the time that the appointment came to him as a surprise!) However, Mr Sen was one with the rest of the seminar in introducing two reforms straightaway. He expressed himself strongly in favour of giving every voter an identity card with a photograph to fight the evil of impersonation. The indelible ink was not any great help as it could “be rubbed off in no time”. Importantly, he also expressed himself in favour of electronic voting machines in the interest both of economy and of fighting the growing menace of booth capturing. The cost, he said, would not be too high. The chances of error were minimal. He also felt that electoral officers needed to be given magisterial powers to deal with increasing poll violence even though this evil was prevalent only in a few States such as Bihar and Haryana. 

The seminar also agreed on the need for Government funding of elections, as in West Germany and many other countries. Opinion was, however, divided on the extent of funding -- part or whole. Mr Sen ruled out total funding in an informal talk with me later but he was one with the present Chief Election Commissioner, Mr Peri Sastri, in funding political parties in kind. Some participants favoured a reform of the political parties and adoption of some device through which the nexus between black money and elections could be broken. Many felt that this could be achieved by getting parties to maintain proper accounts and providing for compulsory audit. But I took the opportunity to press for a law for political parties, as in West Germany. This law proceeds on the basis that political parties must function democratically if they are to operate the democratic system properly. The law provides for the registration of parties and also financial accountability to the people. The suggestion was welcomed. However, some MPs felt it needed to be given greater thought. 

NTR has now picked up the thread where it was left by the seminar. Last month, he convened a meeting of political parties, intellectuals, experts and editors at the State and national levels and helped evolve a consensus on comprehensive electoral reforms. (The Congress-I was represented at the State level). However, it stayed away at the national level.) Most of the recommendations are along familiar lines. But the principal thrust is now on State funding of elections to eliminate what NTR rightly described as “the great plague of money power”. Prominent among the other proposals are: (a) Appointment of the Election Commission by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and not only by the Government of day; (b) reduction of voting age from 21 years to 18 years; (c) equal treatment of all recognised political parties for the allocation of time on AIR and Doordarshan; (d) strict enforcement of the code of conduct for electioneering; (e) access of all recognised parties to the use of official planes etc. on payment of prescribed charges; and (f) simultaneous elections to Parliament and the State Assemblies. 

Not only that. NTR went one stage further to leave the two conclaves in no doubt that he means business. He announced his decision to go ahead with state funding of polls in elections to a11 local bodies and to bring forward suitable legislation without waiting for the Union Government's initiative. The Legislation would provide inter alia exclusive State funding of elections to local bodies like Mandala Praja Parishads, Zila Parishads, Municipal Corporations and Municipalities etc. and would be in the nature of a model bill. The Chief Minister clarified his ideas to State funding of civic elections in an informative booklet entitled: Electoral Reforms Relating to State Funding of Local Body Elections in Andhra Pradesh. Exclusive state funding of elections is proposed only in respect of candidates who secure at least 1/6th of the total valid votes polled at an election in a given constituency. Others in the elections fray will have to meet their own expenses. Advances are also proposed to be given to political parties. But these would require to be refunded in constituencies where a party failed to secure the minimum prescribed votes. 

Importantly, State funding of elections was specifically recommended by the Election Commission’s Report on the General Elections to the Lok Sabha, 1980, and the Legislative Assemblies, 1979-80. Mr Shakdher, who was then the Chief Election Commissioner, said in the report: “The Commission is of the view that there should be an election fund from which amounts could be drawn as and when required under orders of the Election Commission for the following purposes: (1) Revision of electoral rolls; (2) Conduct of elections; (3) Shortage of election materials and records; (4) Payment of subvention to political parties; and (5) Issue of photographed identity cards.” The Commission also went into the size of the fund and proposed that “the fund should initially be of the order of Rs 100 crores for a period of five years. The share of the Central Government on the one hand and various State Governments and Union Territory Administrations on the other may be on 50:50 basis. The Central Government and State Governments each may contribute Rs 10 crores every year so that over a period of five years the proposed fund of Rs 100 crores may be made up.” 

True, prices have shot up since 1980. But it should not be difficult to implement Mr Shakdher’s idea by doubling the figure of Rs 100 crores to Rs 200 crores. True also, the amount seems big when you look at the resources crunch against the backdrop of the unprecedented drought. But it should not be impossible to find this money if one realises that Doordarshan is reported to have been given Rs 200 crores for providing live telecast of the World Cup Cricket series. (Not many remember that Mr C.M. Stephens as a top Congress-I leader eloquently pressed for State funding of the polls during the Janata rule!) Personally, I am clear that eliminating the evil of money power from the polls is tackling only half the malady. The other half is elimination of the evil of money power from the functioning of political parties, which are today more in the nature of private limited companies. However, the important thing is to make a beginning. Mr Rajiv Gandhi should respond positively to the timely reminder by NTR and other Opposition leaders and start the long-promised dialogue for poll reforms. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)