By Our Reporter
Shillong: The use of money power in the election process and the easy access that persons accused of criminal acts have to enter Parliament are the only two major drawbacks of the election process in the country, former Chief Election Commissioner Navin B Chawla observed on Tuesday.
Admitting that money plays a big role in the election process, Chawla said that even though the flow of money for the state elections has been limited to Rs 16 lakh per candidate, yet people find various ways to spend money and ‘bribe the voters’.
“The desire to win elections is so great that people wouldn’t hesitate to break the rules,” the former CEC said adding that the Commission has even recommended for state funding for the not-so-rich aspiring candidates to give them a chance to win.
Chawla was highlighting these loopholes in the election process to a packed hall of students at St. Anthony’s College here.
Concerned over the entry of people with criminal records in the Parliament, Chawla said the Commission had written to the Government to ban entry of such people into the seat of power, however, the same was disagreed by the Parliamentary Committee.
Reacting to a query on the reports involving the intention of a former chairman of a banned militant outfit (Julius Dorphang of the HNLC) to contest the State elections, the former CEC said there are rules which needed to be followed including scrutinizing the criminal records of the aspirant by the Judiciary before he files his nomination.
Elaborating further on this matter, Chawla said people with criminal records have to undergo various steps before filing nominations which involves filing a statement of financial return and criminal records in the Supreme Court to ensure that he/she doesn’t carry the tag of a criminal proved guilty by a court of law.
“To stop criminals from entering the Parliament, there is need to form an association for clean governance besides highlighting the criminal records of a person,” he added.
Meanwhile stressing on the need to have leaders who have set examples in ethical behavior, Chawla said that young, dynamic people should come forward and offer themselves as candidates or as observers or as booth officers to assist in a clean and efficient functioning of the whole voting process.
Admitting that there was voters’ apathy in the last few elections, the former CEC said young people and the women folks of some areas especially the urban areas refrained from coming forward to exercise their franchise.
“However, things are changing and for the last two years, the Election Commission has been working on voters’ awareness in every state by adopting various means like using iconic figures to encourage people to vote,” he said.
Stating that it is difficult to have a compulsory voting system in the country, Chawla said the enormous population is one of the reasons, besides unorganised labour, poverty and the like.
While stressing on the point that ‘one vote makes a difference’, Chawla mentioned that with every negative aspect, there is a positive side too and the most powerful weapon is the right to vote and the right to change the government.
Replying to queries from the students on the educational qualifications for a candidate, Chawla said “I can’t help but agree that under-graduates also get a chance to contest elections but we also have to go back to 1951 when the country exercised its first franchise at the time when the degree of literacy was only 16 per cent as of 1947.”
He said that at that time, it was decided that anyone could contest elections while stating that it is unsure if at present the government can debate on the educational qualifications of a candidate with a limit set to start from the graduate level.
“It may be revised, but it may take another decade or two for this to happen as the country is only 62 years old and we also have to go as per the literacy graph,” he added.
Meanwhile, commenting on dates fixed by the Commission to conduct the electoral polls, Chawla said before announcing the dates, the Commission usually checks if the date set collides with any religious celebrations or other major celebrations.
However, counter attacking this statement, a lecturer of the college pointed out that since 1972 when assembly elections were conducted in Meghalaya, the date was always fixed in the month of February which happened to coincide with the different examinations leading to postponement of examinations for a week or a month, hampering the educational activities for the whole year.
Reacting to this, the former CEC stated that he was never informed about this matter even as he assured that he will look into the matter and discuss the same with the State Election department and the Election Commission of India.
Chawla also lauded the incredible voting power in Meghalaya which stood at 90 per cent which he termed as ‘exceptional’.
“While the rest of the country has around 60 per cent voting power, Meghalaya is exceptional as here there is a possibility that a candidate can win with 50 per cent or more votes,” he added.