– An article by Maj Gen Anil Verma (Retd) (Head of ADR) and Ms Shelly Mahajan (Program and Research Manager (Political Party Watch) at ADR) There is a need for intervention to ensure healthy electoral competition and to diversify the sources of political funding. Otherwise, it is always the citizens at large who end up […]
Author: Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.)
Give NOTA more teeth to cleanse electoral system
Instead of deriding NOTA as a toothless or failed idea, all stakeholders must combine to make it stronger ‘None of the above’ (NOTA) as an option was introduced in the EVMs on the basis of the Supreme Court judgement in the PUCL vs Union of India case of September 27, 2013. The court then stated, […]
Criminality in politics: A point of no return?
Disqualification at the stage of framing of charges, accompanied by other legal safeguards, could be an effective means to curb such criminalisation. EARLIER this week, while hearing a petition seeking a lifetime ban on convicted politicians, the Supreme Court observed that it found no logic in a convicted legislator being barred from contesting elections for […]
Electoral Bonds and the muzzling of people’s right to know who funds political parties
Will the government bring an ordinance to overrule the SC judgement? Unlikely, because all the amendments done to various acts – IT Act, Companies Act, RPA 1951 – have been struck down as unconstitutional. Moreover, SC has upheld the citizens right to know on sources of political funding. Hence any future scheme introduced to curb […]
A Big Bang Poll Reform: Taking Election Commissioner selection out of government’s hands was long overdue
Supreme Court has done what successive governments shied away from. Selection of CEC and ECs by government was problematic. With weighty decisions on conducting elections and adjudicating disputes between parties to be made by this high constitutional office, election commissioner selection is best taken out of Executive’s hands On May 17, 2021, the Association for […]
भारतीय लोकतंत्र एवं चुनाव सुधार की आवश्यकता
चुनाव और उसका भ्रष्टाचार, अन्याय, धनबल की ताकत और तानाशाही और प्रशासन की अक्षमता, जीवन को नर्क बना देगी।