Democracy cannot be used to derive private benefit at public cost

The ensuing December 5 bypolls to 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka are the result of defections from the then ruling coalition. The government fell, the Supreme Court was approached, and now we have 165 candidates contesting these elections. The court upheld their disqualification (of the rebels), but said they were eligible to contest again. Engineering […]

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How candidates and political parties are using social media for electoral campaigning?

The idea of social media as a force-multiplier in politics has gained virality in our minds, especially in last four years. According to Datareportal’s Digital 2019: India report, 1 out of total population of 1.361 billion, around 41% i.e. 560 million Indians are active users of internet and total no. of active social media users […]

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Crime and Money in Electoral Politics: How can this trend be reversed?

Systemic corruption and sponsored criminalization have corroded the fundamental core of elective democracy and consequently, the constitutional governance. On one hand there is a free flow of unaccounted money at the disposal of political parties during elections and on the other hand, criminal elements have been playing a major role in the electoral process in […]

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Following a Trail of Digital Breadcrumbs – Are the 2019 Elections Truly Safe?

  The Neta app, which sprung up last year and allows users to rate their leaders, has some murky connections to media houses, political analysts and big businesses, raising red flags on the possible misuse of data. The front page of The Tribune on March 21, 2019, carried the following full-page advertisement: It promises people to help them […]

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