Let’s aim for transparent funding trails and reduced influence of money on poll outcomes While “political party” is not entirely absent as a mention in India’s Constitution, it finds space only in the 10th Schedule, which was added in 1985, brought about by the introduction of an anti-defection law. Otherwise, could it be that the […]
The GoI was prodded after 73 years to table a Bill when the March 2023 SC judgment constituted a three-member bipartisan selection committee comprising the PM, CJI and LOP to appoint the CEC and ECs. But the Bill’s selection panel comprising the PM, LOP and a Union minister allows the Executive to retain control over […]
The problem of cleansing politics has a supply side and a demand side. The latter aspect means that voters need to choose clean candidates. Demand for tainted politicians should decrease. It is a record broken after thirty-four years. Both in terms of numbers of seats and vote share, the Congress Party’s victory in the elections […]
If a candidate makes an outlandish election promise, it is for the voter to decide whether to buy it or not. While the central poll panel labours over what is essentially a policy matter, an election practice that is actually problematic is not getting its attention In 1999, the Association for Democratic Reforms filed a […]
Promises of welfare spending should not be equated to a reckless freebie culture or a race to the bottom. It must be understood that welfare spending is essential to partly redress the widening inequality in Indian society India has been managing the world’s largest and longest running free food programme since April 2020. This is […]
The apex court has asked parties and candidates to widely publicise criminal histories in local and national newspapers, as well as on social media, including Twitter and Facebook. The published material must list details of the offence, charges framed, etc. The party has to explain why the candidate was chosen despite the criminal taint. Merely […]
In December 2015 the founder and Chief Executive of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, wrote passionately in The Times of India why it was important to give free access to internet. He was promoting the idea of ‘Free Basics’ launched by Facebook. It would give free access to basic internet services to all Indians. No charge would […]
In the run-up to the 2012 presidential elections in the United States, the Guardian newspaper published a story on how the Obama re-election communities. This style of micro-targeting was borrowed from the methods of marketing and advertising campaigns of successful consumer goods companies. This strategy was a phenomenal success. As the Guardian article said, if the […]
Unless we disqualify criminal candidates from standing for elections, our legislatures will keep getting more and more tainted The Supreme Court this week came down heavily on criminalisation of politics. It asked political parties to explain why they need to give tickets to people with criminal backgrounds. The court also asked them to publicise widely, […]
As campaigning in Maharashtra, Haryana begins, parties are back to promises. How will voters choose? It was one year ago that India’s parliament passed the landmark Food Security Act legislation, the Right to Food. The FSA guarantees subsidized rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 75 per cent of rural, and 50 per cent of urban […]