A factual narration of what transpired when a citizen lodged a complaint for violation of the MCC to the highest levels in the ECI. Consider the following timeline: April 22, 2024: A complaint is lodged with the Election Commission of India (ECI), for violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by a star campaigner of one of […]
Reports
FM on Reviving Electoral Bonds: A Memory From the Past or a Continuing Saga?
There have been ample and unambiguous signals that the electoral bonds story is far from over. On 26 March 2024, former Finance and Economic Affairs Secretary of India Subhash Chandra Garg wrote a piece titled Electoral Bonds Are Now History. Did the Government Let the Donors Down? As the dust was still settling down on […]
INTERVIEW: ‘There is a lot still unaccounted for’: Jagdeep S. Chhokar
This article is an interview of Prof Chhokar, Founder Member and Trustee of ADR, with The Hindu. The founder of Association for Democratic Reforms concedes that the disclosure of the electoral bond scheme will not reduce election expenditure. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was the lead petitioner in the challenge to the electoral bonds scheme […]
Karnataka: A thumping victory and some concerns
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 […]
Money & star campaigners may not always be decisive
The people have spoken, and we have a new government. Congratulations to the voters who gave a clear majority to one party, thus preventing defections and toppling of the government like in 2018. Voters may have changed their mind because of the ‘40% government’ tag, referring to high levels of corruption. Perhaps they were upset […]
Benchmarks for ECs’ appointments
Needed: Citizens’ movement for electoral democracy
With several state elections due soon and the Lok Sabha election due in 2024, many citizen groups are perturbed about the massive money power and the criminal muscle power destroying the very integrity of India’s elections and are trying to build a citizens’ movement to overcome them. A gathering under the banner of the “Karnataka […]
Regulating freebies: Poll panel’s baffling turnabout
This article is an interview of Prof Chhokar, Founder Member and Trustee of ADR, with Civil Society Online. Promises fly thick and fast during election time. Political parties seek to outdo one another in getting the attention of voters. In the heat of the moment, mostly anything goes and voters are none the wiser […]
Not freebies, criminals in politics should be EC’s focus
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 […]
Opinion: Ensuring basic rights is not freebie culture
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 […]