Despite the ECI’s enquiries and reassurances, there is a fairly widespread impression that the attempted linking of electoral roll data with Aadhaar may have resulted in the disenfranchisement of legitimate voters. After a gap of six years, the dubious linkage between voters IDs with Aadhaar numbers is back in the news. It was reported on […]
PROF JAGDEEP S CHHOKAR is one of the founding members of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) — one of the leading voluntary organisations dedicated to strengthening democracy and improving governance in the country. He has worked for electoral reforms through the judicial system by filing Public Interest Litigations in the higher judiciary to get […]
The Election Commission recently mooted connecting electoral expense limits to population and inflation; but will that create a level playing field between rich and poor candidates? “Indian politicians start their legislative careers with a lie — the false spending returns they submit? – Atal Bihari Vajpayee” Achchhe din (Good days) are here for at least one category of persons in India: […]
The Karnataka state polls are scheduled for May 12. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Anil Verma With only a few days remaining before the Karnataka state polls scheduled for May 12, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed the affidavits of about 96% of the candidates. The study revealed some shocking facts about gender disparity, as well as the […]
A Case Study A total of 1698 political parties are registered with the Election Commission of India, out of which only 464 parties contested the Lok Sabha 2014 elections. So, the important question is ‘why are there so many parties registered with the ECI when three-fourth of them do not even participate in elections, the […]
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 […]