The 130th Amendment Bill’s framing betrays its political motive. Ajit Ranade on why it’s not about keeping criminals out of power In late February, a Delhi court discharged all 23 accused in the excise policy case, ruling there was “no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent” in the policy at issue. One of the accused had spent 530 […]
political parties
Congratulations, BJP, Opposition-Mukt Bharat Is Almost a Reality
I believe it is the institutions, or more specifically, institutional capture that has contributed very significantly to this success. Political commentary comes in two broad forms. The commentator either supports a particular ideology or political thinking, or tends or pretends to be neutral and tries to explain events or situations seemingly “objectively”. Regardless of the […]
Delhi Assembly Election Results: Did RSS Dump the AAP?
The RSS kind-of adopted the India Against Corruption movement from behind the scenes. The commanding win of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi assembly elections , and the almost total decimation of the Indian National Congress (INC) – couldn’t win a single seat in three consecutive elections – have […]
पहले आंतरिक लोकतंत्र को सुनिश्चित करें राजनीतिक पार्टियां
ECI Has Forgotten Elections Aren’t Just About Parties – They’re About the People
The Election Commission’s letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge makes the ECI appear to be one of the contestants in the electoral fray. As a longtime observer of the electoral and political scene in India, I write this with great anguish. What prompts this piece is the letter that the Election Commission of India (ECI) […]
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 […]
Transparency in poll funding could lead to a national clean-up
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 […]
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 […]