Bhopal Elections 2008 - Thoughts 1

 
So, it is election time again.
The holiday for most, which comes usually after a gap of four years. If you are fortunate, it comes sooner once in a while, if the government falls premturely. It is a holiday indeed, because most of us do not bother to get into the muck.
What is the point we say, when you have so few options?
It will be either the rogues of this party, or the gundas of the other party.
Following is a synopsis of the candidates that were made available to us to be elected for the year 2004:

S.No.	Candidates’ Name	Constituency	Party	Criminal Antecedence
1	Ganesh	Satna (8)	BJP	Public servant disobeying, Public servant framing an incorrect record, Cheating, Forgery of a valuable security, Fraudulently destroying a will.
2	Rajendra Kumar Singh	Satna (8)	Congress	Criminal conspiracy to commit offence punishable with death.
3	Chandramani	Rewa (9)	BJP	Obscene songs, Voluntarily causing hurt, Assault of criminal forces and Voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty, Rioting armed with deadly weapon, Criminal intimidation.
4	Prahlad Singh Patel	Chhindwara (16)	BJP	Obscene songs, Voluntarily causing hurt, Wrongfully restraining, Mischief and thereby causing damage to the amount of 50 rupees or upwards.
5	Chandrabhan Singh	Damoh (7)	BJP	Dishonestly receiving stolen property, knowing it was obtained by dacoity.
6	Ashok Vir Vikram Singh	Khajuraho (6)	SP	Rioting armed with deadly weapon, Obscene song, Voluntarily causing hurt, Theft, Criminal trespass, Cheating, Section 39/39A of electricity act.
7	Indrabhan Yadav	Rewa (9)	SP	Murder
8	Vijaybahadur Singh Bundela	Damoh (7)	SP	Rioting armed with deadly weapon, Obscene song, Assult or use criminal forces and voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from discharg of his duty, Causing grievous hurt by an act which endangers human life, Wrongfully restraining any person, Criminal intimidation.
9	Naresh Kumar	Sagar (5)	BSP	Rioting armed with deadly weapon, Obscene songs, Attempt to murder, Cheating, Voluntarily causing hurt, Assault or use of criminal forces to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty, Criminal intimidation.
10	Narendra Singh	Satna (8)	BSP	Obscene songs, Voluntarily causing hurt, Rioting.
11	Kankar Munjare	Balaghat (12)	Janta Party	Rioting armed with deadly weapon, Disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant, Obscene songs, Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, Assault or use of criminal force to public servant from discharge of his duty, Mischief,Ciminal intimidation, Destroying of public property.
12	Vimla Sondhia	Rewa (9)	Lok Jan Sakti Party	Rioting armed with deadly weapon, Obscene songs, Attempt to murder, Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, Mischief and thereby causing damage to the amount of 50 rupees or upwards, Criminal trespass, Mischief by fire or explosive substance, Criminal intimidation.
13	Rajeshwari	Seoni (15)	Godwana Gantantra Party	Obscene songs, Rioting, Voluntarily causing hurt Criminal intimidation
14	Dinesh Sahu	Chhindwara (16)	Independent	Obscene songs, Voluntarily causing hurt.
15	Gurubachan Singh Bedi	Jabalpur (14)	Independent	Attempt to murder.
16	Chandrabhan Patel	Damoh (7)	Independent	Assault or use of criminal forces to a women with intent to outrage her modesty, Lurking house-tresspass.

Sadly, this is an accepted fact of the largest democracy of th world. Inspite of the large strides that has been made by India, the fact remains that most of us have retired to a mind set that "to survive in politics, this is what is required". Check out Damoh (7) candidates in the list above for example. The matching of muscle power is almost shamefuly equal. Politics is the ultimate frontier which can be reformed only by infusion of educated persons. As the rot is very deep set, that does not appear to be happening very soon. 
Till that happen, does it have to be a holiday? What is the point in casting/wasting a vote on one of the criminals? Well there is a way available to register your protest against the existing system. As per Mr S. V. Raju, President, Indian Liberal Group (ILG):

Among the reasons for poor voter turnout in the cities, particularly of the middle and upper classes, is the complaint that they have no real choice considering the poor quality of candidates and the poor public image of the parties these candidates represent. Secondly, many citizens believe that their votes are not really going to make a difference.
Since in the ensuing elections there is no provision for indicating rejection of candidates on the ballot, except by invalidating the vote by ambiguous voting – that is, putting the stamp on the line separating one candidate’s name from another -- the Indian Liberal Group recommends a solution that already exists in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. This not only gives reluctant voters a reasonable choice, but also ensures that their vote does make a difference.
Rule No. 49(O) in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 says:
“Elector deciding not to vote. - If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17 A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer, and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark. “

In other words, a voter can go to the polling station and tell the presiding officer that s/he does not wish to cast her/his vote. The presiding officer will make a remark that the voter does not wish to vote and take the voter’s signature against his/her name in the register of voters (Form 17A). At the end of the day, the presiding officer will, in totalling the number of votes cast, also include the number of electors who refused to cast their vote. By doing so, voters make it clear to all political parties that they are not satisfied with the kind of candidates put up by them. Though they have done their duty as citizens by going to the polling station, they have not found anyone on the ballot paper who deserves their vote. This is the Protest Vote.
If large numbers of citizens exercise their franchise in this manner, political parties will be forced to be far more careful in ensuring they do not nominate crooks and criminals or incompetents as their candidates next time round. This in turn will see the emergence of honest and committed candidates getting into Parliament and state legislatures in the long run, thus leading the way to good governance.
After the present elections have concluded, the Indian Liberal Group will press for the Protest Vote facility on electronic voting machines the next time round, so that voters have the option to say “None of the Above” after scrutinizing the candidates on the ballot.
(For further information email: Mr S. V. Raju)

The Indian Liberal Group (ILG) is an organisation founded in 1964, by the late Minoo Masani, author and parliamentarian, to promote the Liberal point of view on issues of the day. The ILG aims not only to present the Liberal point of view, but to educate the public about the concept of Liberalism so that it is understood and accepted not merely as a method of economic engineering, but also as a philosophy of governance that promotes a civil society. The ILG seeks to emphasise the fact that a market economy by itself does not ensure an open society; that a free economy and a free society are two sides of the same coin; and that, a free, liberal and democratic society alone will ensure a satisfying standard of life for the people.
Another Organisation working on the same lines is Association Of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-political, non-partisan & non-governmental organisation, they use sunlight to disinfect Indian electoral politics. They compile information about the candidates’ financial and criminal records and share it with the electorate. (The list of candidates given above is from their web site). After filing many Public Interest Litigations, thay have been able to make the Spreme Court Of India declare the following Rights for voters:

• Every voter/citizen now has a right to know about the criminal, financial, and educational background of the candidates contesting elections to Parliament and the State Assemblies.
• This background is contained in the affidavit which has to be filed by every candidate along with the nomination form.
• Every voter/citizen has the right to obtain a copy of the affidavit filed by the candidate.
• Copies of affidavits can be obtained from the (a) Returning Officer of each constituency, or (b) District Election Officers which usually are the Collectors of each district.
• Copies of the affidavits filed by the candidates will be supplied to anyone and everyone without discrimination.

Ahead of upcoming state assembly elections in six states, including Delhi, Rajasthan & Chattisgarh, ADR is looking for (paid) volunteers to:

• Assemble information on contesting candidates (criminal records, assets/liabilities, educational qualifications),
• Monitor election expenses incurred by electoral candidates and political parties,
• Disseminate all this information to the public to help them make an informed choice, using a variety of channels such as media, SMS campaigns, e-mailers, etc

Volunteers are expected to put in 8 to 10 hours a day over a two-week period. ADR will pay a small honorarium to cover travel and other expenses.
If you believe you can play a small role in safeguarding India’s democracy, contact Anil Bairwal (email or telephone +91 11 6590 1524).
Cartoon courtesy : Neeraj Gupta