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NT Bureau
Chennai, July 8:
 

Former MP Era Chezhiyan, former Supreme Court Judge S Natarajan and former Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy at a lecture on Electoral Reform at Triplicane yesterday.

        Whenever there is a presence of eminent personalities, crowd turns up in large numbers even without knowing why the particular programme is being organised.

        This was not the case when a special lecture on 'Electoral Reform' was organised by The Dawn, a cultural and social association, and Sri Krishna Sweets, at Mahakavi Bharathiar Memorial Illam, at Triplicane, yesterday. Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) T S Krishnamurthy and other resource persons with a handful of audience were present on the occasion.

        Speaking on the occasion, the former CEC called for a change in the current design of the electoral system in the country, He said the present system ought to be changed or it would be a threat to democracy and the unity of the country.

        Demanding recommendations for electoral reforms, he said disqualifying a candidate, who has a chargesheet filed against him one year before the announcement of date of the election, should be done.

        Making compulsory voting a statutory would bring no desired results for the attitude has to come from within, he added.

        A K Venkatasubramanian of Catalyst Trust said, 'Until and unless there was an effective demand backed up by voting power, we would not able to come across electoral reforms.'

        'As a socially responsible activists, we have to inform the public about electoral reforms', he added.

        He also expressed hope of making the electoral reform campaign a success despite the handful audience turned up at the meeting.

        Former MP Era Chezhiyan, who said illiteracy has to be rooted out, also said it was ethics which determine the mindset of the public, hence the call for electoral reforms.

        Former Supreme Court Judge S Natarajan also spoke.