Today’s polls are a far cry from those halcyon days of the hustings when an election was one more festival in this land of many festivals. Yes, the charm may have gone, with the whole affair getting tame and colourless, thanks to an outfit called Election Commission run by serious looking and finicky gentle(?)men who live for the rule, by the rule and of the rule. But it may be deemed a worthy price to pay for peace beyond 10 PM, clean walls and of course, a much needed check on political tongues and power mongering. Rather, it is a matter of profound pleasure to watch the discomfiture of our reps squirming like errant school boys before the not-so-EC taskmasters. The strict implementation of the model code, despite its occasional pitfals, is the best thing that has happened to Indian democracy – the Bihar polls were proof that the process has become truly free and fair from being a free for all.
Now to the flip side. While a no-nonsense EC might have corrected the micro problems of the electoral exercise, many macro issues remain unredressed. Political pundits often blame the electoral system for corruption that plagues politics. The model code, at best, might have curbed its blatant display, but the insidious play of money power during polls is an undeniable fact.
In TN, with the EC now calling a halt to official doles (AIADMK rules the State, while DMK rules in Centre), the main protogonists are sparing no expense albeit undercover. In any case, it is an investment that could be recouped several times over once in power. But for now, besides money, caution reigns. Any inducement in kind could be easily traced or photographed, what with both parties controlling mass media. So, hard cash, instead, is deemed the best bet and is delivered by DTH! Money bags are already flying thick and fast. So much for the EC ceilings on electoral spending or furnishing of expenditure details, not to speak of bribing of voters. But there could be a bit of pervert pleasure that some socialism is being achieved, at last!
Again, the model code’s very first fatwa that no party or candidate shall exploit caste or community tensions is a joke in TN. On the cotrary, only caste arithmetic matters here. And the likes of PMK or Dalit Panthers do not even lay claim to anything beyond caste even as a semblance! While the Forward Block is of Thevars, The New Justice Party, with an equally lofty nomenclature, represents Mudaliars. Incidentally, these two have also split, on the lines of, what else, sub-castes! Every caste association, be it of the Nayudus or Brahmins or whatever are being courted and they too reciprocate, wallowing in their new found importance. Even the ‘progressive’ leftists or the ‘secular’ Congress are ‘caste’ in the same mould, in fielding ‘appropriate’ candidates. Indeed, if the EC is serious, it should be disqualifying virtually every candidate!
And that takes us to the irksome issue of disqualifications. The EC could disqualify a candidate on either Constitutional or Statutory grounds. Apart from the usual reasons like unsound mind or undischarged insolvency, the law is quite clear, in its spirit, on who can and who cannot contest elections and the onus on deciding it rests with the EC, the returning officers, to be precise. But hold your breath, if the spirit of law is what counts, most of the main leaders would not stand a chance and the Returning officers would only be, well, returning every nomination. Aah, but we know that the law has long ago been exorcised of its spirit, with only the caracass of the letter of law remaining!
Sample these grounds for disqualification:
If the candidate has a subsisting contract with the government: Government advertisements to their ‘kept’ media is a case in point. The Tansi deal of the past comes perilously close to this provision. Now we shall not rake up the scores of benami deals of politicos in power for reasons of brevity! But rest assured, most government contracts have political beneficiaries who contest elections.
If the candidate had held office under the State and was dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the State: Now Karunanidhi’s governments were dismissed twice, the first time in 1976 for corruption and the second in 1991 for dalliance with the LTTE, an unquestionable anti-State act. These dismissals were not challenged in court, and so are deemed valid. Since he was the CM, it can be argued that he too was ‘dismissed while holding office under the State’. Again the Wealth case against Jayalalithaa is still in active life, with the jury still out, in Bangalore actually. A conviction under the now-defunct-POTA is a very potent disqualifier. This sword now hangs over the head of Vaiko, who is only out on bail. But what if the last word turns out to be the last nail in all these cases? Justice delayed may be justice denied, but worse and most tragic, J & K have already had their fill in power and are prospective CMs too! Vaiko’s tiger-riding adventures would have happened right under the noses of the law, with him as a law-maker too,in retrospective.
In all these cases, it is apparent that the EC rules are penny wise pound foolish: Just as with most criminal law under which small time pick pockets get caught while the big ticket crooks get away! Not just the above but there are scores of rules, regulations, stipulations and laws governing the conduct of elections as well as the ‘character and behavior’ of candidates, which if applied in true spirit could cleanse the system. At least of the muck, if not all the dust.
One Seshan showed up the power of this seemingly moribund constitutional authority. The time is ripe for another!
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