It is most uncharitable on the Union Finance Minister’s part — on the subject of ‘invisible’ money in elections — to pass the buck to the Election Commission as though it is the EC in essence which regulates, oversees and monitors the flow of illegal money to the electoral arena (“EC failed to curb ‘invisible money’ in polls, says Jaitley”, July 23). Until T.N. Seshan became Chief Election Commissioner, the EC itself was nearly invisible. The EC is just a cog in the giant wheel of democracy. Given the power structure of the various constitutional pillars of our democracy, the EC is at best a watchdog and not a bloodhound to go after law breakers. The recent case of an attempt to bribe the EC shows how effective the EC is in apprehending and punishing wrongdoers.
In the Indian scheme of things, the politician is the one who always has the last laugh while the government functionary, however mighty his authority is, plays second fiddle.
Sivamani Vasudevan,
Chennai
Mr. Jaitley’s statement, at the Delhi Economics Conclave, is amusing, a case of the pot calling the kettle black, and made at an inappropriate forum. Although it may be true to some extent that Election Commissioners before the arrival of T.N. Seshan were ineffective, it is successive governments thereafter which made the EC’s role futile, resulting in “invisible money” flowing freely in elections. At least now Mr. Jaitley and his party would do well to implement electoral reforms suggested by the EC to help de-criminalise politics and also bring political parties under the ambit of the RTI.
B. Harish,
Mangaluru
It is unfair on Mr. Jaitley’s part, as a senior Union Minister, to run down the Election Commission. The EC has done a wonderful job in recent elections to go after illegal money in active circulation. It has put every political party in the dock for trying to subvert the system and bribe the voters. However, in spite of its best attempts, not all the money has been tracked down as parties keep coming up with ingenious ways to influence the voter with their ill-gotten money.
It must be realised that electoral reforms cannot begin and end with electoral bonds the government has now proposed. After all, they are mere instruments to route individual donations through banking channels. The country needs a foolproof system as the lessons from demonetisation have shown. More than this, there is a need to bring political parties under the RTI and make their funding absolutely transparent. At the same time, the government must set right a related issue of money power — the misuse of government machinery by the ruling party during elections.
V. Nagarajan,
Chennai
