The Election Commission of India (ECI) former director general (expenditure monitoring) P.K. Dash said the ECI had devised a framework under his aegis to face the challenge of abuse of money power when the need for enabling provisions was not envisaged in the Representation of People Act as well as the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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The ECI could have created greater deterrence by building on that legacy but it remained a missed opportunity for the nation and democracy, he lamented.
Delivering the keynote address at a roundtable meeting on the topic ‘Free and fair elections - Challenges and corrupt practices’ organised by the Citizens for Democracy (CfD) here on Saturday, Mr. Dash recalled four cases where successful candidates were disqualified, two of them the Chief Ministers of Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Even now, post-election, evidence-based money trail of corrupt practices could make a difference in elections, he observed and expressed serious concern over the proliferation of social media which posed a great challenge.
CfD secretary and former State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar said, ‘‘Electoral bonds are a failed experiment and democracy in Andhra Pradesh faces peril due to certain grave challenges like the compromising of the citizens’ Right to Privacy by ward and village volunteers to meet political ends. Besides, the Rule of Law has been vitiated by the partisan functioning of the police force, and the Right to Freedom, particularly political freedoms, were jeopardised due to open solicitations, threats and inducements through volunteers and the complicity of bureaucracy at various levels.
CfD joint secretary V. Lakshman Reddy, former Mayor Jandhyala Sankar, former income tax commissioner P. Raghu and former Minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao were among those present.