Legal expert C.K.N. Raja has mooted the idea of State funding of elections to provide a level-playing field for all candidates.
He was speaking at a seminar on electoral reforms organised here on Sunday to commemorate the memory of M. Venkatakrishnaiah (1833-1944), popularly known as Tathayya.
Though Prof. Raja did not elaborate, he said the concept should be given thought and deliberated upon.
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On the right to recall candidates, which has been mooted by many activists, Prof. Raja said if the law was amended to accommodate the demand, then Parliament and Assemblies would become dysfunctional as people would go all out to exercise their right. Even the U.S., where democracy has strong roots, had not introduced the right to recall a candidate.
It may take 100 years for society to evolve to be ready for such an amendment, he said.
Speaking about the issues plaguing the democratic system in the country, Prof. Raja recalled his interaction with students in the U.S. who questioned the rationale of the present first-past-the-post system where the candidate who polls the highest number of votes among those who exercise their franchise is declared elected, though the winning candidate may not have the support of a majority of the electorate in the constituency who, either do not vote or the votes get split.
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Prof. Raja said the problem was also discussed by Constitutional experts but there were no easy answers.
Though it has been suggested that voting should be made compulsory, Prof. Raja said making it mandatory went against the grain of democracy.
He took exception to political parties taking objections to pre-poll survey and exit polls and said every democracy allowed such exercises.
However, Prof. Raja said whenever the Supreme Court had upheld the rule of the law in its historic judgments, elected representatives, instead of respecting the Supreme Court ruling, made an attempt to defy it by bringing an ordinance to protect convicted politicians.
There was an interaction and debate on various issues related to electoral reforms.
A few literary works of Tathayya were also released later in the day. B.S. Parthasarathy, president, Sarada Vilas Educational Institutions, and Subramanya, convener, Tathayya Vichara Vedike were present.
Prof. Venkatakrishnaiah or Tathayya was a doyen of journalism in Mysore and a social activist who strived for social and economic emancipation of all sections of society through education.
He was a prolific writer and sowed seeds of nationalism through his writings and started a chain of newspapers.