Election Commission of India has barred nearly a hundred politicians of the State who had taken part in assembly or parliamentary elations in the past but failed to submit to EC details of financial expenditures incurred on their election spree. Under electoral laws, every candidate fighting election either to the assembly or to the parliament is desired to furnish expenditure details within one month of acceptance of his nomination paper. The account to be furnished has to show the expenditure incurred on election and the sources wherefrom funds have come. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure transparency in electoral exercise and to find out that money power is not used to defeat the purpose of democratic arrangement in the country. Those debarred from fighting election are from different political parties from both regions Kashmir and Jammu.
The imposition of bar of the EC on about a hundred politicians of the State is not exclusive to J&K. The law under which this step has been taken by the EC has been applied to all the states and we have in all about 2171 candidates throughout the country who stand disqualified. In J&K the step has been taken under Section 24-E of J&K Representation of Peoples Act 1957. It will be reminded that a similar action had been taken by the EC in 2009 also. Disqualified politicians have failed to submit the report of financial expenditures incurred on election campaign. In case of 47 candidates, they will not be able to fight any election till June 2014. It means they stand disqualified for the Parliamentary which are due in April 2014. They will also not be able to participate in Assembly elections if they are held before June next year. Among 47 barred political workers, 12 belong to Kashmir region and 35 to Jammu region with maximum 10 in Suchetgarh constituency alone.
Barring nearly a hundred candidates from participating in forthcoming Assembly and Parliamentary election in the country is a big event and needs to be discussed in detail. In a sense, it is a reflection on our democratic arrangement and shows the loopholes in the system. A politician fighting election to the Assembly or the Parliament is essentially a leader and mentor of the society. He or she has to be the role model for the society which is struggling hard to build and develop the country along democratic norms. Over the years, many wrong things have crept into our democratic system. It is, therefore, inevitable that we correct the aberrations and make the path clear for political leadership that they are supposed to adopt while undertaking the responsibility of leading the country and society.
The state wants to induct seriousness in the entire process of electioneering. There are candidates who indulge in election exercise just by way of show or adventure without being serious in the business. But at the same time it has also been observed that people with good deal of money to spend just take the venture of fighting elections knowing that even if they lose it, they will not meet with any big disaster. The time has come for our democracy when only genuine politicians will find space for productive activity. The litmus test of a perspective candidate is to prove that he is dedicated to the cause of the general public, its welfare, development and progress.
In an overall estimation, we find that the standard of choosing a right candidate to be voted to power has become very erroneous task in our country. Money power and mafia are two dominant features of election process. Ordinary voters find it increasingly difficult to wriggle out of the clutches of people with money power or associated with the underworld segments.
While we welcome the step taken by the EC in disqualifying about a hundred candidates from taking part in the Assembly/Parliamentary election from the State, we would like civil society to re-think whether this kind of punitive measure really controls the menace of money power let loose in the course of elections. It has to be noted that in 2009 the number of candidates throughout the country who were disqualified by the EC for the same reason was 3.275 which has come down only to 2171 in 2013. This is indeed a decline in the numbers but does not speak well about the health of democracy in our country. We think that much more effective and result-oriented steps have to be taken to stop people pour fun on the Assembly or Parliament. This matter has to be looked at from the viewpoint of the public and the electorate who expect a reasonable value graph from the prospective candidates. On the face of it, our democracy is gradually passing into the hands of people with either money power or affiliated to mafia. Once elected to the assembly or the parliament through means fair or foul, the representatives consider themselves all powerful and final arbiters of the destiny of the people. Such a mindset hardly serves the broad interest of democracy. Can our democracy find strength through such approach?
Lastly, it is desirable that the voter is educated on the question of who he should vote for. We need to bring about general awareness among our voters about their responsibility in casting their valuable vote to the right person. If they have independence and strength of personality to cast the vote to the right candidate, punitive rules like the one that disqualifies a candidate are not needed. A conscientious candidate will not do anything to violate the wishes of the society. After more than six decades of democratic arrangement we should have developed a high level of political culture among the people and among their elected representatives. Let us admit that we have not been able to do that as yet. But that does not mean that we cannot change and remove discrepancies.
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