Sir,
Now our Election Commission is going to hold election of some states in near future and suit will follow in all other states of the country as well. Holding of elections is one of the most important features of the democratic polity. The Election Commission is an agency that is regarded as guardian of free and fair electiopns. It issues a model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to conduct elections in free and fair manner.
It lays down guidelines from time to time for the information and guidance to all political parties and candidates during election. Because it we observe instances of violation of Code of Conduct by the political parties and candidates. We often notice misuse of official machinery by the parties and complaints are often received by the authorities on duty.
This trend has to be arrested in the interest of free and fair elections. To get rid of the growing muscle and money power and its influence has to be crushed forcefully. The Election Commission has fixed limits on the amount of money which a candidate can spend during election campaign. These limits are revised from time to time. It is unfortunate that political parties do not adhere to the financial limit as huge amount is spent under the garb of their supporters during election period. The campaign period was reduced by the Election Commission from 21 to 14 days for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
It is to trim down election expenditure. The Election Commission’s this attempt to impose these measures is in the right direction. Purity of election is fundamental to the democracy and Election Commission can ask the candidates about the expenditure they incur. It is also important to note that integrity of the candidate needs to be ascertained before going for contest as said by the Supreme Court of India. The persons having criminal and corrupt background have no moral authority to contest elections. The directions of the Supreme Court in this regard are well in time and also in tune with the aspirations of the people living in the country.
Yours etc…
S N Raina
Jammu
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