Learnings from BMC Elections : Responses Received : 96-119 (table)

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Kisan Mehta                  Priya Salvi

I feel Mumbaiites are nincompoop.Despite the 26/7 calamity, worst road
conditions and various other problems related to day-to-day life of
citizens, ever increasing taxes/levies, governance of Mumbai has again
gone back to square one. We have to blame ourselves, if nothing turns
good in future for the next five years at least. These elected
corporators will again mint money, at the cost of we poor citizens and
become lakhpatis and crorepatis.

In fact I have been hinting at scrapping BMC altogether and outsource
the various departmental work to worthy parties to ensure transparency
and accountability, thereby saving millions of rupees which is other
being spent on elections by parties and individuals contesting the same.
Under the circumstances, we just cannot hope to have better governance
of Mumbai.

C R Ramakrishnan
ram111449@…

Dear Mr Vinay Somani

Thank you for inviting me to participate in an important task like election reforms. I have the following suggestions:

– The candidates, instead of being made to deposit security deposits, should be made to fulfill certain qualitiative requirements like: minimum educational qualification(could be SSLC pass), certain online certifications in logic and application (if we don’t have them, we should introduce them. But certain organisations like Brainbench already have tests to meet various requirements)

– they should be self supporting (should have independent sources of income for their livelihood) and as a representative of the people should be paid only honorariums and cost to meet the expenses in attending to the process of legislation.

-they should not have any criminal background to the extent that they should NOT be involved in any court cases whatsoever, except petty cases and that too in not more than three cases overall.

– they should NOT have any power to interfere directly with govt administration. In other words, they should be eyes and ears of the people to provide feedback about implementation of policies and bring in legislation for removing bottle necks. Poor performance of administrators/govt officials should only be reported to appropriate monitoring bodies for corrective action as per transparent procedures.

-There should be a common electoral roll for all elections. The smallest constituency unit may be considered to be a building block.

– There is already a provision for NO Choice to be provided in the ballots. It has to be implemented. And if that scores the maximum votes, the constituency should be administered by a person appointed by the Governor/President from a panel of eminent apolitical persons in that constituency.

–  There should be a practical procedure for recalling elected representatives. In the local bodies, it should be enough if 51% of the electorate sign a memorandum, in case of non-performance. Or, if the member gets into a criminal case also he/she should be presumed to have demitted office and for the rest of the period an eminent person can be nominated. For state legislatures and parliament, the next lower level of elected representatives should be able to submit a memoradum for their removal. For example, for an MLA, the elected members of the local bodies falling in his/her constituency should vote in their respective bodies to recall the MLA. If more than 50% of the members vote to recall the MLA he/she should be presumed to have been recalled. In this case however, during the same poll, members of the local bodies may elect a new MLA also. Strictly speaking, this method of indirect elections may be made, ab initio, to state legislatures and Parliament also.

Regards and best wishes

Ravi

Subject: Re: election responses compiled

Dear Mr. Somani

I appreceate the compilations of  all  opinions and the role of NGOs  done.  I agree  first of all that it is the duty of an individual to get involved  and if neccessary  protest to make things better . This is  a very good effort.

I wish all success to the involved NGOS.

All the very best.

Susmita Mitra- CPAA.

From: G.C. Mathur

I am not the resident of Mumbai. However, my observations from the various responses reported in the Digests is that people have not appreciated the ideology of the ‘Centre’, i.e., neutrality avoiding extremes of the rightists and leftists, on the one part and good governance of democracy that demands judicious distribution of resources without any prejudices of caste, colour, and religion.  What I observe is that religion has been given too much space, which is contrary to democracy being fundamentalistic.

G. C. Mathur

Read my response in BRACKET.

—–

1. If you did not vote in the BMC Elections, why? What would have made you personally vote?(Not applicable as I voted ).

2. What all can be done to get people to vote? (Working employees to lose half a day pay for not voting. Employer to be penalisied for missing the voting. There needs to be provision in constitution.)

3. What action should be taken to prevent buying of votes?(Agile local area citizens groups to be formed with protection from law enforcing authorities ).

4. What are you complaints or suggestions regarding:

– manifestos – are they realistic; how to hold parties to account?( BAN THIS LEGALLY.)

– election code of conduct, time schedule, fairness, etc.? (IT IS IN ORDER AS OF NOW )

– candidate’s profiles, details, etc?(By law, only literate citizen be made eligible to contest.Candidate to account for source of income with details between two ecection periods )

– voter’s list accuracy, registration, easy access, etc?(Correction facility be provided on net. Automatic deletion to take place once death certificate is issued.)

Dear Vinay,

There were a lot of requests from various news papers to go and check our names in the voters lists but none of them mentioned the place where we could do the needful. I went to check my name in the voters list in Dec. 2006 at Tank Road, Santacruz W, which has been the place for all these years to do the checking. The place had a deserted look and there was no one there to guide us. There was a small chit of paper, half torn, pasted on a card board dangling from a pole on a tree, mentioning the address where we could check the names.

To locate this new place, it took me 10-12 days. The place was in Irla, possibly the remotest part of Irla, where only a determined person could find the place. My name was not along with those in my building but a few pages after. This whole process was extremely tiring and frustrating. I don’t think Election Commissions office wants to make it easy for lay people to register or check their names in the voters list.

Thanking you,
Sincerely,
Leena Prabhoo,
Vice Chairperson, Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai/Suburbs(Forum for IQOLMS)
www.karmayog.com/ngos/iqolms.htm

My name is Janki Doshi and I am a law student.On the eve of elections the political parties issue a small paper where they mention where to vote and I also got one such a card.I went for voting at the place mentioned and they said to me that I must have photo identity proof.After that I went back home got my railway pass and asked them to let me vote.But they did not let me vote and said that my name was deleted from the list.

My question is that whose duty it is to issue these election cards?Isn’t the government responsible for this?If they ask for photo identity then why have they stopped issuing election cards to the newly registered voters?This is ridiculous.The government cribs that no one is coming out of their houses to vote then why can’t we have a more user friendly system of voting?If this is the way the system works then why should we take the pain to come and vote?

Our constitution clearly mentions about PROTEST VOTE which is enshrined in article 49-O of the constitution but unfortunately the people sitting at the polling booth have no idea about this.Is the kind of knowledge the government officials have about the laws?

There should be trained officers sitting at the polling booth to guide the citizens about the voting procedure.The government must issue election cards to each and every registered voter and also must issue slips before the election mentioning which is the place where a person is supposed to vote.Instead of filling their own pockets with crores of rupees they must utilize the tax payers money in issuing election cards and not make an excuse that they do not have money for the same.Lastly atleast one polling officer must be taught about the voting procedure and provisions like protest vote.

Yours truly,

Janki.B.Doshi

(jankidoshi79@…)

I would like to make few more general suggestions.

The parties and the candidates elected to the Municipal Corporation are experienced and they are fully aware of the various problems faced by the citizens and their desires   from the civic administration.

The following steps may perhaps help in systematic analysis and solution to the various problems.

1.      Though the Cooperators may have known the various problems before the election, it is desirable for them to visit each and every part of their area, see for themselves the real position and the needs. For this matter the Cooperators could take the assistance of the local people.

2.      Study the problems and arrive at the possible solutions in the best interest of all the citizens.

3.      Draw plans of action. Discuss the problems with the local Municipal authorities take them into confidence and arrive as to what best could be done.

4.      Where solutions are not forthcoming or not according to their expectations from the local authority, discuss with the Higher ups in the Municipal Cooperation along with the party and thrash out the issues.

5.      Go to the people take them into confidence about the need for improvements and development and announce the plans that could be implemented.

6.      One of the major problems for development is the slums and other activities being carried on. Relocation of activities and redevelopment of slums fully is also the need of the hour. Identify areas in the vicinity for such development and move the authorities for acceptance of good programmes.

7.      Fix time frame for the implementation of various decision taken. Constantly review the progress and take steps with the help of the authorities to solve the difficulties.

8.      Discuss freely with the citizens of each area about the various issues regularly.

9.      For successful implementation of the various facilities, the main hurdle is litigation. This should be stopped. I feel that there should an informal discussion with the Judiciary abut the need for improvement in the overall interest and try to find solutions as to how litigation could be prevented or not accepted. If necessary with consultation of the Judiciary, draw rules for this purpose.

10.   The last and very important issue is that of vigilance and proper and strict monitoring of the use of various infrastructure facilities provided. No laxity should be tolerated both by the citizens and authorities

I do hope that your good self will take the above suggestions in good spirit.

With Best Wishes for successful implementation on various civics issues.

With respect

V.Gopal

1. There is a huge gap between those who are willing to vote and the
govt. machinery which is responsible for the distribution of voter
ID cards. The procedure is time-consuming and cumbersome. The NGOs
can play a crucial role in filling up this gap as follows:

a)The NGOs can divide their roles among themselves so that there
won’t be redundant exercise.

b)The NGO dealing with the job of enrolling the eligible voters who
have not become the voters can establish contact with them by
nominating co-rdinators for every apartment/area, and educate them
about the procedure for enrolment. They have to distribute
application forms and brochures.

c) The next NGO can organize melas/special counters to receive the
application forms and co-ordinate with the BMC in getting them
enrolled.

d) Once the BMC election nears, an NGO can take up the job of
reminding the elible voters of their duties and election dates.

e) At this stage there are omissions in the voters list which have
to be followed up to enrol them in the voters list.
f) For carrying out the above exercise, the sponsors have to be
roped in and the print/electronic media and mobile companies(for
educating through SMS) have to play a major role.

2. To encourage the voters, the govt has to issue an order urging
the private companies to give permission to their employees to vote
without deducting salary. (Such order is already available for the
govt employees)

3. Now the question comes about those who fail to discharge their
duty in election. For this the Govt. may bring in the following
measure:

a) The Govt may in a phased manner make every citizen to obtain the
voter ID compulsorily. It is just like the PAN made copulsory by the
Income Tax department.

b) At the initial phase, the people having voter ID may be given
preference in the ration shops, railway station, passport office,
etc.,

4. Awareness about the background of the candidates is imperative.
For this, on the lines of the star rating of ADR/AGNI, there can be
brochures containing the ratings under various parameters for all
the candidates. Besides, there can be public interaction, face-to-
face, debate on common platform (which can be telecast thorugh media)

5. To reduce the waiting time at the polling booth, the election
commission can give different timings for various wards/areas,
although it may only be suggestive.

Regards,

Arun C. Bharat

Apart from these I think many of the criteria are already in place
and NGOs are doing a great job.

Corruption is one of the root cause of all our trouble, it is
imperative that we make an effort to ensure that our Country is the
least corrupt of all the countries. Now for this I suggest the
following, now by this suggestion even the common man will be put to
task.

Corruption is there because the transactions that we do are not
transparent. Now my suggestion is that every transaction worth
Rs.5000 or more should bear the PAN Number (this will help the income
tax department to track the money)

In any case, I would gladly welcome any comments on this.

My final inputs facilites found lacking:
No special provisions made for the physcially disabled–at some centre there
were made to climb two floors.

I think school teachers must be spared election duty as it does not enhance
the quality of education in any manner. On the other hand they are over
burdened, schools are also forced to declare a holiday because the teaching
staff is away at the polling booth.

Names of candidates must be printed in English because Mumbai is an
international city.
sujatha.

4″SHEELMARIE”                                                                                           (OFF): 22074739/22079975

25 ABDUL GAFFAR KHAN ROAD                                                                         EMAIL:nbhk@vsnl.net

WORLI, MUMBAI-400018

As an Individual NGO, I closely watched Worli Area and I gather it is the Money Power which played an important part in all the Slum Areas.  Few Educated People got together, went door to door in their area and pleaded for voting a good person, not corrupt, but educated, and has some experience without being a Corporator for social work, which is already registered in the minds of the residents. This year many white collared who do not normally vote, came out and voted for such good persons but the Slum Voting carried their day and brought the Corrupt and Criminal Elements elected.  Let us wait and watch with Magnifying Glass how  the Newly Elected  Corporators will react with the public as  Social Worker.  Their performance will be visible. We should be after them for Good Delivery.

N.B.H. KULKARNI

N.G.O.

Improving Election Procedure-Role of Media

Dear Vinay,

Media’s contribution to whole election was not very satisfactory. In my area, a good majority of people did not know as to how many candidates are contesting, who are they, what is their qualifications, what have they done in their public lives, which party they belong to etc. etc. This information was not easily available.

More importantly, also should be made public as to who was the last corporator and what was his/ her or Party’s performance or non-performance during 5 years. ADR?AGNI may grade past Corporators performance.

I think it is important to invite all the candidates of one ward to a common dais and give them 5 minutes to talk on what will they do, if elected and how will they do it. This news can be stored in newspaper’s website and can be seen on TV by viewers/residents just as a movie seen through request if someone wants to be informed.

How it can be done, can be left to Media to ponder but it is important to let the residents learn about contesting candidates and make a decisive choice. This will allow people to think before casting their votes as many a times, people do not think of a candidate but party. When people are given information on quality of people, they will also look at the quality of candidates.

Regards,

Ramita

1. If you did not vote in the BMC Elections, why? What would have made you personally vote?
I have voted. It is now a days absolutely necessary to exercise our franchise and have a say in the governance and thereby receive proper responses from the elected representatives.

2. What all can be done to get people to vote?
Voting should be made compulsory. If p justification is given for not voting the same should be studied and should also be verified. Laws for penalising the voter should be introduced. At the same time it is necessary that there should not be inconvenience to the citizens in the voting system. Some of the hurdles to be solved and action that can be taken is given below:

a.At the outset there should one central voter list and ID number should be given. The same number will continue thought the life of the voter and the same should be surrendered at the time of shifting at the new place for issue of fresh ID but with the same number.

Once request is received ford voter ID after verification the photograph of the applicants could be obtained  which should be presented in person and as in the case of Debit/credit cards, the Election Department could generate the ID card rather than waiting for the voter to be photographed by appointed photographer.

b. The election commissioner’ office should be continuously open at each area to facilitate the citizens to approach them for various requests.

At the time of election each election centre should have  list of voters  readily available on computer and on the basis of this, any eligible voter could be guided properly abut the respective polling centre.

The ID to be generated could be used as evidence for all purposes rather than the ration card. The ration card identity only for distribution of food grains and other article as provided for eligible citizens. Providing proof of ration card for various purposes should be discontinued. This will also reduced the burden of the rationing department in all the States.

3. What action should be taken to prevent buying of votes?
As long as party based election continue it is not possible to eradicate this. But if the assistance of NGOs can be taken by the parties and independent for listing of eligible candidate for election, the buying of vote could perhaps be reduced considerably. It is however difficult to guess this. Further no voter should be permitted to exercise his vote without ID voter card.

4. What are you complaints or suggestions regarding:
Manifesto should realistically talk about the specific work done and specific plan for improvements areas rather than saying that the party is aware of the problem and the same would be resolved after election.
Thanks.

V.Gopal

I did not vote as i was travelling.

I think, only if there are two or max . three partys ,
will it make any sence to the elections. So the option
is prepoll merger which will mean only two or three
names on the ballot paper.

I know it is not possible but suggestions dont cost
anything.

Waman Welinkar

As a response I would suggest that public should be made aware of the clause of 49-0 wherein if somebody feels that all standing for electioon are unworthy then one should exercise the 49-0 clause such that it is made known in the results. Here I read in the papers that many did not vote since they found that no one was good enough. This is not the correct way to send a signal. This 49-0 clause is very much not known even to polling officers and most so not to the general public. Awareness should be created in this channel.

I am a common man working in private company. As you know Recently BMC Election was held. I would like guidance or help from you.

A}what and how can i help to people.

B}how and what help should be taken from newlly elected corporator.

C}What can i do if newly elected corporator not response / work properly.

contesting the elections taught me a lot, if only we had a strong group of conscientious citizens in  lokhandwala i would have had the courage to stand as an independent, though i do appreciate the faith and belief that the NCP showed in me and my ideology.

i believe no experience goes waste, and this was a learning curve for me.

i am very proud of our success in the vote juhu campaign,it goes to prove that if informed and responsible citizens decide to make a difference and work hard at it they can make the difference.

i am interested in launching a platform called AWRA, (andheri west residents association), if you know of people who are interested in joining this platform. I have already sown the seeds during my campaign. There is lots that needs to be done, we have to get cracking now.

thanks

kunika sadanand lall

1. If you did not vote in the BMC Elections, why? What would have
made you personally vote?

I did vote. We have no rights to complain if we can’t spend half an
hour for voting.

2. What all can be done to get people to vote?

There must be publicity about candidates (what they have done / not
done) and about the problems of the area. Through print / TV media
and through discussions, citizens should be persuaded to vote. Like
lot of our habits, the media can be used to form a habit in this
regard. High profile (prominent personalities) should be invited for
participating in discussions in the media. Local social workers
group can be formed to bring about these discussions, and various
political parties representatives can convey their achievements.

3. What action should be taken to prevent buying of votes?

If more people vote, purchased votes will not be able to change
fortune of candidates, and hence such practices will stop.

4. What are you complaints or suggestions regarding:

– manifestos – are they realistic; how to hold parties to
account?

– election code of conduct, time schedule, fairness, etc.?

– candidate’s profiles, details, etc?

This info was not available to me, and I had to decide to vote
without the same. Fortunately, I knew a little about the pasat
candidate who was doing good work and found his name among the
contestants. Such info (biodata, strengths, weaknesses,
capabilities, work done in the past) should be put on the web,
circulated to public places in the respective constituencies,
housing societies. This should also be put outside the voting
centre. This itself will create enough awareness and will promote
better voting.

– voter’s list accuracy, registration, easy access, etc?
I could not inform my change of address and also addition of member
of my family. Much before election date, a public awareness
campaign should be carried out in the media.

B Mahen

Hi Vinay,

I fought the election as an independent candidate. Got 4793 votes and
came second to Congress candidate by a close 240 votes.

I have the following observations as a candidate:

1. Parties issue tickets to their candidates based on totally arbitrary
methods. Money may be exchanged which forces the candidate to try and
recover the investment. Tickets must be obtained on internal voting, like
in the USA (under observation of the ECI).

2. Independent candidates are given only 10 days to campaign, which makes
it difficult for them to convey their symbol to about 40,000 people.

3. Money does buy votes, specially in slums. And nothing can be done to
stop it, unless recognized parties are forced to stop pampering them during
elections.

4. Police is not entirely impartial towards all candidates.

5. There is a constant nagging fear that the voting machines are tampered
with between the voting-end and counting day.

Hope this helps.

regards,
Gaurang Damani

One thing that the NGOs should do is to ensure that in the
future, for any elections, the voters list should be correct,
SECONDLY, such NGOs should also check after the voting and
when everything is over, i.e. take the list of voters who have voted
and go to each voters house and make a head count and enquire whether
it is he/she who has voted and find out the discrepancies. This will
ensure that the voting has been fair if there are not many
discrepancies. This arises from the fact that since NGOs
have started fielding their own clean candidates the political
parties candidates like Shiv Sena, NCP, BJP and Congress might come
to an understanding and even come together that if they have to
survive they need to defeat the NGOs intention successively
in elections then only their turf is safeguarded for their internal
competition.

Let me tell you it is not about less time but about what is priority
for the people. Most of the people in Mumbai will crib about road
conditions, etc., but when it comes to acting on the need to changing things
they will shrink back.

What I would suggest NGOs is to garner the help of College
Students, School Students, Office people and start creating a chain
which should be used during the time of elections.

Sometimes to change things, either on its own or through the efforts
of either party, the situations needs to go from bad to worse and
this i think the political parties are very apt at doing. Meaning
let them make bombay hell, peoples life miserable, like hell then you will
notice that people themselves will come to the street and change things.

I recollect a case of a tyrant boss, who used to shout at his
subordinates and got famous for being rude that staff were afraid to
go to him for anything. The staff were so fed up and many of the
subordinates even left the company. This continued for many years
but then for some reason or the other the staff noticed a difference
slowly and gradually happening to him and found that the instances of
the boss getting angry was becoming rarer and rarer. What does this
indicate that the boss realized his temper is getting to the staff
and he changed him self. I think we need to learn from this.

investinstockmarket” <bensonpaul

ELECTORAL REFORMS

by Dr. Leo Rebello

1.. Opinion Polls and Exit Polls which adversely influence the Voters
should be banned. Manipulation of public opinion cannot be equated
to Freedom of Speech and banning such twisted polls does not
amount to Censorship of the Fourth Estate.

2.. Electoral Rolls Revision – removing names en masse because of
political manipulations and NOT allowing voters to vote inspite of having
Election Commission’s Voters I-Cards or their names in previous
Electoral Rolls amounts to deliberate mischief and illegal disenfrenchisement.

This bureaucratic bungling (deliberate or otherwise) is sabotage of electoral
process and amounts to indirect rigging of votes in large numbers. Apart
from denial of voting right, it may also mean denial of opportunity to contest the election itself. Election Officers should be heavily penalised for this serious lapse of illegal disenfrenchisement.

3.. Form VII-A, see Rule 10(1) which is displayed at every polling booth on
the Election Day by the Election Commission SHOULD BE REVISED.

The Existing Columns of Form VII-A/Rule 10(1)

==========================================

Sr.    Candidate’s     Candidate’s     The Name    Allotted

No.      Name           Address           of Party     Symbol

==========================================

SUGGESTED REVISION OF FORM VII-A/RULE 10(1)

==================================================

Sr.  Candidate’s Name   Candidate’s Photo   Brief biodata    Allotted

No.    and Address        and Party’s Name   (in 50 words)   Symbol

==================================================

(a) This Revised Form VII-A can go on display, 15 days before the election,
at all public places like the Railway Stations, Bus Depots, Colleges, Schools, Religious Places, Post Offices, Banks, Police Stations, Hospitals and Nursing Homes, Telephone Exchanges, Shopping Complexes, Ration Shops and the Notice Boards of Housing Societies etc., so that the people of the Constituency get to know their candidates and can make up their minds after due deliberations.

(b) The distribution of Form VII-A can be done by the Contesting Candidates and their Agents and the Display of the Form can be ensured by law being the Govt. Notice to be displayed prominently and mandatorily. This form can be projected on the Screen in Theatres, till the last date, within the respective constituencies, as mandatory Govt. Notice.

4.. Political Parties meetings / rallies should be banned during Election time. They should be replaced by Public Meetings of All Contesting Candidates of a Constituency to be brought on a Common Platform. Total Ten Meetings can be held all over the Constituency. These meetings can be organised by the area-specific NGOs of Voters and chaired by the  Local Eminent Persons like Doctors, College Principals, Magistrates, Judges, Presidents of local NGOs  residing in the Area. Voters Panchayat has done this in the past and the undersigned can guide in this regard.

5.. Individual posters, banners, cut outs, hoardings should NOT be allowed.
Only handbills may be allowed to be distributed door to door. Every candidate will use ONLY one car for himself and his agent (without fitted mike). Hand-held megaphone may be allowed to address street corner meetings on election agenda without appealing to religion, caste, etc. Each car will have 4 persons including the candidate or agent as the case may be (according to prohibitory order rule). This rule of only 2 cars and not more than 4 persons in each car is to ensure that the voters are not frightened or awed by false paid crowd rallied to show money and muscle power.  Thereby, the voters will get to know their candidates personally and candidates will come to know their area
specific problems, needs and future development.

6.. The declaration of wealth and assets by every contesting candidate has led to more corruption (instead of curtailing it, which was the aim), unnecessary expenses, additional work on the Election Commission and Reverse Results.
People think Election is the Game of only Rich and the Powerful. Wealthier the candidate, better are his chances of winning is the equation formed in the minds of the voters. This unconstitutional fiat also exposes the contesting candidates and their family members to extortion and amounts to discrimination, which is bad in law. Instead of all contesting candidates declaring their assets, ONLY elected Candidates should be asked to disclose their assets (at the time of swearing in) and every five years thereafter.

Special Note on Point 6 above : This rule should also be made applicable to
every Govt. servant including Judges, which will go a long way in curbing corruption. To say only Politicians are corrupt is NOT proper.  Atleast a politician can be defeated at the husting every 5-year.  But once selected  corrupt IAS, IPS, IRS and other Govt. servants rule over people for 35 to 40 years on an average and they are NOT even accountable due to various laws in their favour.

7.. Voting should be made compulsory like in Israel and Australia. The elected representative should get atleast 51% votes, to be called a Representative of People. Presently a winning candidate gets on an average 15 to 20 percent of votes. How can he be called a Representative of People?

8.. Retirement age of 70 years (as on the date of filing the nomination) should be prescribed for all the contesting candidates. From lowest (ZP elections) to the highest (Presidential elections), this rule should be uniform. The idea being, if you can retire Govt. servants at 60, High Court Judges at 62 and Supreme Court Judges at 65, why not the politicians?

9.. Two or three months before the scheduled elections, Legislatures should be dissolved.

(a) National Elections (Election of MPs) should be conducted under the direct
supervision of the President of India. He may be assisted by a Committee of
Eminent Citizens, consisting of, among others, retired bureaucrats, judges,
journalists, etc.(b) State elections (Election of MLAs) should be conducted under the respective State Governor, who too should be assisted by a Committee of Eminent Citizens of that particular state. In the existing set up the party in power tries to manipulate election machinery to its advantage.

(c) Present running projects should NOT be stopped because of stupid interpretation of Code of Conduct, which will become infructuous once new set of rules are in place.

(d) Corrupt/partisan bureaucrats should be shunted to non-election duties.

10. Electronic Voting Machines should be checked by an Independent Committee consisting of Experts and representative of Voters Panchayat, to check tampering and other abuse. Voting receipts issued should be tallied against the votes shownas cast in the EVMs. This is called Vote Audit. This high powered committee should
have powers to take summary action against the mischief makers. This Committee
will report directly to the Governor or President, as the case may be. Elections should be over in one day and the results should be declared the next day. Election schedule spread over 15 days to one month is a mockery of the election protocol in an era of ICT and EVMs.

11. Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections should be above party lines.
Because, parties nominating candidates and then issuing whips is against the Constitutional provisions of Equality, fairplay and natural justice. Such selection of the Highest Executive is sham because it leads to mediocrity, whereby the Chief Executive is reduced to being a rubber stamp rather than an Independent Statesman. In this regard, I will be soon taking up a Constitutional Petition in the Supreme Court, if required.

12. Since President is elected by the Nation (through electoral college),
he should select Cabinet from amongst the elected MPs of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and head the Govt. and Vice President should function as his deputy. Presently, PM is chosen by the majority party and that leads to compromises and corruption at the highest level. Executive President with a well-chosen Cabinet cutting across party lines from amongst the elected MPs at National Level will usher in a truly secular, Non-Party Govt and decisions will be in National interest rather than on Party and Communal lines. Then laws like Uniform Civil Code etc. can be passed without pandering to minorities. This will also ensure full term to the
Govt. and horse trading will stop.

13. State Governors, like President of India, should be elected by MLAs/MLCs and such an elected Governor should then become the Chief Executive of the State, like the President of India will be the Chief Executive of the Indian Nation. In other words, PM or CM will be replaced by elected President and elected Governor.

14. We cannot gloss over Nomadic Tribes, who have absolutely no voice because most of them do not even feature in the Electoral Rolls.  If miniscule Anglo-Indian community can have their MLA/MP, why cannot we have atleast 2 or 3 MPs from amongst Nomadic Tribes and one MLA in every State assembly? They can be selected from amongst their leaders.

15. Finally, the Election Petitions should mandatorily be disposed off within 15 days. It is a mockery to rule at the end of the term that a particular candidate’s election was irregular and then the next candidate declared elected cannot even serve because in the meantime the tenure is over. This delay is travesty of justice.

Some of these Electoral Reforms will require minor Constitutional amendments, which can easily be passed. I call them minor amendments because the basic structure of the Constitution or Governance is not being changed.  On the contrary these suggestions are in consonance with the Preamble (which is the face) of the Constitution of India that guarantees Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity to the People.

These simple but effective changes suggested above, if implemented, will go a long way in selecting better candidates which in turn will usher in more democratic elections and better governance. A true democracy will come into existence rather than the present sham democracy.