A week after social activist Anna Hazare announced that his next agitation would be for legislations such as the Right to Recall and Right to Reject, the country’s chief election commissioner, S Y Quraishi, says there is no need for these changes.
And, his greater concern was to increase voter turnout in state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
“After the Mumbai terror attack, despite the public anger, we saw a very low voter turnout. In contrast, the voting in West Bengal was 84 per cent. The change is visible,” Quraishi told Business Standard. “We need more voters, especially in the urban areas, to come to the polling station and vote.”
The CEC was also critical of Hazare’s demand for having legislation such as the Right to Recall, which will allow citizens the right to recall their representative before his term of office gets over, saying its implementation had practical limitations in a country like India.
“India is not Switzerland; we are much bigger than that. Who will verify that the signatures for Right to Recall are genuine? How will it be ensured that the signatures have not been taken under duress? The exercise will mean another election,” Quraishi said.
“The media asks us, why do we have so many elections? If the Right to Recall is implemented, then we will keep having elections in this country.”
| TAINTED FACES | |
| MPs with criminal background in 2009-Lok Sabha | |
| MPs with Criminal charges: | 158 (29.10%) |
| MPs with serious criminal charges: | 74 (13.63%) |
| Total criminal charges against MPs: | 509 |
| Total serious IPC sections against MPs: | 267 |
On the Right to Reject, which would mean declaring an election void if more than half of the voters chose ‘none of the above’ as an option on the ballot paper or election voting machines, Quraishi said it raises questions on the right of the citizens who have voted for a particular candidate.
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Meanwhile, former police officer and Hazare’s close aide, Kiran Bedi, said that even as Quraishi’s concerns were are genuine, ‘substantial’ changes were needed in the election process.
“What Hazare talked about was the need to work in the direction of electoral reforms. As of now, the people of the country don’t have an option for five years, once the elections are over. They need to be given that option,” Bedi said. “The right to reject or recall is not the final word, we are ready to debate and talk on this,” she added.
Quraishi stressed there was an immediate need for decriminalisation of politics. The CEC said he was very hopeful on the planned legislation of the government, to stop candidates charge-sheeted by a court from contesting elections.
“We (CEC) have been all along saying those chargesheeted by a court for serious cases that involve imprisonment of more than five years should not be allowed to contest the elections. I hope the government is able to bring this legislation soon,” he said.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, around 30 per cent of the members of Parliament (MPs) in the 2009 Lok Sabha have 509 criminal charges against them. 74 of these face serious criminal charges. Mulayam Singh-led Samajwadi Party has the the maximum number of tainted MPs (34.78 per cent), followed by Bahujan Samaj Party (28.57 per cent) and Bhartiya Janata Party (16.30 per cent).