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Democracy : EC has a dig at parties |
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Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh has in a veiled attack on political parties criticized them for not electing their leaders and said lack of democracy within parties reflected on the democracy of the country. He said a new breed of politicians had come up “which is quite capable of milking the public finances.” “How can there be democracy in the true sense when there is little internal democracy in the political parties, where leaders of parties are not elected in certain cases,” Lyngdoh asked. Admitting that there were instances of misuse of money in elections, he said besides the elected politicians, even those who fail at the hustings have shown that they can be influenced by powerful media houses and multinationals. “It is now unabashedly admitted that media and MNCs are more potent than the state itself,” the CEC said. He said overspending in elections was a universal phenomenon and India was no exception to that. He admitted that the Election Commission had a limited role in curbing this and the entire society had to get together to get rid of this nuisance. Despite regulations on spending for the polls, the rules are observed more on paper than in reality. Use of slush funds is common and it is not easy to trace the people who had funded the party’s lavish campaign in the form of banners, posters and decorations of the venue and dais.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khursheed and BJP leader K Swain stressed the need for allowing income tax-free corporate funding in a publicly accountable and transparent manner. Khursheed favoured a level-playing field for winners and losers in the funding. “Politics is an expensive business. Where do we find money for parties and individuals? Corporate funding should be allowed and made income tax free,” Khursheed said. He also favoured the entry of good people into politics, even as he lamented that defections continued in the political spectrum despite an impressive anti-defection law.
Swain, while disfavouring state funding as not practicable, said corporates should be allowed to donate money publicly and these donations should be IT-free. The two leaders differed on having an interim administration just before elections on the pattern seen recently in Bangladesh. While Khursheed favoured it, Swain said the Bangladesh experience could not be applied here.
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