CREDIBLE AND PEACEFUL ELECTIONS:THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Transcription

1 COMMONWEALTH WORKSHOP ON GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION MALE JUNE 2011 CREDIBLE AND PEACEFUL ELECTIONS:THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES PRESENTATION BY THE FORMER CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA, NAVIN B. CHAWLA Introduction The structure of Parliamentary democracy must necessarily rest on the exercise of franchise by citizens freely and transparently. Elections constitute the signpost of democracy and need to be held at regular intervals to ascertain the political preferences of the electorate. Free and fair elections provide the much needed legitimacy to Governments to govern. The nature and extent of political participation is an important determinant for the effectiveness of democratic governance, and political parties must necessarily play a crucial rule in this respect. Political parties are primarily responsible through peoples participation for democratizing the entire process of governance. They constitute the institutional mechanism through which people express their views on public affairs for the consideration of the government. They play an essential part in the electoral system, bringing people together onto common political platforms, facilitating alliances among different interest groups, selecting candidates and electing leaders in the course of their own organizational elections. 1

2 Political parties thus play the important role in formulating public policies. Peoples active participation in politics makes political parties more responsive to popular aspirations. Voters must be able to vote out of office parties that are not able to live upto mandated expectations, and the parties they deem can fulfill their mandate must be facilitated to enter governance. Participation is simultaneously an assertion of control or influence over governments by those who have elected them. A democratic society expects the involvement and participation of the citizens throughout the process from elections, through referendums where ever they are held, through the voices of civil society groups, to impact on the government they have elected. The way in which political parties perceive governance indicates their concern and response to the problems and aspirations of people. There is usually the published manifesto that political parties prepare before elections, and that is the available document that defines the aims and goalposts of the political formations concerned. This also helps in a more concise understanding of the differences between political parties perception of governance, and their ability or otherwise to implement the benchmarks that they set for themselves as a polity. An understanding of parties manifestos is necessary to examine the implementation of policies and programmes on which they contest the elections. Democracy can also be described in a sense as revolution by consent enforced through elections. Democratic elections provide the platform for citizens to assert their civil and political rights by holding their elected representatives accountable. The right to vote has emerged as perhaps the most important political right, for its represents hopes for a just, equitable and people-centered system of governance within society. Good and transparent governance is essential for sustainable development, both economic & social. Elections aim to fulfill a mandate towards just, equitable and well run societies. It is also through the mechanics of elections that the vision proclaimed by political parties through their manifestoes mirror the hopes and aspirations of the peoples they seek to represent. Ideally, the most representative ideas and persons obtain a majority mandate to govern, but the ground situation varies from country to country. Yet this needs to be clarified by stating that often enough, elected representation can represent less than 50% of the votes polled. 2

3 Democracy also seeks to give voice to marginalized sections. In India the rise of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe leaders, farmers, women, and minorities who now head national and state governments and have risen to important positions, has very much to do with the practice of electoral democracy. Heterogeneity of parties and government formation through coalitions do also reflect a bouquet of diverse aspirations. The upward trend of participation among women, depressed sections and the urban and rural poor in the decision-making process have become important outcomes of this effective process. Most of this positive upheaval has occured through the instrument of political parties. The growth of a thriving and vibrant electoral democracy has been a story of many countries that acquired independence from colonial rule, the world over. Among those who nurtured these early aspirations were various freedom fighters and framers of constitutions, and in the years that followed independence in these countries, the emerging role of institutions of Parliament, the judiciary and election commissions played their vital roles. Political Parties in Democracy Popular Sovereignty is considered the founding principle of democracy. Credible electoral systems enable the process of obtaining the consent of the governed and provide the crucial life line of legitimacy to democratic governance. If competitive elections that are free and fair form an essential part of an ideal representative democracy, then political parties can fairly be called an indispensible and an inalienable core of such representation. Democracy cannot function in a vacuum; there have to be active players and stakeholders. Political parties are rightly recognized as a highly important instrument for the functioning of democratic politics. They are essential for state formation and are vital intermediaries between State and society. With more and more nations struggling to become democracies and dealing with the issues of representation and governance, the debate on the role of political parties has expectedly acquired renewed relevance, more than ever visible to us on our television screens. 3

4 Political parties necessarily further the cause of democracy by organizing and mobilizing public opinion. They bring up issues, refine them and set the agenda for debate and deliberation. They bring out the pros and cons of a particular policy/programme and provide a menu of alternative choices. They often work as an umbrella for differing interest groups, lobbies and pressure groups and help to coalesce them into comprehensive programme of action as acceptable programme or policies. This way they keep together the societal forces which otherwise would become too divisive for democracies to function effectively. Not everywhere does this succeed, and in many parts of the world there is apparent conflict between unorganized or loosely organised street forces, as they come into conflict with established forms of Government, not necessarily all dictatorial in nature. More than one party provides citizens with a choice; more than one party also means presence of several discerning critiques in the polity s playground. They provide for checks and balances on governance and government another core concept of democracy. Political parties are often creators of public opinion and mobilizers of voters/citizenry. The presence of more than one political party in the political arena itself indicates tolerance/co-existence of the other view points. Thus, both directly as well as indirectly, political parties contribute to democratization of governance and polity in which they operate. One prime illustration would be smooth succession (coupled with basic continuity) in government and governance from one party to the other.the manner in which the political parties manage their own internal affairs is also relevant. If there is internal democracy in the functioning of political parties, democracy will manifest itself in the general value system of the polity as such and contribute to democratic functioning of the government. By and large political parties have imbibed this and manifested it in numerous ways from candidate selection to organizational elections. 4

5 Political Parties in India: The Genesis Democracy suits plural societies the most, and India s emergence as a multi-par democracy has to be seen in the context of indestructible pluralism. In India, there are more than 1200 registered political parties. The origin of some of the major political parties can be traced to the pre- Independence era, wherein political parties played a crucial role in securing freedom for the nation. During British rule, some of these parties also actively participated in elections at central and provincial levels. When free India went to vote in for the first time, 74 political parties participated in the election process. There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of registered political parties in recent years. The factors that have influenced the rush for registration of new political parties and its implication on Indian politics is in itself an interesting topic for research. Constitutional Silence The Indian Constitution is one of the most elaborate founding documents in the world. The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution were conscious of the challenges lying ahead of Indian Republic. Hence they drafted a full chapter to deal with the matter concerning elections. However, ironically enough the Constitution chose to remain completely silent on one of the most important elements of an electoral democracy i.e. the political parties. This silence continued up to 1985 when the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution was added by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, This schedule deals with the disqualification of a person for being a member of either House of Parliament [Art. 102(2)] or the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State [Art.191(2)], on ground of defection. And in this manner the existence of (the institution called) political parties came to be recognized constitutionally for the first time, that too indirectly, by inference. Besides, there is no precise definition of political party in the Indian Constitution or in any statutory law. 5

6 In the Parliamentary system of governance which the Constitution adopted for the country, the existence of political parties was implicit and inevitable. However, the non-recognition in the Constitution, of the existence of political parties can under no stretch of imagination be construed as an omission or as an evidence for reduced importance. On the contrary, it seems to be a strategic decision to maintain a silence. Having taken cognizance of the challenges involved in managing elections in the country, the farmers the founding fathers of the Constitution probably wished to give greater flexibility to the Election Commission, a permanent constitutional body created by Article 324. In view of such constitutional silence, the onus of framing and administering the rules and regulations governing political parties in India fell on the Election Commission. The Election Commission has the ultimate power to accord recognition and status of political parties to the association or body of citizens of India". The Election Commission has the power to decide whether or not to register an association or body of individuals as a political party. Emergence of Indian Political Parties The Election Commission of India on the commencement of the Constitution on 26 th January 1950 duly recognized the existence of political parties and their ardent desire to contest elections which were to be held for the first time in independent India. When the Election Commission went about the task of identifying political parties to be recognized as All India / National Parties or as State Parties there were numerous claims from many political parties. After due consultation the Election Commission of India recognized 14 political parties as national or multi-state parties for the purposes of the first general elections. Besides, 59 other parties were recognized as State parties. It is relevant here to note that the entire process of identifying and giving recognition as national or state political parties was done by the Election Commission of India in the absence of any specific legal provision, using the plenary power under Article 324 and Rule 5 of the Representation of the People Rules Rule 5 provided that the Election Commission 6

7 shall publish a list of symbols as it may like. However, there was no mention about the political parties in this rule. In that sense, the very emergence of political parties in the post-independent India can be traced to a functional need for allotting uniform symbols to each recognized political party which was an election management requirement. Election Symbols: Not merely symbolic The promulgation of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968, on 31 August 1968 is a landmark event not only in the history of political parties in India but also in the history Election Management in the country. The Order made detailed provisions for registration of parties, their recognition and all matters connected therewith, together with the provision for specification, reservation, choice and allotment of symbols at elections. Paragraph 18 of that Order vests in the Election Commission all residuary powers to remove any difficulty arising in the implementation of that Order or to deal with a situation for which no provision or insufficient provision is made in that Order. The Constitutional validity of this Order was questioned in 1971 and the Supreme Court upheld the validity. Election Symbols are reserved only for those political parties which, after registration, fight a general election and become eligible for recognition as national or state parties, on the basis of their poll performance as prescribed in the Symbols Order. The registered-unrecognized parties are eligible to get only a preference in the matter of allotment of free, i.e., unreserved, symbols to their candidates over the independent candidates. Such allotment is made to their candidates at the time of elections in respective constituencies and not in advance. Thus, it is quite likely that the candidates of a registered-unrecognized party may get different symbols in different constituencies, and not a common symbol. 7

8 Expansion in the participatory base of Democracy The political parties in India have made a significant contribution to an expansion in the participatory base of democracy in India. In 2009 General Elections that took place during tortuous summer months 60 percent of Indian voters turned out to vote. In the recently concluded General Elections to state legislative assemblies of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Union Territory of Puducherry, the voter turnout was highly impressive. While Tamil Nadu recorded the highest turnover since 1967, the West Bengal registered percent and Assam recorded percent of voter turnout. The credit for this expanding base of voter participation shall be given to the political parties and their relentless mobilization capacities and competitive spirit. Political Parties and their commitment to Electoral Democracy The first past the post (FPTP) system of elections in a diverse country like India is a sure-recipe for high pitch politics of sound and fury. Indian Elections are keenly contested. The mobilization by the political stake-holders is massive and mind-boggling. The bitter electoral battles at times turn violent. The campaigns are intense. The political parties and candidates cater to the sentiments of identity politics. They criticize each other vehemently. In the midst of feverish election process political parties at times do blame the umpire i.e. the Election Commission. But, once the polling is over all these bitterness will be forgotten. When the election results invariably the loser concedes defeat with dignity and the winner shows a graceful restraint. The change of guard in governance as always been smooth and this maturity displayed by the political parties of India has augured well for the deepening of democracy in the country. Model Code of Conduct: The Unique Document The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates is a unique document, evolved with the consensus of political parties in India, and is a singular contribution by them to the cause of democracy and to strengthen its roots in the political system of the country. It has not statutory backing and many of its provisions are not legally enforceable; for, public opinion is the moral sanction for its enforcement. 8

9 Armed with such moral sanction, the Election Commission ensures its observance by political parties, including the ruling parties at the Centre and in the states, and candidates in the discharge of its constitutional duties of superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament and state legislatures under art 324. The fact that the political parties have themselves consented to abide by the principles embodied in the Model Code also binds them to respect and observe it in letter and spirit. Working of Political Parties But, there are many issues in the functioning of political party system in India which needs deft handling to ensure the further strengthening of democracy in the country. With this in view India has been engaging itself in a constant stock-taking. The civil society, media and the intelligentsia have played a constructive role in this process of soul searching. The working of political party system in India has been studied by various committees, which include V.M. Tarakunde Committee ( ); Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990); Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Committee (1994); Law Commission s Report (1998) and Justice Kuleep Singh Panel. The National Commission to review the working of the Constitution commissioned a study of the working of political parties especially in relation to Elections and Reform Options. The Consultation Paper prepared by the group identified a number of problems in the working of political parties in India. The absence of inner party democracy, inadequate representation women in political parties, lack of training for the party members, need for funds, general lack of ideology and values in politics, leadership quality, campaign methods, regionalization, casteism, communalism, criminalization, growth in violence, fractionalization and coalitions etc., were identified as areas of concern. Inner party democracy in the political parties is one of the most important metrics on which the real health of democratic polity of any nation can be measured. A political culture in which democratic norms are followed in the internal affairs of the political parties is a sure sign of maturity of democracy itself. There is a view that Indian political system is not purely democratic when it comes to the internal affairs of political formations. 9

10 There was a time political parties were not conducting the organizational elections for years together. The situation came to such a pass that the Election Commission had to threaten the entire political establishment by invoking the provisions of para 16A of the Symbols Order. Now the political parties do conduct their organizational elections regularly. In recent times the Election Commission also has taken special care to ensure that the basic philosophy of inner party democracy is not sought to be undermined in the party constitutions. There have been occasions in which some of the new political parties made party chief decides all type of provisions in their constitutions. The Commission had drawn attention of the applicant parties about such provisions not conducive to dinner party democracy, and obtained necessary corrections made before registering such parties. Dissent is of the essence of democratic functioning of a political party. In a vibrant democracy, changes in political configurations are a natural phenomenon. However, in India frequent splits, and mergers had resulted in fragmentation of political parties and bitter disputes in the past. While splits in the legislature groups of the parties and their mergers with one another inside any House of Parliament or of a state legislature fall within the ad judicatory jurisdiction of the Speaker or Chairman of the House concerned, the questions or disputes relating to splits and mergers of political parties outside the legislature fall for determination by the Election Commission under the Symbols Order. Party Funding Political parties indeed need vast funds to carry out their political activities and to contest elections. Parties run huge overheads on account of office establishment, publicity and travel and so on. Funds to meet these requirements funds are normally raised by them by subscriptions from their own members and also by receiving political donations from corporate entities and individuals. Previously, the law was not specific about the contributions to be received by political parties. The Representation of the People Act, 1951 was amended in 2003 to make a specific provision in this regard. The newly inserted Section 29B authorizes political parties to accept, subject to the provisions of the Companies Act 1956, any amount of contribution voluntarily offered to them by any person or company other 10

11 than a government company. This authorization is applicable to all registered parties which includes registered-unrecognized parties as well. The contributions made by companies and individuals to political parties under the amended provisions of law are exempt from income tax, not only in the hands of the political parties receiving them, but also in the hands of the contributors and are subject to exemption in the computation of the total income of the assesses making those contributions for the purposes of payment of income tax. It is mandatory for the treasurer of a political party or any other person authorized by the party to submit a report to the Election Commission of India in each financial year with the details of each of the contribution received in excess of Rs 20,000. It is observed that even some small and unknown parties also do claim to have received huge contributions from various individuals. The Election Commission even got an impression that the spark recent in the number of political parties in the country could be the unexpected fall out this taxexemption provision. The Election Commission has drawn the attention of the Tax authorities about this. Increasing election expenditure is an important factor that promotes political corruption. Some democracies faced with the similar problems have considered state funding of elections as a way out. However, in India, the concept of state funding of elections has not made any serious headway. The Government of India constituted the Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections. The committee submitted its report in 1998 and the Government decided to implement some of the recommendations which include provision for free airtime on state owned media. Indian elections are increasingly becoming more costly to the political parties and candidates. In the absence of a comprehensive state funding of elections the fringe benefits such as free talk time etc., may not make any difference to the current state of affairs. 11

12 Use of Money Power The use of money power has emerged as a serious challenge to the purity of Elections. Rule 90 of the 1961 Rules prescribes varying limits of election expenditure for parliamentary and assembly constituencies in each of the states and union territories. Section 77(1) of 1951 Act makes it mandatory for every candidate at an election to the House of the People or a state legislative assembly to keep a separate and correct account of all expenditure incurred or authorized by him or by his election agent, between the date on which he was nominated and the date of declaration of the result of election, both dates inclusive. The total of the said expenditure shall not exceed such amount as may be prescribed under Section 77(3). In recent years there has been a steady increase in complaints about misuse of money power, bribery and monitory inducement to voters during elections. Such complaints are reported more in number during bye-elections. The political parties and candidates have devised numerous novel methods to influence the voters by spending in excess of the prescribed limits of expenditure. Payment of bribes, inducement through gifts, organizing feasts, redeeming of mortgaged materials and articles, conduct of mass-wedding with provision for lavish gifts, supply of liquor, etc. are among the methods adopted by the candidates to influence the voters. The Election Commission of India has been stretched to the must possible measures to curb the menace of money power in elections. The Election Commission appoints expenditure observers to monitor expenditure by various candidates during campaign period. In recent times the Election Commission even resorted to physically checking every passing vehicle to check whether any ill-gotten money was being transferred from one place to another for being misused for the purpose of electoral gains. The Election Commission also has launched awareness campaigns about these corrupt practices. There is a growing realization that there is no singular solution for completely eradicating the misuse of money power. There has to be a complete overhaul of the system of funding of political parties. 12

13 Greater transparency in maintenance of accounts by the political party is needed. There is a view that the misuse of money power has not been able to decisively influence the outcome of the elections as evident from the recent trends. But, this can never be a consolation. The Indian Electoral System has to do something seriously and decisively to bring an end to this corrupt practice. Poor representation of women in Legislative Bodies In India, women form nearly 50 percent of the total electorate. Still there is no reservation of any seats for them in the House of the People. Same is the case with the Council of States as well the Legislature of any State with the sole exception of the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir makes provision for special representation of women in the State Legislative Assembly. If the Governor of the State is of opinion that women are not adequately represented in the Assembly he may nominate not more than two women to be the members of Assembly and they will be in addition to the members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies. While higher legislative bodies like Parliament and state legislative assemblies are not having any provision for reservation of seats for women. There are constitutional provisions that provide for reservation of not less than one-third of the seats for women in the panchayats and municipalities. Therefore, the demand for reservation of seats for women in the House of the People and the state legislative assemblies has gathered momentum. However, such reservation for women has not become reality as political parties seem to have differing views on the percentage of seats to be reserved. Reservation to be made for women belonging to backward classes in the seats to be reserved for women, and so on. The Election Commission has come out with an alternative proposal that, instead of making a reservation of certain percentage of seats for women and further reserving constituencies from which only women candidates may contest election, it may be made incumbent upon the recognized political parties to set up an agreed percentage of women candidates in all states in which they contest elections. The continued recognition of those parties would depend upon the fulfillment of this condition precedent, apart from their poll performance at 13

14 the elections. But this proposal has been criticized on the ground that it may not result in the return of the desired number of elected women representatives, as their success cannot be ensured in all the constituencies in which they contest. As of now there are 59 women MPs in the lower house (out of 543). While representation of women in higher legislative bodies looks less impressive, women occupy many important elected positions in India. For example, India currently is having women occupying the highest elected position that is the President of India. Besides, prominent states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have women Chief Ministers. Women also play a lead role as the President of prominent national and state parties. But it does not solve the issue of poor representation of women in the legislative bodies such as Parliament and state legislative bodies so far. Educational Qualifications for membership of Parliament and State Legislatures There is a growing criticism about the declining quality of the candidate being given ticket by the various political parties. The Constitution prescribe certain Qualifications and also certain Disqualifications for any person aspiring to be a member of parliament are of a state legislature in India whether by election or by nomination. Qualifications are those positive attitudes of a person which makes him eligible to occupy a particular position, post or public office. Disqualifications are those negative aspects of a person which militate against his occupying such position, post or public office. Despite, his being qualified therefore. As Qualifications and Disqualification are two different distinct concepts. Every candidate is required to make a declaration in his nomination paper that, he is qualified and not also disqualified for being chosen to fill the seat which he intends to contest. However, it is observed that there is dissatisfaction about the quality of the candidates to contest the election. The political parties have a tendency to select a candidate on the basis of perceived win ability. There are civil society organizations in India to run a campaign to educate the voters by disseminating information on the educational qualification and criminal antecedents of the candidates as disclosed in their affidavits, in order to enable the voters to make their informed choice. 14

15 The Constitution does not prescribe any educational qualification to be the member of legislative bodies. At the time of Independence, the literacy rate in India was only16 percent. Besides, many prominent leaders of India freedom struggle themselves had boycotted the schools and colleges to spear head the fight against the foreign rule. In such a situation any prescription of minimum educational qualification would have been in complete conflict with the aspirations of the democratic India which gave adult franchise to all citizens without any discrimination. After more than 60 years of Independence the literacy rate in India stands at percent and the nation is past emerging as a regional super power and an economic powerhouse. In this context, there is a view that as the ground situation has vastly changed, the debate on prescribing minimum educational qualification to be chose as the members of legislative bodies should be revisited. Those who support the view that there should be a minimum educational qualification points out that prescribing such qualification does not require any amendment to the Constitution, because the Constitution already empowers Parliament to lay down such qualification under Articles 84(c) and 173(c). They also express surprise about the resistance by the government to the disclosure of the educational qualification of the candidates, when the Supreme Court considered the issue of electors right to information about the antecedents and educational backgrounds of the candidates so as to make an informed choice of their representatives in Parliament and state legislatures. However, it is relevant to note that as the literacy rate and spread of higher education has grown phenomenally the number of candidates with reasonable educational qualification has also gone up. The Road Ahead Taking due cognizance of current debates on various issues consigning political party system and democratic governance in India and taking note of the recommendations made by committees that dealt with the issues, I would like to enumerate a reform agenda. There is a need for a comprehensive legislative framework to deal with all aspects of political parties in the country. In this process, gaps in the 15

16 present framework shall be identified with the view that ambiguities shall be removed. There is a need for greater transparency and accountability in political party funding. If state funding is considered as a serious option that should be comprehensive. A piecemeal approach may well fail to deliver the goods. The dialogue between Election Commission and the political parties should be continuous. As of now, the interaction usually takes place during election time whereas the need is to engage the political parties in discussing basic issues and find long-term solutions. There is a need to educate political party workers in the field. There are some political parties which have devised means to educate party workers and there are parties which have not taken noticeable initiatives. There is a need to device mechanisms to create wide-spread awareness about the functioning of the political party system. To improve the political culture in the country attempt should be made to create consensus among the political parties on certain basic issues connected to democracy, conduct of elections and so on. For example, political parties should take a conscious and definite stand about use of technology. Conclusion When India made a historic leap forward and opted for universal adult franchise, doubts were raised from different quarters about the future of the democracy in the country. Many expected India s experiment with democracy could be short-lived. All these speculations were proved wrong and India today is not only the largest democracy but a role model that is able to work as a vibrant plural democracy. This could not have been achieved without a constructive role played by the political parties of India. The political parties are vitally important stakeholders. The Indian political party system has displayed immense maturity to regularly accept the verdict 16

17 given by the people with grace. Every Indian Election, irrespective of the electoral outcome has resulted in the strengthening of the democratic edifice. However, the political establishments need to take serious note of the growing cynicism especially among youth and distress. The future of most democracies is in the hands of youth, and the political establishment needs to engage and integrate the young in the democratic electoral process. It is only then that democratic roots are strengthened and democracy becomes more participatory, functional and meaningful. 17

18 Categories of Political Parties Both the registration and recognition of political parties were governed initially by the provisions of the Symbols Order alone. After the amendment to the 1951 Act, the registration of parties is now regulated by the statutory provisions of section 29A of that Act. However, the recognition of such registered parties continues to be governed by the provisions of the Symbols Order. The Symbols Orders classifies registered political parties as recognized parties and unrecognized parties. The recognized political parties are further classified into two categories namely; national parties and the state parties. Political parties are recognized either as state parties or as national parties on the basis of their poll performance, as per the criteria laid down in the Symbols Order. A state party recognized in a particular state is treated as an unrecognized-registered party in all other states, in which it is not so recognized. At present there are six national parties and 45 recognized state parties in India. A party once recognized either as state party or as national party does not get such recognition in perpetuity. Its continued recognition depends upon its poll performance at every general election to the House of the People or to a state legislative assembly as the case may be, and it shall be regarded as a recognized party only so long as it continues to fulfill the criteria prescribed in the Symbols Order. Till the year 1994, poll performance was the only ground on which the recognition of a national or state party could be withdrawn by the Election Commission of India. The Election Commission of India on 18 February 1994 amended the Symbols Order by inserting a new para 16A. Through this amendment, the Election Commission of India reserved a power for it to suspend or withdraw the recognition of a national or state party for its failure to observe the Model Code of Conduct or follow lawful directions and instructions of the Commission. 18

19 It is relevant to note that no political party has suffered the suspension or withdrawal of its recognition due to this provision. Notwithstanding this, para 16A remains the most lethal weapon at the disposal of the Election Commission of India in its relentless efforts to deliver free and fair elections in the country. The efficacy of this provision in the Symbols Order can is evident from the fact that the Election Commission of India has invoked the provisions of this para 16A only once when it put all political parties on notice in 1996 that they may render themselves liable to action under this para if they failed to hold their organizational elections in accordance with their party constitutions within the time then allowed by the Commission for the purpose. The very notice yielded positive results. 19

20 Criminalization of Politics Use of muscle power to win the election and general criminalization of electoral politics has been a major area of concern. Vohra Committee (1993) that studied the problem of the criminalisation of politics and of the nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India, gave a detail account on use of muscle power for electoral gains. The law disqualifies only such persons who have been convicted by the courts of law for certain offences specified in section 8 of the 1951 Act. The Election Commission of India suggested that persons involved in serious offences punishable with imprisonment for five years or more should also be disqualified during the pendency of their trial, provided the competent court of law had taken cognizance of the offence and framed the charges against the accused. However, the suggestion has not been accepted so far. The Civil Society Organizations have also taken initiatives to collect and disseminate relevant information on the criminal antecedents and criminal cases pending against the contesting candidates, based on their affidavits submitted before the Returning Officers. The Election Commission of India, taking due cognizance of the role being played by the muscle power in elections and taking into account certain prevailing socio-economic realities of electoral politics, the Commission introduced the concept of vulnerability mapping, first during UP Assembly election (2007) and during subsequent General Elections to various state Legislative Assemblies. Following positive feedback from voters as well as the media, the Commission decided to extend the implementation of vulnerability mapping to the entire country during election Vulnerability Mapping is an exercise to identify villages/hamlets/habitats and segments of voters vulnerable to any threat and intimidation or interference with free and fair exercise of electoral rights. The basic objective of this exercise was to create a visible impact about the seriousness being attached to ensure free and fair elections and to create deterrence in the minds of potential trouble makers. 20

21 During the general elections 2009, as many as 86,782 villages/hamlets were identified as vulnerable to threat and intimidation, 3,73,861 persons were identified as troublemakers and preventive measures under relevant sections of law was initiated against them. As a management principle, vulnerability mapping attached the attention of election management bodies and professionals of other countries, too. Due to pro-active initiative like vulnerability mapping the use of muscle power has been greatly contained. 21