In what could be a boost for not just Team Anna but all those who have been strong votaries for electoral reforms in the country, the Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi has recently said that the time had come to consider the right to reject proposal and in this regard asked the government to take up electoral reforms in the coming session of Parliament. As noted by the CEC also, the right to reject idea will have to be further discussed among all stakeholders before taking a final call on this matter. Off course the question that needs to be deliberated is whether the right to reject will make any meaningful difference or in other words whether such a step will improve our democracy and polity. It is good that the debate started by Team Anna is now in the public domain and one must appreciate the progressive mindset displayed by the CEC ‘to change the system’. An institution like the Election Commission and the authority in the person of the CEC will add weight to the ideas for reform and change of our election system.
Related to the issue of electoral reforms is the other concern that the use of money and muscle power in elections is the direct consequence of corruption in the government system. Large scale siphoning of public funds is used to win elections. So in a way without first eradicating corruption, it would not be possible to defeat money and muscle power. The idea of the right to reject, if put into practice, can actually deter misuse of corrupt money during elections. If this power of right to reject is given to voters then a candidate will think twice before spending such a huge sum of money to buy votes knowing that after spending crores, his candidature could be rejected at the time of actual voting. The right to reject if implemented may well bring down the cost of our election campaigns.
It is known thing that right thinking citizens have for many years now expressed serious concern over money and muscle power during elections. Any amount of views, suggestion and serious proposals has been made to cleanse the electoral system in India but without much success till now. As already mentioned, muscle and money power have unfortunately become synonymous with Indian elections. The innocent public fall prey to the temptations of easy money and vague promises given out by the power hungry politicians. Not only that, but because of the expensive elections, there is little chance for capable people with honest intentions and few resources to contest elections. Even the political parties give tickets to those who can deliver money and muscle power. The choice of choosing candidates is a monopoly in the hands of a few party big shots. It is very common to see the same people contesting umpteen number of times. Then we also have family monopoly where chance is not given to others to contest.
As such, people in our democracy are denied good capable candidates. While educational qualifications need not be insisted for the candidates contesting elections, there is a viewpoint that people who contest should be asked to undergo a knowledge test. This would ensure that ignorant people who have only money power and muscle power do not enter the fray and win elections. So the idea of the right to reject must be seriously considered if we want to improve the quality of our democracy and to enable honest and capable people to enter politics. As rightly pointed out by the CEC, the right to reject is an idea whose time may have come.
