News by Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai (SP)
Mumbai, Mar 21: The Governor of Maharashtra S C Jamir said, that despite the anti-defection law being in force, there have been instances of persons resigning their elected seats and getting re-elected on a new party ticket. Expressing concern over corrupt electoral practices and increased use of money and muscle power, Jamir said defections are politically wrong and ethically immoral. In this connection he said, the anti defection law needs to be reviewed and necessary ammendments need to be brought into force to ensure that the law serves the intended purpose.
The Governor was speaking after releasing the book, ‘Electoral Reforms in India: Current Discourses’ at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai recently. The book has been authored by Dr B Venkatesh Kumar, in-charge director, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Contemporary Studies, University of Mumbai.
The Governor said, the electoral reforms should begin right from the stage of preparation of electoral rolls. Proper scrutiny of the electoral rolls was necessary to ensure that it contains only the legitimate voters, he said. Expressing the need for educating voters, he added that the electorate must realize the importance of their votes and stop bartering votes for the enticements offered by unscrupulous candidates.
Speaking on the occasion, former Chief Election Commissioner of India J M Lyngdoh expressed the opinion that vote bank politics is the biggest bane of our present system. He warned that if allowed to go unchecked, the vote bank politics would lead to the disintegration of the country. Lyngdoh said, it is a mockery of democracy, that persons securing hardly 27 per centage of votes become representatives of the people. He recommended that candidates must secure at least 50% of votes, plus one vote, to win an election. Lyngdoh further called for the restoration of section 77 of the Representation of People’s Act so as to disallow the extent of expenditure spent by the candidates.
Alemla Jamir, vice chancellor of the University of Mumbai Dr Vijay Khole and Dr Venkatesh Kumar were present on the occasion.