SPEECH
BY SHRI K.R.NARAYANAN, PRESIDENT OF INDIA, WHILE INAUGURATING THE GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
New Delhi, January 17, 2001
I
am happy and honoured to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations
of the Election Commission of India. Fifty years ago India gave unto herself
a democratic Constitution the fundamental basis of which was the right
to vote bestowed upon every adult citizen. The Election Commission was
set up to conduct free and fair elections for the entire country.
It
may be recalled here that while the Constituent Assembly was discussing
the draft Constitution there was considerable demand in the country for
early elections. There was a proposal that the Ministry of Law should
be entrusted with the task of conducting elections. Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
the President of the Constituent Assembly opposed the proposal and suggested
that, pending the finalization of the Constitution, an interim Election
Commission should be constituted for conducting the elections. The Constituent
Assembly provided for a Commission not only to conduct the elections,
but to prepare the electoral rolls for the entire country at the cost
of the State. It was thus an Election Commission for the whole of India
came into being.
We
can to-day look back with pride on the functioning of the Election Commission
during the last five decades. It has organized 13 General Elections, and
many State elections. These were colossal enterprises involving millions
of voters spread throughout the length and breadth of this vast country.
The efficiency and the unquestioned impartiality with which these elections
were conducted went a long way in consolidating the democratic process
in this country. The Election Commission thus emerged as an independent
institution that enjoyed credibility among the political parties and elicited
the faith of the people.
The
decision taken by founding fathers to introduce in one go universal adult
suffrage in a country of mass illiteracy and mass poverty was a daring
revolutionary act. As early as 1931 Mahatma Gandhi had argued "Adult
suffrage is necessary for more reasons than one; and one of the decisive
reasons for me is that it enables one to satisfy the reasonable aspirations,
not only of Mussalmans but also of the so-called untouchables, of Christians,
of labourers, and of all classes". Gandhiji saw in it as a means
of unifying the diverse sections of the Indian people. Pandit Nehru looked
upon elections on the basis of adult franchise as a method for the political
education of the Indian masses.
In exercising his right to vote an Indian
felt for the first time a sense of participation in the political process
of the land and hence empowered. Elections have aroused the hopes and
aspirations of the unempowered sections of society. It has been said that
"when elections are around the deaf hear and the dumb speak".
In a public opinion poll it was found that people rated the Election Commission
very high far ahead of the police, the bureaucracy, the political parties,
the Central Government, local self Government and even the judiciary.
Mr. Chief Election Commissioner, you and your colleagues in the Commission,
can be proud of the high estimation the Indian public of the institution
you head.
Elections
by politically empowering the poorer and the deprived and neglected sections
of our society have deepened and broadened the concept and practice of
democracy in India. With the broadening of the sweep of the election process
serious malpractices have crept into the election process. Even as early
as 1920’s when the franchise was highly restricted such malpractices were
prevalent. Mahatma Gandhi wrote an article dealing with corrupt practices
prevailing in the elections of that time under the title "A Plea
for Purity". A candidate for the Council Election wrote to Gandhiji:
"My agents play false. They attribute to me virtues which I do not
recognize in myself. My opponents condemn me to vice I have never been
guilty of.
I want a clean and fair fight …. Can you show a way out or
will you simply say that Council-going is wrong and I must retire."
The reply Gandhiji gave to this has relevance to our own times. He said
"I have been told that all these things are inevitable when a nation
is rising from stupor. No doubt there is some truth in this. When people
were thoroughly apathetic and only a few men were interested in running
elections and running associations, impurities remained underground. Now
that a large body of people are taking part in these public matters, the
impurities which were hidden are coming to the surface ….The impurities
are not superficial, but they are in the whole body itself. I should hope
that things are not so bad and that the body is sound…. Without purity
of public life, Swaraj is an impossibility". To-day the same can
be said of our democracy. Criminals, even convicted criminals are taking
part in elections and getting elected to legislatures.
The
Election Commission has stated that about 500 to 800 elected representatives
have criminal antecedents. Money, muscle power and mafia play an unhealthy
role in our elections. The Election Commission is reported to have recommended
that amendments in the Representation of Peoples Act should be brought
about so that bad characters are prevented from fighting elections and
entering the legislatures. It is interesting that Gandhiji had detected
this trend in the 1920’s and wrote prophetically "What if unworthy
people get elected because we do not come forward? If such people enter
the legislatures, the Government will not be able to run the Government
of an awakened people and it will be laughed at." To-day it is more
than a laughing matter.
Legislation may not be the only solution to this
problem. If the organized political parties, who are not obliged to field
anyone as a candidate, refrain from giving tickets to individuals with
a criminal background, it would be possible to deal effectively with the
problem of criminals in politics. Is this too much expected from the political
parties? Similarly for an adequate representation of women in the legislatures
and Parliament the political parties have in it in their power to give
sufficient tickets to women. In all this the Election Commission also
can play a very useful role. In a recent judgement the Delhi High Court
is reported to have asked the Election Commission to make the voters aware
of the background of the contestants in the elections so that people cast
their votes with full knowledge of the candidates.
I am aware that the
Election Commission is already overburdened with work. But with understanding
and a little bit of help from the Government and the political parties
it will be possible for it not only to run the colossal election process
in our country, but help to get rid of the many malpractices that are
plaguing the elections and distorting the will of the voter. It is an
institution that has withstood the storms of our political life and also
got a reputation for its efficiency and impartiality in the world. Early
in its career it was responsible for organizing elections not only in
India but abroad. The first Election Commissioner Shri Sukumar Sen was
the Election Commissioner of India as well as of the Sudan for one year.
We have used the method of elections in an adventurous manner in hazardous
situations. For example in the Punjab several years ago it was by holding
elections that the tide of violence was reversed and normalcy established.
So also Assam. Today in Kashmir panchayat elections are being held. There
is no greater proof of the faith that the people have in democracy than
the sight of men and women trekking the mountainous roads in Kashmir,
in the face of threats from militants, in order to cast their votes in
the panchayat elections.
To-day
the fact that the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition is present
on this podium to pay tribute to the Election Commission on its anniversary
is itself a demonstration of the honoured position it occupies in Indian
political structure. I am honoured to join them all those present here
in saluting the Election Commission of India on its Golden Jubilee.
Thank you.
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