Civil society turns election watchdog

By M H Ahssan

It was Mikhail Gorbachev who brought in ‘perestroika’ to restructure and reform the erstwhile Soviet Union in the mid-80s. A similar trend is catching on in Andhra Pradesh to cleanse the electoral system that could define the very outcome of the coming elections.

Heading the poll perestroika brigade are veteran election officials and top bureaucrats like J M Lyngdoh, K J Rao, E A S Sarma, Prof Trilochan Sastri, Justice Ambati Laxman Rao, B P R Vittal and K R Venugopal, who believe strengthening of the democratic foundation is possible only through greater accountability and transparency in the electoral process.

But what’s the provocation to step in as an election watchdog this time round? Apparently experts see Rayalaseema as a major trouble spot in this year’s election. “The situation in the region could be as bad as in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,” an analyst averred. Former CEC Lyngdoh has already sounded the warning bugle that Rayalaseema constituencies are an area of concern that need a close watch.

Ironically, Rayalaseema is the hotbed from where the heavy weights in the AP political arena — Rajasekhara Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu and Chiranjeevi — will be in the fray. So what does one do to stem the rot? Though Lok Satta had initiated the process to raise awareness on poll-related irregularities, its efforts petered out once it became a full-fledged party.

This is when the state-level forum, ‘Ennikala Nigha Vedika’ (ENV) stepped in. A conglomeration of various NGOs like Samatha, Forum for a Better Visakha (FBV), Forum for a Better Hyderabad (FBH), intellectuals, ex-bureaucrats, scientists and concerned citizens, ENV will act as a means to enforce civilian involvement in the electoral process. “This watchdog role is aimed at improving the quality of elections and its conduct,” a spokesman of ENV said.

Not only in Rayalaseema, ENV is set to reach out to all regions in the state with the participation of locals. An election watch forum has been floated at Bapatla in Guntur district with an objective to educate and empower voters, its convener P C Sai Babu said.

EAS Sarma, former Union power secretary, stresses the need to set up a system to ensure that the election machinery for the coming elections functions impartially and to see that the elections for the Assembly and Parliament are conducted in the best traditions of a healthy democracy. The FBV, for which he is the conveyor, is holding a meeting in Vizag to discuss the issues of ‘election watch’ in the region with NGOs and RTI activists.

Welcoming the civic society’s initiative to keep a watch on the conduct of elections, former secretary to Election Commission K J Rao said people should join the movement in a big way. “Distribution of liquor by candidates on the eve of elections is a menace in the state. This can be curbed only when the people are vigilant and the official machinery is impartial,” he observed. Deploying electoral officials from outside is the only way out, opined Rao, who has earned a name for himself for the smooth conduct of Bihar polls.

Experts said not only do voters have the right to know the educational, financial and criminal background of the candidates contesting the elections, but they also have a right to reject a candidate. “If the voters feel that no candidate in the fray is fair, he can go to the polling station and inform the presiding officer that he is not interested in voting for anybody,” Sarma said. This right was given to the voter under Section 49(O) of Election Rules-1969. “If the number of these rejected votes are more than the votes polled by any candidate, then the election gets cancelled,” he said.

Rao said their effort is to ensure that the elections are conducted in a spirit of inclusiveness and fairness. It remains to be seen whether the ENV exercise would be a flash in the pan or it would work for the society’s good.