1. 1Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Manthan Topic: Fairness at Play
“Horizon 2014”
Introducing Electoral Reforms To Reduce The Influence Of
Money And Muscle Power In Politics
Team Members:
1. Ravi Chaudhary (Team Coordinator)
2. Paras Bhardwaj
3. Richa Sharma
4. Khyati Singh
5. Aditya Kumar Gautam
Team: Prayagraj Express
(Non-Stop ALD to NDLS)

2. 2Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Why India Urgently Needs An Electoral Reform???
The evolution of the party system
after Independence presents
transformation from one-party
dominant system to a complex of
multi-party configuration.
Casteism, communalism and
personality domination have been
the main planks around which the
fragmentation of political parties
has taken place.
The current political system
reflects the fashion of
fragmentation, factionalism,
casteism, communal politics and
regionalism.
The system strongly shows a
tendency to form opportunistic
alliances for seeking a share in the
pie of power, irrespective of any
strong ideological or
programmatic commitments.
Muscle Power
Money Power

3. 3Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Financing of election
exceeding the legal limit.
Criminalization of politics.
Booth capturing.
Intimidation of voters.
Buying voters.
Tampered electoral rolls.
Large scale rigging of
elections.
Abuse of caste in enlistment
of voters.
Non participation of the
literate and educated class in
the elections.
Mafia influence in the
elections.
Financial barriers
preventing common man to
participate in politics.
Role of Money & Muscle
Power reduces government‘s
accountability.
Legislature is one of the
three pillars of our
constitution; any flaw in it
dismantles the system as a
whole.
Geographical and time
constraints hindering people
from casting votes.
 The very essence of
democracy “Of the people, By
the people & For the people”
is challenged as welfare of
the common man is ignored.

4. 4Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Influence of Muscle Power
Year of
Lok Sabha
Election
Expenditure Incurred
(Provisional)
(in Rs.Crores)
Percentage (%)
Increase in
Expenditure
1952 10.5 -
1957 5.9 -43.54
1962 7.3 24.07
1967 10.8 47.50
1971 11.6 7.52
1977 23.0 98.44
1980 54.8 137.77
1984 81.5 48.82
1989 154.2 89.20
1991 359.1 132.85
1996 597.3 66.34
1998 666.2 11.53
1999 880.0 32.09
2004 1300.0 47.73
Source: http://eci.gov.in/eci_main1/expenditurel_loksabha.aspx
Lok Sabha Election Expenditure
Year of LS
Election: 2009
Candidates Winning
%
Contested Winners
With Pending
Criminal Cases
1158 162 13.99
Without
Criminal Cases
6912 381 5.51
Influence of Money Power
Year of LS
Election: 2009
Candidates Winning
%
Contested Winners
With Asset > Rs
1 Crore
1249 315 25.22
With Asset < Rs
1 Crore
6821 228 3.34
Source: Candidates' affidavit with nomination papers from
www.adrindia.org, http://myneta.info , adr@adrindia.org
In spite of spending such huge amount of money by our government, the national politics
is still tainted by politicians with criminal backgrounds and records

5. 184
131
108
43
29
19
9 6 8
1 3 1 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 24
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Winners
5Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014Asset position in constituency among candidates and their
winning statistics in Lok Sabha Election 2009
Asset position in constituency among candidates
NumberofWinners
Positionin
constituency
based on assets
Total
winners
% of
winners
1 184 34%
2 131 24%
3 108 20%
4 43 8%
5 29 5%
6 19 3%
7 9 2%
8 6 1%
9 8 1%
10 1 0%
11 3 1%
12 1 0%
24 1 0%
Total 543 100%
Source: National level analysis for Lok Sabha 2009 Elections from http://adrindia.org
Statistics clearly shows that MONEY has a direct
influence on winning rate in latest Lok Sabha Elections.
Now the basic question that arises is “How can a
New Breed of Youth not belonging to the Financially
Rich Aristocratic Class enters into Politics?”

6. Total
Candidates
543*7 =
3801
Total Expenses in
Canvassing
3801*40,00,000 = Rs.
15,20,40,00,000
Total Savings
Rs.
15,20,40,00,000
6Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
BenefitsExecution StrategyIdea
Universal
Canvassing
A common canvassing for all candidates of one
constituency by Election Commission displaying
Photo, Party Symbol & brief Profile highlighting
his major Achievements/Awards & proved
Crimes of candidates of that electorate through
Print & Electronic Media & “NO” individual
canvassing by candidates through Print Media.
• Will save National Capital & hence
suppress the influence of money by
rich candidates in election campaign.
• Will create awareness among public
which in turn will promote normal
youth into our democracy.
Politics a
Career
The myth of considering Politics a place “only
for mafias” in present society should be erased
from the mind of common men through
mandatory political/civics education at college
level & a fix reservation for youth in our
political system on merit or entrance basis.
Generation of curiosity, passion &
awareness among youth which in
turn will inculcate new leaders &
new ideas in our society leading to a
transparent political system.
Rough analysis of Saving as
per Rs. 40 lack limit set by
EC for canvassing in 2014
election, considering 7
candidates contesting per
Lok Sabha seat

7. 7Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Statistics of youth migrated to
far away cities for study &
work
Cause
Earning livelihood, job search/transfer, higher studies, marriage etc are the
major factors promoting a large proportion of our adult population to
migrate from their constituency to a distant location.
Effect
A high % of our accountable population who is literate & educate is unable to
participate in voting due to geographical barrier between their normal place
of living & their native place where they are enrolled for voting.
Migrants Numbers
Inter-district 74,626,322
Inter-state 41,166,265
Total 115,792,587
Millions of migrants far away from their
constituency !
We can resolve this issue by introducing a pan India ultra secured voting system which increase
our voters to a certain level.
This constitutes 11.26% of total
census_2001 population
(1,028,610,328)
It can be assumed that a large number of these migrants are unable to cast there votes.
Source: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Online_Migration/Reason_for_migration.aspx

8. 8Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Advantages
over
Existing System
• Citizens who are unable to cast their vote due to distant barrier at present can
use their “Right to Vote” throughout the country.
• Participation of migrant will increase which in turn will neutralize the influence
of muscle & money power in election.
• Govt employees engaged in election duty can also cast their vote easily.
• Biometric signature will completely eliminate the practice of fake votes &
concept of booth capturing.
Implementation
of
Technologically
Advanced Model
• Creation of “Smart Voter Id Card”, unique for all citizens, with inbuilt
electronic chip storing his biometric signature & information of the constituency
from which the citizen belongs.
• At Election booth his voter card will be scanned by machine which will direct
him to his constituency portal. Then he need to verify his biometric signature in
order to vote.
• Voters will use a Touch-Sensitive Electronic Pad to confirm their vote. After
confirmation, the electronic vote will be encrypted and randomly stored in the
memory of Central Server for voting at the office of Chief Election
Commissioner.
Vision
• Implementing a Central Election System where a citizen can cast vote even if
he is at a far away location from his constituency, but within our country,
through Ultra Secured Cyber System.

9. 9Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
Adopting 49-O in General Election
Rule 49-O of the Conduct
of Elections Rules, 1961,
provides that if an elector
goes to the polling station
and decides not to vote,
the Presiding /Polling
officer will record the
entry in the register of
voters and take the
signature / thumb
impression of the elector
concerned. The voter then
leave the polling station
without voting any
candidate.
• Present procedure
under Rule 49-O
reveal the decision
& identity of the
elector not voting for
any candidate to
those present in
polling station
including polling
agents.
• Elector’s vote is
considered invalid
under law & not
against any/all
candidate.
If the Reject Vote
is maximum then
all the candidates
should loose that
election and those
candidates having
vote upto 67%
(say) of Reject
Vote should not be
allowed to stand
again in reelection
for next 5 years.
Present Existing System leaves voter with only two choices
1. Either select any one existing politician (how so ever corrupt he/she may be).
2. Do not even exercise his “Right to Vote”.
Proposed Touch-
Sensitive Electronic
Pad or EVM should
be equipped with an
additional button on
voting pad at the
end of list. This
button signifies the
“Reject All”, where
clicking on this
button will log a
buffer vote which
will be against all
candidates.
What is 49-O Present Problems How to Implement
Proposed
Solution

10. 10Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
1. Time and money are the basic constraints of government for making smart voter
identification card of whole population.
2. Universal canvassing will impose extra burden on Election Commission.
3. Existing political system may show lack of determination to implement these
reforms.
1. Initial investment of time and money will be more fruitful for decades than small
short term vested investments. Smart Voter ID card with Biometrics can be
clubbed with UIDAI Aadhar Card/Smart Card.
2. Can be possible with reducing the maximum expenditure limit of contestants and
with charging additional certain amount of registration fee to all contestants.
3. Big time , 65 % of India’s population is youth , the chair holders should themselves
promote this change that leads to a prosperous country.
Implementation Challenges
Mitigation Factors

11. 11Prayagraj Express
Horizon 2014
1. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/Contesting.aspx
2. http://eci.gov.in/eci_main1/expenditurel_loksabha.aspx
3. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/Rule_49o.pdf
4. National level analysis for Lok Sabha 2009 Elections from http://adrindia.org
5. http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Online_
Migration/Reason_for_migration.aspx
6. Candidates' affidavit with nomination papers from www.adrindia.org,
http://myneta.info , adr@adrindia.org
References: