A Candidate’s Budget for Indian Elections

The Election Commission has put a limit on election expenses. In the case of Parliament Elections, the election expenses in all the major states are limited to Rs. 25,00,000 for each constituency. But everybody including the election commission knows that this rule is rarely respected by any candidate including those of the recognized political parties. The actual expenses by each serious candidate exceed several crores of rupees. There are many questions here for which nobody seeks answers: what is the source of such money being spent in the elections, how do these candidates or political parties plan to recover such amounts spent, how do these political parties (including the opposition) create funds for the next election, are there any accounting or auditing of such funds? This is one area where all political parties, ruling and non-ruling, collude together and keep the people in the dark, both literally and figuratively. It is illegal money that is spent illegally as above. No finance minister ever questions the legality of such big sums of money or its nexus with illegal and criminal activities in the country. No surprise then, that Indians hold about Rs. 6,40,000 crores in Swiss Bank accounts, according to an official report by Swiss Government !. Unless election expenses are actually reduced to a more reasonable level, there is no way to reduce the influence of criminals on party politics and to help a meaningful democracy emerge in India. Now let us try and see what is the reasonable level of election expense is for a parliamentary candidate. Let us make an election budget. Hopefully this will help some people seriously thinking of contesting the elections, say as independents.

 

The election expenses can be put under many heads as below:

 

1	Election Deposit	Rs. 20,000
2	Rallies and Public Meetings	Rs. 2,75,000
3	Transport	Rs. 4,87,500
4	Banners, Posters, Notices and other publications	Rs. 10,05,000
5	Computers and communications	Rs. 3,00,000
6	Expenses towards guest speakers, volunteers, political workers and election agents	Rs. 2,25,000
7	Election Offices	Rs. 50,000
8	Miscellaneous Expenses @ approx 5%	Rs. 1,37,500
	Total	Rs. 25,00,000

 

The above planned estimate of expenses is based on calculations as given in the Appendix. These estimates can be adjusted according to actual field conditions and the types of constituencies, urban, semi-urban or rural.

 

We, as voters, should not expect the candidates, especially serious independents to spend the above amount, out of their pockets. Then it becomes an investment for them and naturally they will look forward to profiting from his office as elected member of the house. This will lead to growing corruption. Hence as voters we should donate major portion of the above amount. Here is guide to independent candidate to mobilize resources for the above amount:

 

From 10 proposers at Rs 10,000 each                                        -  Rs   1 Lac

From 10 major industrialists and land lords at Rs 40,000 each – Rs. 4 Lacs

From 30 major business men @ Rs. 20000 Each                      -  Rs. 6 Lacs

From 100 major shop owners @ Rs. 6,000 each                        - Rs. 6 Lacs

From 500 small shop keepers and business men @ Rs. 500     – Rs. 2.5 Lacs

From 5000 well employed people @ Rs. 100 each                    - Rs. 5 Lacs

From Rallies, public meetings, and road shows @ Rs. 500       - Rs. 0.5 Lac

(10 x 3000, 25 x 500, 100 x 80)

Total                     - RS. 25 Lacs

 

We may not be able to collect all this at one stretch. The candidate should create an election fund to be managed by one of his supporters. He should send appeals to all prospective doners. He should publish periodic accounts of the fund’s income and expenses. As his presence on the election scene gets stronger, more and more people will come forward to contribute.

 

Election Count down and Cash Flow

 

Days to Polling	Activity	Expense	Income	Balance
40	Donations from 10 proposers		100000	100000
	Advance from own resources		100000	200000
30	Filing of Nomination	10000		190000
	Security Deposit	20000		140000
29	1st Public Rally in HQ of Constituency with 2 big posters	10000		130000
	2 Big posters	16000		114000
28	Meeting 2 Major industrialist and obtaining donations		80000	194000
27	2nd public relay in 2nd big town	10000		184000
27	25 small posters in minor towns	25000		159000
26	2 public meetings in minor towns and 10 road shows	11000		148000
25	3rd public relay in 3rd big town	10000		138000
	10 More Big Posters	80000		58000
24	Meeting 4 major industrialist and obtaining Donations		160000	218000
24	2 Public meetings in Minor Towns	6000		212000
23	4th public relay in 4th big town	10000		202000
22	Printing of 10,000 appeals	20000		182000
21	5th public relay in 5th big town	10000		172000
	1000 Mini Posters	80000		92000
20	1 Public meetings in Minor Towns	3000		89000
20	Donations from 10 businessmen		200000	289000
20	Hiring 10 cars/Jeeps for 10 days	100000		189000
19 to 10	2 public meetings in minor towns and 10 road shows everyday	110000		79000
18	Meeting 4 major industrialist and obtaining Donations		160000	239000
17	Hiring of all 200 bicycles for 10 days	100000		139000
16	Donations from 10 more businessmen		200000	339000
16	Election Offices 50 Nos.	50000		289000
15	Printing of remaining 33 big posters	264000		25000
14	Donations from 50 major shops and 100 minor shops		350000	375000
13	6th public rally in 2nd big town	10000		365000
12	3000 copies of manifestos	30000		335000
11	30,000 bit notices	30000		305000
10	10 cars/Jeeps for next 10 days	100000		205000
9	Donations from remaining 10 businessmen		200000	405000
9 to 1	10 road shows everyday	45000		360000
	Hiring of 25 Autos for 20 days	87500		272500
	Hiring of all 200 bicycles for 10 days	100000		172500
	Donations from 5000 people at Rs100 each		500000	672500
	Computers and communications	300000		372500
9	7th public rally in 3rd big town	10000		362500
8	Printing of remaining 300 small posters	300000		62500
8	8th public rally in 4th big town	10000		52500
7	Donations from remaining 50 major shops and 400 minor shops		500000	552500
6	9th public rally in 5th big town	10000		542500
6	Printing of all 1750 remaining mini posters	140000		402500
4	10th public relay in HQ town	10000		392500
	Collections from Rallys and meetings		50000	442500
4	Last 20,000 bit notices	20000		422500
2	Payment to all guest speakers, volunteers and agents	225000		197500
1				197500
0	Election day – Misc Expenses	127500		100000
	Advance from own resources returned		-100000	0
				0
	Total	2500000	2500000

 

 

Campaign Strategy:

Apart from organizing public meetings, rallies and road shows, a candidate should also have separate face-to-face meetings with different sections of society as below:

a)      Politically and socially active people of the constituency

b)      Teachers and college students

c)      Farm labourers and other workers

d)     Artisans like, masons, carpenters, painters, black smiths and gold smiths.

e)      Fabricators and owners of small workshops and garages

f)       Hoteliers, restaurants and shopkeepers

g)      Senior citizens

h)      Women activists and women associations

i)        Religious groups (Care to be taken to avoid appeals on the basis of religion)

j)        Cultural groups and troupes

k)      Employees from Govt and private enterprises

l)        Tax payers…..etc.  

 

The above will help him understand his constituency better and would also help him draft his manifesto (which will be released just two weeks before the election date).

During the campaign, care should be taken to avoid association with criminals and corrupt people in general, especially the already notorious ones. One should also avoid being identified with any special interest groups or any vested interests.

 

It is earnestly hoped that this draft budget for election expenses will encourage honest and socially active independents to come forward to fight the elections and the corrupt political system. We should reduce the need to spend so much on elections to make it as a democracy for the people, of the people and by the people. The people should aspire to do more than just vote. Of course more importantly all people should vote. Jai Hind!

 

Moral Policing

Moral Policing: This has been rendered as a dirty word, especially after the recent happenings in Mangalore. Lots of people have written for and against the so called ‘pub culture’. Saris and chaddis of pink colour have been exchanged. When the dust has settled down, it is time to look at ‘moral policing’ with a more clear vision. I present to the readers excerpts from three reports which appeared coincidentally on the same Mumbai issue of Times of India dated 9^th February 2009. They are:

 

Pub as a sign of freedom

 

   It is clear that what happened in Mangalore was terrible and the perpetrators of the crime must be punished. Our problem is increasingly not that we are becoming more intolerant as a society (a favourite question for TV panel discussions), but that we are becoming more tolerant of symbolic intolerance. We tolerate publicity seeking nonentities too much, giving them way too much leeway in mounting these symbolic assaults on basic freedoms. We are afraid of giving them salutary punishment and end up creating monsters who gradually turn real.

   And then, there is the larger question. It is one thing to uphold the principle that every individual has the right to exercise his or her freedom to do whatever is legal, including having a drink at a pub without being questioned, molested or beaten up. Drinking as a sign of freedom is one thing, but to literally promote the
cause of drinking is quite another. No one can be prevented from drinking, but that doesn’t quite translate into everyone being encouraged to do so. The principle needs vigorous upholding, the practice not necessarily so. Just as banning depiction of smoking on screen can be opposed as a violation of a basic freedom, but that cannot mean we should promote the act of smoking—we cannot confuse the principle with the practice.

 
   From the looks of it, we live in a time when it is important to celebrate things like bar girls, drinking, sexual openness as marks of freedom. The same fervour does not extend to issues like the right to dissent or the right to free information (the RTI is the result of action by committed groups and not any mainstream media action). The idea of freedom seems to have gone through an interesting transformation. In popular imagination, it no longer exists as an idea in its capitalized, lofty avatar and is instead pursued as a set of pleasurable activities in our everyday life. Freedom has implicitly become synonymous with the freedom to have fun without hindrances or challenges.

And who can challenge the fact that what we called the middle-class Indian way of life till a few years ago, looked upon drinking as an undesirable social evil. It is not unnatural for a large part of India to be uncomfortable with a change that they are neither prepared for nor comfortable with. That doesn’t give them a right to beat up people, but surely they have a right to hold that view and pursue all legitimate means of promoting their beliefs. To dismiss these by labelling them as right wing reactionaries who are coming in the way of India’s progress could well be an act of self-deception.

Freedom comes from being independent-minded, and that means liberation from biases of all kinds and the ability to genuinely appreciate all sides of an argument.

 
santoshdesai1963@indiatimes.com

 

‘Governance has to be consensual’

 

   Justice Chandrachud said there are “essentially three forces that are shaping the times we live in—politics, economics and technology”.

 
   A networked society is increasingly becoming the trend and the assumption in such a scenario is that equal access to information and technology will enable good rule of the law.

 
   Yet, he said ironically, “these are also the times when it is commonplace for women to go for a drink to a pub after a hard day’s work only to be pulled out and thrashed in the name of shaping the morals of society’’, and also the times “where you have a government banning a movie only because it can’t control a likely outcry or when “15 policemen are killed by Naxalites’’.

 
   “As a result, there is a huge disjoint, as it were, between a society and the self-proclaimed protectors of morality,’’ he said.

 
s.deshpande@timesgroup.com

 

Universal Religion Is Moral Behaviour

Acharya Mahaprajna

 

The word ‘religion’ is ingrained in our psyche. It is because of over familiarity that people feel less inclined towards religion. Today religion is acceptable only on the basis of experimentation. At one end are people who want forever to keep to tradition. They do not want any change. At the opposite end are those who reject religion. Both these extreme viewpoints are incapable of creating a balance.

 
   If acceptance of the hereditary character of religion is not desirable, its rejection is altogether undesirable. No one who thinks in the language of unity, harmony and love can ever reject religion. In the absence of understanding the distinction between institutionalised religion and religion as spirituality, people make the mistake of rejecting religion.

   A religion divorced from spirituality is shackled by externally imposed rules. Religion ought to be the culmination of independent awareness and not an imposition. When people regard themselves as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, they do so because of genealogy, not religiousness. Genealogy can be a source of inspiration to religion; it cannot be its soul. The soul of religion is spirituality. Only that person is religious who experiences spiritual awakening, irrespective of genealogy.

   No system of government can pose a challenge to a religion that is spiritual. The question of protecting religion arises only when religion is supposed to have an existence separate from that of the religious person. Bliss and spiritual alertness are the soul of religion.

 

   Morality is a relative term. If socially approved mores are deemed morality, their form can never be unchanging. Morality as end-result of religion is assessed not by social beliefs but by personal purity. There is no place for exploitation, oppression, arrogance and frenzy in the behaviour of a religious person. Propriety, truthfulness and simplicity constitute morality. Shall we call him religious who does not reflect the spirit of religion in his behaviour?

   Religion is first reflected in morality and only later in worship. Will a mansion without a strong foundation endure? Can a structure build on worship without morality be able to afford proper protection? In the absence of morality, the place of worship will tumble and religion will not be safe on this earth.

 

Having read the above reports, one can see clearly the concepts of social behaviour, morality and spirituality. They are in a way interlinked. Religion does not enter the picture here, at least, not yet. Having agreed that morality is important for the development of an individual, it quite clearly needs a mentor, a period of introspection and some training. Shall we say we need a guru, not necessarily a religious one? Then we would not need the self-proclaimed protectors of morality and we can show them the door. We will be our own police to protect our morality. Yes we need moral policing, but it has to be from our own realized self. Moral Policing is, after all, not a dirty word.

Human Rights Violation of Sri Lankan Tamils

In Times of India dated 11th Feb 2009, Mr. G. Parthasarathy, a former diplomat, has written an article on Sri lankan issue. The first part of the article traces the violent history of LTTE and Prabhakaran. In the next section, he warns India and the rest of the world not to take LTTE and Prabhakaran lightly. He also warns about the fallouts of such an attitude in Tamil Nadu, India and rest of the world. In the last section, he enumerates a precise solution for the Sri Lankan problem. He strongly advices India and the rest of the world to enforce the implementation of these steps on Sri Lankan Government. I have given below the extracts of the last part of the article. Will India listen? 

“New Delhi has to work with the international community to address Tamil aspirations. Sadly, past Sri Lankan efforts to forge a consensus for a political settlement have failed. It would be important for Sri Lanka to implement the provisions of the “Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka Amendment Bill” of August 3, 2000, and effectively end human rights violations of innocent Tamils. The implementation of this Bill, together with enforcement of the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, 1988, will largely address Tamil concerns. Tamil would join Sinhala as an official language of the country and there would be a merger of the northern and eastern provinces with a single provincial administration headed by a chief minister. The merger will remain in force till a referendum in the eastern province is held to decide whether its people want a separate province.”
   ”Recent developments in Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives have shown that democratic change is best effected when India works together with the US, the EU and Japan, who are major aid donors, to address issues of democratic freedoms. With Sri Lankan armed forces surrounding Kilinochchi, the operational capital of the Tamil Tigers, the US government said: “The US does not advocate that the government of Sri Lanka negotiate with the LTTE. However, we do believe that a broad range of Tamil voices and opinion must now be brought into the political process, to reach a political solution that Tamils inside and outside Sri Lanka see as legitimate”. The major aid donors and India share a common interest in democratic freedoms, stability and ethnic harmony in a united and pluralistic Sri Lanka.” 

For reading the full article please follow the link below

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIM&login=default&AW=1234450749578

L V Nagarajan

 

Democratic Revolution

Democratic Revolution

 By the people, of the people and for the people.

It was a day in July 2008, when political corruption was demonstrated in the central hall of Indian Parliament. I felt so disturbed I wrote a blog giving my thoughts on electoral reforms that could put democratic process back on track in India. (http://lvnaga.wordpress.com/category/indian-politics/)

One of my friends, who read the blog, appreciated the suggested reforms. But he said that these reforms have no chance of being implemented because it is basically against the interests of those who are supposed to implement the same. They will kill these proposals with glee. Even the honorable speaker looked the other way when the enquiry was ordered for money-for-vote scam in the parliament in July 2008. The present political system should be dismissed lock, stock and barrel before we can introduce any reforms in our political process. We cannot wish away the politicians. We the people will have to work within this system to overthrow the same. It has to be done democratically and that is what I call democratic revolution. General elections for choosing the next parliament is just round the corner. This is the best time for us the citizens to act. We should defeat all political parties in these elections!

Can we do anything at all? Yes We Can!

If at all any body can do any thing about this it is only we, the citizens. We can consider it as the second freedom struggle- freedom from the tyranny of politicians, freedom from the biased press, freedom from the pseudo intellectuals, freedom from thugs and criminals who are given free entry into our political process, freedom from corrupt bureaucrats and freedom from greedy business men.

Can we fight these people? Yes We Can!

It is not sufficient for India to have one Obama. We need many Obamas. Let us think of a few ways how we can defeat this system with the resources we have. The biggest resource we have right now is “The Parliamentary Elections – 2009”. This is the best tool we have to drive out this political mafia from our system. We should remember the present government is already a minority government. In the last elections only about 58% of the eligible voters voted. Congress party led by Italian born Sonia Gandhi obtained only about 26% of the votes polled, i.e., only about 15% of the eligible voters. The BJP led by Lahore-born Advani polled even less than this. Other smaller parties shared the rest of the spoils. 42% of the eligible voters did not vote at all. Assuming only half of these people voted for good independent candidates, the political parties would have all lost the elections. Under these circumstances, if we use the full potential of the electoral tool we have, we can drive out all these people who are colluding with each other to sustain this defective, fault-ridden, corrupt system to their advantage.

But can we do it? Yes We Can!

I have evolved a process to take this democratic revolution to its ultimate success. It can ofcourse be refined further by greater minds and be executed by stronger leaders. I have summarized the process of democratic revolution in the following ten steps.

 1. Let us all take a vow not to vote for any political party in the next elections. At worst we will only vote for the best of the independents who are contesting.

2. Let us form small groups of activists within our parliamentary constituency. This citizens group will, from right now, search for a suitable independent candidate and encourage him to contest the elections with our support. You may evolve a set of criteria for selection which may include- educational qualification, social awareness, record of service, popularity with the local people etc.

3. The man we select will naturally not be able to spend as much as a political party. Hence we should start a constituency-wise Election Fund on his name and obtain donations from the people of the constituency. This will make the people feel that the candidate is a ‘people’s candidate’, owing allegiance to People and not to any political party or leader.

4. We should give widest publicity to the asset-statements supplied by all the political candidates at the time of their nominations. People should know the so called representatives of the poor people- how wealthy they are and how did they obtain this wealth. We should educate the public – how much the political candidates are spending for getting themselves elected and how do they propose to earn them back.

5. During campaigning we should publish periodically the running expenses on elections as incurred by our ‘people’s candidate’. Make the people understand how much others could be spending compared to the expenses of ‘people’s candidate’.

6. The citizen’s groups in each parliamentary constituency should meet and draft a people’s charter, which will become the election manifesto for ‘people’s candidate’.

7. All over India there are many organizations like AGNI (www.agnimumbai.org) who wish to empower the people in the political process. We should approach them for help in this process.

8. All the inducement (legal and illegal) to the gullible voters are paid out of money illegally obtained by the political parties from the governmental process. They are people’s money both in the case of ruling parties and the opposition parties. This fact should be brought to bear on people’s minds as a major reason for rejecting them.

9. People should be educated that their vote is secret. Even after accepting inducements forced on them (some times by taking a satya-praman in return), they can vote freely to any one he or she likes without any fear or guilt.

10. The citizen’s group should keep close touch with the local election officer and apprise him of the election irregularities committed by political parties.

Can we really do all this? Yes We Can!

We should be able to suggest some independent, good and efficient people around India who could be supported to contest the next lok sabha elections as an independent. I am starting the list with ten people – I expect others to add to it and make it at least to three hundreds.

1. Kasturi Rangan – Aero-space scientist, Scientific Adviser to GOI.

2. Narayana Murthy – Chairman Infosys.

3. Justice Srikrishna – Retd. Supreme Court Justice

4. Medha Phatkar – Environmental activist

5. Burkha Dutt – Journalist

6. Rahul Bose – Actor

7. Revathi – Actress, had contested elections earlier as an independent.

8. Chandrashekar – Former Thane Municipal Commissioner responsible for Thane development.

9. Prof. M S Swaminathan – Agricultural Scientist and Ecologists, Magsaysay award winner.

10. G R Khairnar – Former Deputy Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Let us add more people to this list. Let us include people from rural areas also all over India. Let us add this up to at least three hundreds.

YES, WE CAN!

Jai Hind

L V Nagarajan

20.01.09

A precise solution to the current Sri Lanka – Tamil problem

 

I am giving below the recent discussion I had with Mr. Rajiv on the Srilankan war on Tamil insurgents. Apart from the subject matter, the tone and the open minded manner in which the discussion proceeded are just exemplary. I wish to share the same with my readers. 

 

darashikoh Says:

From : http://rajivsramblings.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/

Today’s Hindu editorial has ably enunciated what the precise solution is – in terms of India’s response to the Sri Lankan problem.  Before I elaborate on this: out here in Chennai – I can see a lot of literature which has suddenly exploded ………which supports the LTTE cause.  It is more like the local government is hand in glove with this whole thing.  It is difficult to believe that if the government does not support LTTE as a banned organisation ………….then such literature proliferating so liberally ………is very scary indeed. 

It is more so evident in the small time newspaper stalls.  Although I cannot really read the Tamil headlines ……….the pictures depict a more sympathetic picture of this gruesome organisation. 

I’m just wondering why the local Congress party has not got its reaction together.  Yesterday there was an incidence of vandalism to the statue of Rajiv Gandhi – and a few local congress supporters were protesting about it today.  Beyond that the party needs to get its act together to counter the political wave in favour of the LTTE.  It is only the AIADMK which has taken a strong and firm stand on this issue.  For one thing – those LTTE sympathisers strongly think that Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination was justified and that he deserved it.  This kind of thinking is appalling – and goes against the overall thinking across the country that the assassination was wrong and that the LTTE should be punished for it.  

Now coming to the solution which was laid out in today’s Hindu editorial goes as below:

In the first place, no comfort should be given to the LTTE, which is a terrorist organisation banned in 30 countries, including India.

Secondly the Indian commitment must be to finding a solution that envisages devolution of powers to the Tamil regions within a united Sri Lanka, which would mean giving no quarter to the demand for an independent Eelam.

Thirdly, mainstream political parties in Tamil Nadu need to make a sharp disctinction between the current military plight of the LTTE and the displacement and suffering caused by the conflict, affecting an estimated 230,000 Sri Lankan Tamils.

The right response for Government of India and the people of Tamil Nadu would be to offer food, clothing, medicines, fuel and other essential goods as well as other logistical facilities required to reach them to the people through the Sri Lankan government whose President Mahinda Rajapakse has declared his commitment to bring their hardship to an end “in a short time.”

 

 

Nagarajan Says:
October 27, 2008 at 12:18 am

 

In a feedback to Times of India news item, I had sent the following comments. It was kindly published by them. Your may also may find this interesting.

 

L V Nagarajan, Mumbai, says: “I read the story and all the comments. I have following questions which need answers: 1. LTTE is declared as a terrorist organisation. In the last 10 years, what are the terrorist activities in which LTTE is involved, especially outside Sri Lanka? 2. Our beloved young prime-minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE sympathiser, possibly as a plot by LTTE. How many lacs of Srilankan Tamils should die as a revenge for this grave crime by LTTE? 3. When Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka can consider pardoning Nalini who was directly involved in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, why the Indian government can’t pardon unconnected Srilankan Tamil people and help them in a humanitarian way. Or, was Sonia’s pardon only a political gimmick? 4. Indian Government has intervened many times in the past, in Tamil struggle in Srilanka. Almost all the time the effort was against Tamil interests, (except during a brief period in Indira Gandhi’s time.) Why should they fight shy of intervening now? Is it in respect to the memory of Sri Rajiv Gandhi? 5. Srilankan Tamils are of Indian origin. Have not the government of India acted more sympathetically towards other people of indian origin struggling in other countries? 6. When some body raises these questions why should they be considered as sympathisers of LTTE? (I am Not a sympathiser of LTTE). Is it because, as of now Srilankan people’s only saviour is LTTE? I do not know. I only hope the innocent Tamil people of Srilanka find an early solution to their struggle. God save them.”
[24 Oct, 2008 0208hrs IST]

I really would like to know your answers for the above questions, so that I can correct myself if I am wrong.

 

darashikoh Says:

October 28, 2008 at 12:37 pm

Nagarajan,
Here is my response to your questions:
Question:
How many lacs of Srilankan Tamils should die as a revenge for this grave crime by LTTE?

Answer:
You are connecting the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to the continued Tamil civilian casualties which continue to happen there. This is wrong. India’s response to the mistake of the LTTE was to ban the organisation and draw itself out of the conflict. What you are connecting of the assassination to the casualties is not correct. The casualties are happening at both ends. There have been quite a few Sinhala casualties as well as many Tamil casualties. So this is part of the war. Drawing the Indian Govt. and congress party into this is wrong.

Question:
3. When Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka can consider pardoning Nalini who was directly involved in Rajiv Gandhi’s assasination, why can’t Indian government pardon unconnected Srilankan Tamil people and help them in a humanitarian way.

Answer:
Nalini’s pardon was only from Priyankas side. The Congress party and the government and the nation have not forgotten/forgiven the assassination. LTTE does not regret the assassination (despite the claims by late Anton Balasingham). They feel bad about the fact that they got further alienated because of this. That is the only thing – otherwise they have not truly regretted. The attack on Rajiv Gandhi’s statue is some indication of what the sympathisers feel for the incidence.

Question:
Is it because, as of now Srilankan people’s only savior is LTTE?

Answer:
India genuinely feels for the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils. We are sending in a lot of aid and help. However it is wrong to say that the only saviour of the Sri Lankan tamils is the LTTE. This is wrong. There are other Tamil political parties like EPRLF, PLOTE etc. which participated in the multi-party elections in east Sri Lanka and won as well. They are running the local government there. LTTE have always tried to be the single representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils by eliminating/assassinating other representatives of the Tamils. This has always been wrong. This is one more reason why the LTTE should be crushed totally and other Tamil political parties should be nurtured to bring about a true democratic multi-party system with enough powers devolved – again within the ambit of the Sri Lankan federal framework.

 

Nagarajan Says:
October 28, 2008 at 4:02 pm

“India’s response to the mistake of the LTTE was to ban the organisation and draw itself out of the conflict”. – That is the objective of Srilankan army also. But to this end helping the Srilankan army is not correct. We tried once and failed miserably.

“The casualties are happening at both ends. There have been quite a few Sinhala casualties as well as many Tamil casualties.” – There is a difference between ‘quite a few’ and ‘many’; and again between army casualty and civilian casualty.

“Drawing the Indian Govt. and congress party into this is wrong.” – I did not draw Congress party into the discussion. Now I can say, Tamilnadu Congress is conspicuous by its absence of any sympathy towards Srilankan Tamils. Is it super patriotism or pure and simple sycophancy?

“The Congress party and the government and the nation have not forgotten/forgiven the assassination. LTTE does not regret the assassination (despite the claims by late Anton Balasingham).” – Yes, there are others outside the congress and government who have not forgotten Rajiv’s assassination, including me. Rajiv was our prime minister not only congress’s.

“The attack on Rajiv Gandhi’s statue is some indication of what the sympathisers feel for the incidence.” – True. I fear Rajiv’s sacrifice in obtaining a solution to this problem may come to a naught, by the present attitude of congress party.

“India genuinely feels for the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils.” – Is it so? Then why it needed such a show of sympathy from Tamilnadu and a threat from DMK to make even a symbolic move towards peace and relief?

“There are other Tamil political parties like EPRLF, PLOTE etc. which participated in the multi-party elections in east Sri Lanka and won as well.” - Yes, but I do not hear about them much nowadays. Is Govt. (or Congress party!) in touch with them?. What do they feel about the present conflict?

Apart from these comments I agree with all the other things written by you (say about 80%), including the suggested solution. Thanks for taking my comments seriously and replying. Happy Diwali and Jai Hind!

 

darashikoh Says:
October 29, 2008 at 4:47 am

Question: “India’s response to the mistake of the LTTE was to ban the organisation and draw itself out of the conflict”. – That is the objective of Srilankan army also. But to this end helping the Srilankan army is not correct. We tried once and failed miserably.

Answer: India’s response was due to LTTEs action. Between the period of IPKF withdrawal and assassination – India was still involved politically in negotiations etc. However post assassination – we withdrew completely. This was solely because of the mistake done by the LTTE. That Sri Lanka also desired that outcome is incidental. Besides we need to remember that the sovereignty of that nation has to be respected. In fact even now – despite whatever overtures we are doing of pushing for a political solution/humanitarian aid – it is well within the integrity of the Sri Lankan nation and still respects its sovereignty. We need to remember that we cannot exert direct pressure on them. We can only issue demarches and summon their commissioner. Beyond that we can extend aid and material.

Question: “The casualties are happening at both ends. There have been quite a few Sinhala casualties as well as many Tamil casualties.” – There is a difference between ‘quite a few’ and ‘many’; and again between army casualty and civilian casualty.

Answer: Yes I agree with you on that. I don’t deny that. But there have been Sinahalese civilian casualties as well – due to bombings from the LTTE. However – I agree with you that the scale of the Tamil civilian casualties is much higher.

Question: “Drawing the Indian Govt. and congress party into this is wrong.” - I did not draw Congress party into the discussion. Now I can say, Tamilnadu Congress is conspicuous by its absence of any sympathy towards Srilankan Tamils. Is it super patriotism or pure and simple sycophancy?

Answer: The Government of India(GOI) along with the foreign minister of Sri Lanka have issued a joint statement expressing concern on the humanitarian crisis, escalated by these on going tensions. Prior to that, they issued a demarche to the commissioner to highlight India’s concern in this regard. I agree with you that all this happened because of the flexing of the political muscle of Tamil parties in Tamil Nadu. That the Tamil Nadu Congress party was conspicuous – well I agree with you that they did not take any stand at all (whereas even the AIADMK took a definite stand on this issue). However our concern shown at the national level by GOI – to some extent mitigates it. But you are overall right on this.

Question: “India genuinely feels for the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils.” - Is it so? Then why it needed such a show of sympathy from Tamilnadu and a threat from DMK to make even a symbolic move towards peace and relief?

Answer: Yes I agree with you that without the threat this would not have been highlighted.

Question: “There are other Tamil political parties like EPRLF, PLOTE etc. which participated in the multi-party elections in east Sri Lanka and won as well.” – Yes, but I do not hear about them much nowadays. Is Govt. (or Congress party!) in touch with them?. What do they feel about the present conflict?

Answer: There was an interview given by Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan – the chief minister of East Sri Lanka and head of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) – in The Hindu – dated 27th October.

http://blogs.thehindu.com/delhi/?p=4918

They participated in the election – won it and are now running the government. They have some concerns (which all governments do) – which they hope would be resolved in the near future. However the democratic process has been a success – and time will tell about the magnitude of the success. Elections, democracy, peace, development – this is the way. In fact just yesterday 4 of their members were killed by the LTTE in Batticaloa and 5 more were kidnapped. The LTTE continues with its agenda of trying to be the sole representative of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. They don’t want to give democracy and peace a chance – when it excludes them. http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20081028_06

Please also read the interview of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in today’s Hindu:

http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/29/stories/2008102955181100.htm

I liked your last line. Happy Diwali and Jain Hind to you too!!!

 

Decay of Spiritual Values in India

Spiritual heritage of India is all well known in the whole world. India is still respected for its spiritual achievements. Two ancient religions of the world, Hinduism and Buddhism, have their origins in India. Yoga and ayurveda are two major disciplines of health and hygiene with wide following throughout the world and they have their practices lined with spiritualism. Let us not mistake spiritualism for religion. Spiritualism is universal and religion is specific. Religion is the outcome of spiritualism. We know of many spiritualists who are non-believers. Atheism is accepted as a part of many religions including Hinduism. In fact it helps to start as a believer to become an agnostic. Agnostics are in a way spiritual. Ethics, etiquettes and values were all formulated out of some kind of spiritualism.   

 

But in modern India, the tradition of spiritual thinking is severely endangered. It is very painful to see that all the non-believers have joined together as a groupseudo-p of secularists and with other so-called-secular politicians and intellectuals, they act against the whole dharmic fabric of India. There is no surprise that their first targets are the ethics and values of Hindus, the majority community of India. We may notice the glee in their eyes, while they celebrate any discomfiture undergone by majority Hindu community. This trend has lead to the decay of spiritual values, which eventually leads to all kinds of extremisms, including Islamic and naxalite terrorisms. It appears that our Dharma, and in fact, the whole aanmik (spiritual) values are in grave danger. Not only Hindus, even other aanmik movements including Islam, Christianity and Budhhism should take grave note of this trend. Even though these nastik forces may now appear to appease other religions, it is high time the leaders of other religions realize that these forces are against all aanmik convictions including Islam and Christianity. Many political parties in India and especially in Tamil Nadu are in the same anti-aanmik mood. This spells danger for the entire civilization of the world including India.

 

Here comes my humble appeal to leaders of all major communities in India, be they Mullahs, be they Sanakaracharyas or be they Arch Bishops. To save India from these non-aanmik forces, these community leaders should start a new movement which should totally partake in open political activity by supporting those who believe in dharmic values. I even have thought of a name for this movement – Anmika Mamandram. In the next elections, be it for Assemblies or Loksabha, this Anmika Mamandram (shortly AANMA), should support candidates with dharmic values. AANMA may include dharmic people from all communities including Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other minority communities. AANMA should give strong and open support to dalits and backward communities. This is the only way to keep other anti-social and political exploiters, away from these vulnerable communities.

 

L V Nagarajan

7th Oct 2008

 

Indian Democracy

Indian Democracy

Nagarajan L V

 

India has achieved a great name for itself as the biggest working democracy in the whole world. Sure the Indian democracy is the biggest with more than 500 million voters exercising their voting rights periodically. Also sure the democracy is working but for a brief aberration in 1971 when ‘national emergency’ was declared. Peaceful changes of governments have occurred on the power of ballot. But is it really a true democracy? Is it reflecting the will of a true majority? Does the democracy exist, in all levels of political activity and organisations, in representation and formation of local and federal governments, in governmental decisions and during change of governments? In all counts it is a big no. Crime and criminals are forming an unacceptably large part of Indian political scene. Corruption has become the major source of funds for political parties for fighting elections and as such corruption in governments has been accepted as normal. Nepotism, hero-worship and sycophancy are at the highest level. Just the conduct of periodic elections of representatives to the legislatures and parliament cannot alone assure a real democracy. The umpteen obstacles are in the way of obtaining a truly representative government, evolved through meaningful debate within and across all political spectrum and governmental bodies. Following are a few suggestions for improving the democratic process in the running of our great country, India.

 

1) Every political party in India should be forced to implement the democratic process within their parties. Periodic elections for organisational posts should be ensured as a precondition for official recognition of the political party.

2) Every political party should be made to submit audited accounts on an annual basis.

(The need for the above two reforms has already been widely accepted. But the political heavy weights across all political parties are turning a blind eye towards implementation of these electoral reforms, less they should loose control of ‘their’ party.)

 

3) There should be a set of minimum qualifications criteria for contesting in various elections to local bodies, legislatures and parliament. Education, experience, service record, moral background will all form part of such criteria.

(The need for minimum qualification, as above, is being scuttled with the lame excuse that it will not give chance for the so called ‘Common Man’ to contest the elections. A graded criteria for candidates will, in fact, encourage the qualified ‘Common Man’ to contest the elections; like, a) elementary education for candidature to Local bodies, b) high School education or membership of local bodies for at least 5-years for candidature to legislature, c) Graduation or membership of legislature for at least 5-years for candidature to Parliament. Good conduct and Social Service record could be common criteria for all candidature. Similarly ministers in State cabinet should be specialists (Post Graduates) in their area (portfolio) or should have been member of legislature for at least 10-years. Ministers in Central cabinet should be specialists (Post Graduates) in their area (portfolio) or should have been members of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha for a total of at least 10-years.)

  

4) The candidates for any election should be selected through a democratic process within the political party, instead of the high command deciding the nominations.

(The above suggestion ensures a much wider democracy at the grass root level. Every political party should encourage proposals for candidature from the party members at the constituency level. The party may try to obtain unanimous choice; however it should not shy away from holding party level elections to select the most popular candidate among many aspirants.)

 

5) There should be a limit on number of terms/years for anybody to continue as President, Governor, Prime Minister and Chief Minister.

(This suggestion will see an end to widespread hero-worship, sycophancy and nepotism seen in our democracy.)

 

6) Election expenses by all political parties and candidates should be closely monitored. Any party or candidate spending more than the stipulated amounts should be disqualified.  

7) The Election Commission should subsidise election expenses for all candidates, the amount of subsidy varying depending the size of the constituency. However, after the elections, the candidates placed fourth or lower, on number votes polled, will be asked to repay the amount of subsidy availed.

The candidate, who loses security deposit due to low percentage of votes polled, should also be asked to make good the expenses incurred by Election Commission on account of his candidature, like, providing security, telephone and other such facilities and subsidies. It could even be an ad-hoc amount based on the size of the constituency. This will be in addition to the subsidy of election expenses availed by him from the Election Commission as in item No. 7 above.

(The two suggestions as above will encourage only the serious candidates to contest the elections. Number of contestants per seat will reduce. This will make the election process more meaningful and largely reduce the cost of conducting elections, in terms of simpler voting machines, less security and fewer facilities provided to the candidates, etc.)   

 

9) Elections should not be countermanded for a death of an ‘independent’ candidate who does not officially represent any political party or group.         

10) If an elected member resigns before his term or gets disqualified for any reason during the term, he will be asked to pay the entire election expenses incurred by Election Commission in his constituency. This could also be an ad-hoc amount based on the size of the constituency. This member should also be disqualified from contesting elections for the next 5-years.

11) The term of every elected body should be fixed, be it Local, Legislature or Parliament. Dissolution of any of these bodies should not be permitted, and neither its extension. When the leader of the house loses majority, a new leader should re-elected with majority support. House may be kept in suspension till a new leader is elected.

 

(The three suggestions as above will dispel the need for unnecessary repeated elections and the subsequent expenses and disturbances to public affairs and administration.)

 

12) Voting should be made compulsory for all voters. It should be made a condition for availing any government grants, loans etc. The tax-payers should be asked to present proof of voting in any of the elections (at least once in the preceding 5 Years) to be able to avail tax exemptions. Alternately they should get prior exemption from voting with valid reasons.

13) Electronic voting should be introduced at all levels. The voting machine should include an option for No-Vote.

(The above two suggestions will help attract quality voters to the voting booth. The present trend of ignoring these voters in preference to poorer class is not good for our democracy in the long run.)

 

14) Upper house (Legislative Councils) should be restored in all the states to offer political space for the experts with social objectives.

15) Proportional representation had been discussed umpteen times in India but not considered due to obvious complications. A simple way to obtain the same is to consider membership to Upper Houses (both at State and Central level) based on percentage votes polled, (instead of number of seats won), by the political parties in State and Central elections respectively.

(The above two suggestions will enable future Manmohan Singhs and Abdul Kalams to contribute to our national policy matters and administration.)

 

It is hoped these suggestions will be considered by the election commission along with other electoral reforms already on their cards. These reforms should be widely discussed by the people in all the media including internet, TV channels and print media. Is not that a true democracy?

 

L V Nagarajan

1 Aug 2008

 

I have been closely watching the recent presidential elections in USA. One aspect I liked there was the possibilty for early voting. Early voting opens about one month before actual polling date. The people are encouraged to vote early by Email and postal ballot. This can very easily be adopted in India and it will encourage more middleclass elites to vote. Right now in India this middle class is totally neglected in elctioneering. Nobody bothers for their vote

L V Nagarajan , 6th Nov 2008