A challenge for Election Commission

Listen to this article

Cash-for-votes: a challenge for EC

The two major Dravidian parties of Tamil Nadu have been vying with one another in offering a wide range of freebies that are budgeted to cost the exchequer Rs 94,100 crore during 2020-21 and this is expanding. 

With elections to the state assembly just a few months away, political parties of Tamil Nadu are stepping up their campaigns. AIADMK, spearheaded by Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, has been vigorously campaigning across the state. Principal opposition DMK, led by M K Stalin, has been active in reaching out to villages spread across the state.

In 2009 DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s elder son, M K Alagiri, introduced the ‘Thirumangalam formula’ of cash-for-vote for winning elections. It proved quite effective.

The cash-for-vote practice defies the ingenuity of the Election Commission. Under various pretexts like ear-piercing or other domestic functions, party functionaries used to distribute cash to prospective voters. These expanded to giving currency-laden covers along with the delivery of newspapers. There is also ‘gifting’ of a wide range of consumer goods. Remember the widespread distribution of pressure cookers during the campaign for the by-election at for the RK Nagar constituency?

I found this practice has started again for the forthcoming elections. To attract crowds as also to facilitate the distribution of ‘gifts,’ a ‘token’ system has been practised. In a recent meeting, a local political leader aspiring to be a candidate for a leading party, distributed at the end of his political meeting, tokens to a few hundreds. A few days later I noticed a large number of people standing in a queue at the plot of a well-known leader of a trade association who made elaborate arrangements to hand stainless steel vessels for those who handed the tokens. It is rumoured that a family member of the trader may get the ticket to contest.

 How can the Election Commission (EC) keep track of such a well-oiled system to buy the voters?

Please click the link for digital edition of february issue  https://industrialeconomist.com/digital/Feb2021/mobile/index.html

Latest

TN scheme to match sops for making electronics gears

Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu...

India must play active role on world stage: Tirumurti

He began by outlining how the international order built...

Marginal dip in Internet subscribers in Q3

This Report provides a broad perspective of the telecom...

Call to beef up storage system for grid stability

The inconsistency of renewable sources like solar and wind...

Newsletter

Don't miss

TN scheme to match sops for making electronics gears

Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu...

India must play active role on world stage: Tirumurti

He began by outlining how the international order built...

Marginal dip in Internet subscribers in Q3

This Report provides a broad perspective of the telecom...

Call to beef up storage system for grid stability

The inconsistency of renewable sources like solar and wind...

Renault sets up a cutting-edge design centre at Mahindra City

It is located within the Renault Nissan Technology and...

TN scheme to match sops for making electronics gears

Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme on 30th April at the Secretariat. The scheme is part of...

India must play active role on world stage: Tirumurti

He began by outlining how the international order built after the Second World War is slowly falling apart. Institutions and rules that once shaped...

Marginal dip in Internet subscribers in Q3

This Report provides a broad perspective of the telecom services in India and presents the key parameters and growth trends of the telecom services. The...