Participating in The Indian Express Idea Exchange programme today, Rao said, “We have come together to form a foundation that could independently monitor election procedures and train personnel for conduct of elections in the country and outside.”

Registered last month, the Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections (FAME) has a number of retired Election Commission officials from Delhi as well as state electoral offices, making it the first team of election professionals in the country.

“We have already received very good response from inside the country and a number of international bodies,” Rao said.

FAME will have Lyngdoh as president, Krishnamurthy as vice-president, Mehendiratta and Rao as director and general secretary respectively. The organisation sees a role for itself in helping people become part of a more effective democracy.

While Rao and Mehendiratta have been an integral part of the transformation of the Election Commission into a dynamic institution of international reputation which has managed to finetune the method of conducting clean and violence-free polls, Lyngdoh was largely responsible for delivering the first rigging-free elections and the tough post-riot Gujarat elections.

Rao built a reputation after conducting what was described the fairest elections in Bihar’s electoral history while Krishnamurthy succeeded in getting the EC more legal teeth.

Averse to entering politics, especially through the Rajya Sabha route, despite high-profile stints at the Election Commission, Rao, speaking for all, said, “They would rather be engaged more meaningfully, doing what they have done best — helping the process of conducting free and fair elections.”

The fact that all of them have been special observers in elections outside the country, most notably the last US presidential polls and the Afghan elections, will also help the Foundation in a range of election activity from preparing blueprints for free and fair elections to being independent monitors.