At present over 1200 citizen groups have come together under the banner of National Election Watch (NEW). It is a citizen-led, non-political, non-partisan effort to cleanse the electoral and political systems. Several eminent citizens including retired justices of the high courts and Supreme Court, retired IAS and IPS officers, leaders of NGOs and people’s movements, media persons, academics and businessmen have joined this movement. Disseminating the above information to voters well before the day of polling, so that they can make an informed choice is part of the strategy. Starting this year, an SMS campaign is underway in which people can receive free alerts on a candidate’s financial and criminal background, and information on political parties. A toll-free helpline on which people can ask any questions related to their candidates or the parties is also working. Details are also available on the Internet. The strategy of these groups is to work closely with the local language media, and to also disseminate information through posters, pamphlets, meetings, meet-your-candidate platforms, help lines and SMS campaigns. The focus is non-English speaking grassroots voters.

At the same time, there is spiralling growth in election spending. Unless we tackle this, corruption in public life will get worse, and vitiate elections, democracy and governance. The campaign will also monitor election spending and educate voters about the consequences of electing someone who spends too much. The campaign will also disseminate information on income tax returns of political parties.

Almost ten years of effort has resulted in fewer candidates with criminal records. There is however, a long way to go. Information obtained under the Right to Information Act shows that a large number of parties have got significant income tax exemptions which should not be allowed under law as they have not submitted statements of donations. Action needs to be taken by the income tax department and the election commission. There are laws governing companies, cooperatives, charities, societies, educational institutions, hospitals and religious institutions, but not a single law governing political parties. There is an urgent need for this in line with best democratic practices in other countries. Greater citizen participation will make political parties more accountable to us, the people.

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