Expressing concern that the democratic system in India is gradually deteriorating, former Special Chief Secretary and retired IAS officer Dr PV Ramesh appealed to strengthen democracy through electoral reforms.
Participating in an interview with the media on electoral reforms under the auspices of Jana Chaitanya Vedika at the Press Club in Vijayawada, he said that due to the increasing temptations like caste, religion, regionalism, money and alcohol in Indian politics, elections are not being held in a free and fair manner.
He deplored that political parties are irresponsibly announcing freebies in their election manifestos and are luring voters with the most freebies without taking into consideration the financial conditions and budgets of the respective state governments. He expressed his concern that the main political parties are competing among the rich and giving tickets to those who give the most money in the legislative assemblies.
Dr Ramesh said that they are making a mockery of democracy by allocating seats to those with money, caste, physical strength and criminal records. He said that a proportional representation electoral system is necessary to overcome the current situation where only 33 percent of the voters who turn out in the elections are seizing power.
He lamented the removal of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and appointed the Union Home Minister in the selection of Election Commissioners. He said that with this, only those selected by the ruling party will be appointed as Election Commissioners, thereby losing the independence of the Election Commission of India.
He said that the dividing line between the government machinery and the ruling party will be removed, the government machinery will become a slave to the ruling party, and in such circumstances, the election machinery will help the ruling party instead of acting impartially.
In such circumstances, he said, President’s rule should be imposed 3 months before the elections and elections should be held freely without the involvement of the ruling parties under the supervision of the Election Commission. Dr Ramesh said that there is no internal democracy in political parties and people’s participation in politics should increase.
Jana Chaitanya Vedika State President Vallamreddy Lakshmana Reddy said that the influence of money has increased significantly in the elections in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
He said that although there are more than 4 crore voters in Andhra Pradesh, only 500 families are contesting the legislative assemblies. He said that more than one lakh crore rupees were spent on the election in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and 46 percent of those elected have criminal offences.