Notes For Votes

WHY LOK SABHA 2019 COULD BE THE WORLD’S GREASIEST ELECTION ON RECORD

- Sandeep Unnithan and Amarnath K. Menon

On April 16, Vellore, a northern Tamil Nadu district abutting Andhra Pradesh, made electoral history when it became the first parliamentary constituency to have its election cancelled. This was because income-tax department officials found a Rs 10.48 crore stash of cash in a cement warehouse owned by a DMK activist. In bundles of Rs 200 notes, drawn from the Vellore branch of Canara Bank, the money was meant to bribe voters. Each bundle had been meticulously labelled with the wards and booths where it was meant to be distributed. The Election Commission charged Kathir Anand, the DMK candidate for the constituency, with furnishing false information in his election affidavit even as it cancelled the election.

India’s 17th general election is the largest in human history with some 900 million people eligible to cast their votes. It is also one that has seen the most rampant use of illegal cash and contraband. As on May 6, vigilance agencies have seized cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies worth Rs 3,361 crore linked to the election.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, as the ingenuity of the candidates and parties has only thwarted the efforts of the Election Commission,” says former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla. “With money power and criminal antecedents, how can there be a level playing field, especially when the statutory limit for a candidate is Rs 70 lakh?”