Political Scenario in India (continued..)

In every party, there exist 3 kinds of member candidates:

1. The ones who deserve to compete for the position. The ones who have earned fame and respect for all the good reasons.
2. The ones who can probably manage to do justice with the position they may compete for. They are the ones who may not be that famous but have potential and are honest.
3. The third kind of members are the candidates who are actually nominated by the party to represent them and contest the election. The ones who were unknown (and sometimes inexperienced) until their name emerged, because they weren’t the Big Guns but were close to the Big Boss.

Generally many political parties follow no specific guidelines and transparent processes for giving ticket to a member. Not to mention, some of the parties glorify Nepotism. Moreover, seldom does any party think from the perspective of the voters of the constituency. They fail to notice that every intellectual citizen hopes for a worthy candidate, who can connect to the local sensitivities and is aware of the local problems and general interests. The people want someone who can become their trustworthy voice, but many a time the parties nominate candidates, who aren’t the natives or in any way related to the locality they are nominated for.

Here are some quick facts regarding the process of candidate selection:

1. There is no compulsion or any law that binds a political party to follow a certain standard process of candidate selection or strict guide lines enforcible by neither the Election Commission of India nor the Constitution.
2. Most of the parties in other countries like the US or the UK, do follow some processes of selection, which include an internal elections by party delegates and candidate interviews. In some places, the government also closely monitors the process to ensure that only the righteously selected candidates’ names appear in the final list.
3. Most of the parties in our country just nominate candidates based on their popularity or money, or sometimes, out of sheer favoritism. And they pretend that the candidate has been chosen without any internal conflict, and after being approved by various internal committees and bodies. But seldom does any party reveal the selection process which can be trusted.

And this has been going on and on for years. Shouldn’t there be a call for change? It's time when the citizens should demand for a meaningful and accountable democracy.

Jan Jagrati Manch, is a platform where we invite all concerned and caring citizens and eminent minds across various fields, to share their views and suggestions on electoral reforms the country needs.

Come let’s discuss, brainstorm and churn out some pearls of wisdom from the ocean of thoughts. We do not believe in shouting out slogans, we believe in being the crusaders of change.