The good news coming from the Election Commission of India team that was in Goa to oversee the arrangements for the 2022 Legislative Assembly polls is not the dates for the elections, that are yet to be declared, but the announcement that all political parties will have to make public the criminal antecedents of the candidates, and this is important, also reveal the reasons for selecting candidates with criminal antecedents. You read it right, this is what the Chief Election Commissioner said. According to what was announced, from this election onwards, political parties will have to declare if their candidates have got criminal antecedents and also give reasons for having chosen a person with criminal antecedents and why they could not find a clean candidate. As the Election Commissioner said, and civil society would be fully in agreement with this, voters should have complete knowledge of the candidate so they can make a choice.
Revealing the criminal background of the candidate is one aspect, giving reasons for fielding such a candidate and for not finding one without a criminal record is what could stump many political parties in the State. As parties are in the final stages of finalising candidates, with some having already announced their candidate, this announcement from the Election Commission could put a spanner in the works of many, as information and data available indicates that 28 per cent of the current MLAs have criminal antecedents.
This, however, is not an innovation of the Commission, but has been mandated by the courts. In August this year, the Supreme Court, in a step towards decriminalising politics, had directed that political parties publish the criminal antecedents of candidates within 48 hours of their selection. An earlier order of the Apex Court had made it mandatory for candidates themselves to publicise their criminal antecedents. The August order was a modification of the earlier one. Delivering the judgment, the Supreme Court had noted an ‘alarming increase of criminals in politics’. It had pointed out that in 2004, 24 per cent of the MPs had criminal cases pending against them, which went up to 30 per cent in 2009, and to 34 per cent in 2014. The 2019 elections saw the highest number with 43 per cent of MPs having criminal cases pending against them.
This is the first election since the Supreme Court judgement. This is an opportunity for Goa, and the other States going to the polls along with it, to get candidates with an unblemished record. It has the potential to clean up the political system to a large extent. Parties that banked on winnable candidates may now have to restructure their selection process. Declaring criminal antecedents may not affect the selection procedure, but providing reasons for the choice could force them to rethink on the selection of the candidates. For the electorate and those who have been constantly seeking that they be provided with a fair choice of candidates, this is what they had been waiting for.
The Commission is also going strict on other aspects of illegalities during election campaigns, as it has directed law enforcement agencies in the State to monitor movement or stocking of cash, liquor, drugs and other freebies, that can be utilised during the election campaign to lure votes. All the entry points to the State, including the coast, will be under surveillance from now on, despite the election schedule not having been announced as yet. Also monitored will be social media feeds for hate speech that could vitiate the atmosphere during the polls. If the Commission remains strict, the coming polls could possibly turn out to be one of the cleanest elections Goa and the other States have seen.
