The document discusses electoral reforms to reduce the influence of money and muscle power in Indian politics. It identifies major issues with the current system including the criminalization of politics where criminals enter politics for influence, and muscle power where violence and intimidation are used. It proposes several reforms such as introducing a Term Performance Index (TPI) to evaluate political parties' fulfillment of manifesto promises, mandatory debates for candidates to discuss their tenure's work, fast track courts to quickly resolve corruption cases, giving more autonomy to the Election Commission, and allowing voters the right to recall representatives. Overall the reforms aim to empower voters and cleanse the political system of undue money and muscle influence.

1. TOPIC- Introducing electoral reforms to
reduce the influence of money and muscle
power in politics
TEAM-G.KARTHIK,C.H.KARTHIK,L.LPRAVEEN,P.PRANEETH,R.V.B.TEJARAM

2. “You should be the change you wish to see in this world”
-Mahatma Gandhi
causes
• Misuse of money and muscle power
• Criminalisation of politics
• Non-Serious Candidates in Political
Parties
The election at present are not being hold in ideal conditions because of the enormous
amount of money required to be spent and large muscle power needed for winning the
elections. The major defects which come in the path of electoral system in India are: money
power, muscle power, criminalization of politics, poll violence, booth capturing,
communalism, castism, non-serious and independent candidates etc

3. We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate.
-Frank McKinney "Kin" HubbardCriminalization of Politics: During the election
period, newspapers are usually full of information about
the number of criminals in the field sponsored by every
party. The reason of the criminals behind entrance to
politics is to gain influence and ensure that cases against
them are dropped or not proceeded with. They are able to
make it big in the political arena because of their
financial clout. Political parties tap criminals for fund and
in return provide them with political patronage and
protection.
Muscle Power: Violence, pre-election intimidation,
post election , victimisation, most of the riggings of any
type, booth capturing both silent and violent are mainly
the products of muscle power. These are prevalent in
many parts of the country like Bihar, Western Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. and this cancerous disease is
slowly spreading to south like in Andhra Pradesh,
Criminalization of politics and politicalisation of
criminals..

4. "Great thinkers think inductively, that is, they create solution and
then seek out the problems that solution might solve."
-Joey Reiman
TPI (TERM PERFORMANCE INDEX)
SUGGESTED ELECTORAL REFORMS
 TPI ,term performance index ,is the survey made by separate governing body.
 It makes a survey on the promises made in the manifesto versus the promises that
were fulfilled and sets a average TPI value

5.  The committee comprises of IAS officers, doctorates and whose identities
are kept veiled.
 This committee is independent and the officers in it are elected by the
election commission.
 Officers identities are kept veiled so that they cannot be compelled from
being bribed.
 This survey is made based on the ruling party’s manifesto .
 This independent governing body sets up a average TPI value.
 This implies the view and intention of political party towards public.
 The political party with lesser TPI value is not eligible for contesting in
its upcoming elections .
 The political party which couldn’t reach the average TPI value may be
considered as its failure in serving the public.
The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win
without proving that you are unworthy of winning.
TPI-committee
-Adlai E. Stevenson

6. How it works…
 A candidate before contesting in election should need to participate
in a debate between the public and their representative of that
tenure.
 Here, they will be questioned about the progresses and
developments that were made are brought during his tenure.
 Their properties will be scrutinized from their starting to the end of
tenure, whenever they are questioned, as per RTI Act.
 They need to fulfill the public needs at any time, as they are their
representatives.
 From this, the public comes to know about the progress and
developments brought by representatives during their tenure.
 Even a non-ruling party candidate is also questioned in the debate,
about their service to public
 The people’s representatives of that tenure will be given a rating
through the debate, and TPI-value they have achieved in that
tenure.
Rome was not built in a day.so,never expect the change to
happen so quickly.it requires patience.

7.  In case, if any representative is found to be involved in any corruption or belongs to a
criminal background, then their cases should be solved quickly with the help of fast track
courts
 Law should be made in such away that all elected candidates, once contested or once an
elected representative fall under this category of law. They will be under direct prosecution
for instant justice, and once convicted, they are not allowed to participate in the
election.Also,the people convicted previously are also not allowed.
 Judges of fast track or instance justice should be put under vigilance
 Also, a small amount of budget is provided to these courts from the election commission
 The Election commission should be given a more autonomous position and should be
answerable only to certain authorities.
 Finally, the ruling party gets a particular TPI-value for their tenure of 5yrs
 Depending on this TPI-value and average TPI-value prefixed, the people will decide whether
the party can contest in election the following year.
 The above procedure may be considered as a modification for REPRESENTATION OF
PEOPLE’S ACT.
Role of Fast track courts and Election commission
History is gossip but scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.
-Oscar Wilde

8. RIGHT TO RECALL
“The Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are
willing to work and give to those who would not.” -Thomas Jefferson
 "Right To Recall (RTR)" is a proposed law in India that would allow voters to recall their
candidates before their term ends and request Election Commission for fresh elections.[1]
 Proposed by a Non Registered group called Right to Recall Group this law will reduce
corruption and give more power to the citizens.
 At present, there is no provision in the Indian Constitution or in the Representation of
People's Act-1951 for the recall of a duly elected member. In India, provision for recall
exists at the level of local bodies in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Through
this decision the power is given directly to the electorate if two-thirds of the registered
voters of a particular constituency sign a petition, the government can take steps for
removal of the corporator.
 Presently those who are elected once for five years, barring exceptions, do not turn to their
respective constituencies and lose the confidence of the electorates. Many of them do not
dare to stand for the same constituency. It has been observed that some of the elected
representatives remained silent spectators in their respective Houses throughout five
years. Under this extenuating position, electorates are helpless and wait for up to five
years to make a change. Thus, this is shear wastage of time and money, besides hampering
the development in their respective constituencies. The exact process and form of a recall
election varies in different countries.

9. “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on
the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
-Abraham Lincoln
 To cleanse the Indian political system, work load of Election Commission does not matter.
But after the hard work done by the Election Commission, if we get a representative
having impeccable character this is not a bad bargaining in the existing system. It provides
the electorate the power to remove the elected representatives who fail toper form their role
in a satisfactory manner and who grossly neglect their duties.
 These are the landmark reforms in our electoral system and if introduced at the state and
national levels, these would go a long way in strengthening one of the features of our
democracy which is in peril today.
ALLOTMENT OF 5% OF SEATS FROM EACH INDIVIDUAL POLITICAL PARTY
CONTESTING IN ELECTIONS SHOULD BE GIVEN TO CANDIDATES WHO ARE
ECONOMICALLY BACKWARD
There are many such reforms suggested by various institutes and organizations like—
 Restriction on the Number of Seats from which One May Contest
 Compulsory Maintenance of Accounts by Political Parties and Audit thereof
 All Officials Appointed in Connection with Conduct of Elections to be included in
Clause (7) of Section 123
 Appointment of Appellate Authority in Districts against Orders of 10 Electoral Registration
Officers

10. CONCLUSION AND REFERENCES
 Finally a mature electorate is the only guarantee for a real democracy. If voters will
shun the criminal, the corrupt, the political grasshopper, or, will not be deceived by
false promises of free food, clothing, free electricity and so on, but realize that
they are electing a government for themselves and not exercising a patronage in
favor of their kith and kin, their neighbour or members of their caste or religious
fraternity.
 We have vain gloriously boasted about our unity in diversity which is an illusion. When
the American Constitution was framed, there was no American Nation. There were
settlers from all parts of the Globe. But they welded themselves into a Nation. There must
be a national endeavor to build an Indian Nation based on equality and fraternity.
REFERENCES
www.loksatta.org/cms/documents/advocacy/ERG.pdf‎
lawmin.nic.in/legislative/ereforms/bgp.doc‎
casi.ssc.upenn.edu/.../Gowda-Sridharan,+ELJ+paper,+Reforming+India's..
www.ijhssi.org/papers/v2(3)/version-2/A230105.pdf‎
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