Basic ethics in elections are on decline: Faizan Mustafa

Hyderabad : The contestants in general elections are violating the poll code with impunity while the Election Commission remains a mute spectator, leading legal luminary and Vice-Chancellor Prof Faizan Mustafa said on Friday. 

Speaking at the valedictory session of the two-day conference on “Electoral Politics in Contemporary India: Emerging Trends” Prof Mustafa pointed out at another common problem during elections.  He said that the people do not read the manifestoes of the political parties but largely vote on the basis of speeches made by politicians. There is also no system of questioning the political parties on the non-fulfilment of the promises that were during the election campaigns. Unless the people exercise their rights, the political system in the country would not change, he felt. 

The valedictory session was presided over by academic and political activist G Hargopal where noted scribe and writer Kingshuk Nag said that the practice of secularism has been a farce across all political parties. 

Earlier a panel discussion was held on Media and Elections which was chaired by Kingshuk Nag.  It was addressed by Prashant Jha of Hindustan Time, Arafa Khanum of the Wire, Iqbal Ahmad of BBC and Niloufar Suhrawardy, a senior journalist. 

Former Chief Election Commissioner Dr S.Y. Quraishi opened the conference on Thursday and spoke in detail about the changes the Commission is bringing about in holding the elections. Prof. Asmer Beg of Aligarh Muslim University discussed the key trends of Indian politics after 2014 elections. Prof. Shakeel Ahmad, Pro Vice-Chancellor, MANUU in his Presidential address lamented the decline in value based politics and education levels of elected representatives. Dr. Afroz Alam, Organizing Secretary of the Conference and Head, Department of Political Science welcomed delegates and participants.