Money, mafia playing key role in elections: CEO

​Hyderabad: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar said that money and mafia are playing a vital role in elections these days. This is because voters are not playing their role, he added. He was speaking at Voters’ Awareness Programme organised by the Economic Committee of the Exhibition Society and the Osmania Graduates’ Association at Exhibition Grounds here on Saturday. The official said that the gravity of situation was such that even with a week to go before the polling, cash seized till now had gone up to Rs 104 crore which was Rs 28 crore higher than the overall amount seized during the full period in last elections which, in fact, covered entire of united Andhra Pradesh.

The CEO appealed to voters to participate in the democratic process by exercising their franchise, taking their family members, friends and neighbours along with them. “If any one offers cash, refuse it outright. From our side, we are working hard to control the role of money and mafia,” he said. He said, every elected head, from sarpanch to the Prime Minister, was concerned about the needs of the people as, otherwise, they would be rejected next time. “If you do not raise your voice by voting, no politician would be able help you. The politicians were bound by whatever you say by your vote,” he added.

He lamented that a sizeable chunk of educated and urban voters is not going to the booths, thereby letting democracy down. Highly educated people, professionals and forward-thinking groups were the ones who voted the least while in rural areas, the voting was reaching 80 to 90 per cent.  In municipal elections, the voting was a mere 54 per cent not only in Hyderabad but in Mumbai and Delhi too. The educated are busy and forget that voting could ensure a better life. 

“The Commission wants political parties to submit its manifestoes with a declaration that the promises made by them would do good to society. They were required to furnish information about the source of the money to implement their promises. Candidates, on the other hand, were asked to furnish details about their criminal antecedents and publish the same in newspapers thrice in big-sized letters,” he said.