Brinda Karat pitches for poll reforms

​Hyderabad: CPI (M) politburo member and former Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat on Friday stressed the need to build mass movements in the country to force the Union government to introduce electoral reforms against the backdrop of increased influence of corporate in decision-making.

Delivering the 36th Puchalapalli Sundarayya Memorial Lecturer on ‘Democracy – Electoral Reforms ‘held here on Friday, Brinda Karat said the neoliberal polices that gained more strength after Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power at the Centre and it had led to the consolidation of 58 per cent of the country’s wealth in the hands of one percent of the super rich. This had paved way to the growing inequalities in the country. The naked inequalities, in turn, were resulting in multiple attacks on the democracy and democratic

rights of the people. Consequently, people were becoming increasingly disempowered.She said though Parliamentary system of democracy in the country was a flawed one, the consolidation of wealth among the ruling classes emboldened them in unleashing attacks on the freedom and weakening of the democracy in the country. It was against this backdrop it became necessary on the part of everyone to protect the democratic rights.

She said the socio-economic inequalities were reflecting in the politics and electoral process in the country as the role of big money has been taking over the electoral process, leaving no chance for free and fair elections.

Referring to a study, Brinda Karat said about one fourth of the MPs in the current Lok Sabha were directly in business and were part of one or other industry. “During the last Lok Sabha the percentage of businesspersons was about 18 per cent.

But, it had gone up to 25 per cent during the current Lok Sabha,” she said. Further, out of 26 members of Parliamentary standing Committee on Finance, about nine persons are either industrialists or businesspersons. This leads to in active influence of policy decisions by the corporate,” she said. Hence, it was high time that reforms were introduced to free Parliamentary process from the direct influence of the corporates, she added.

Criticising the BJP-led NDA at the Centre for allowing 7 per cent of the net profit of the corporate to contribute to the political parties of their choice without disclosing their names, she said this belied all the promises of the Prime Minister on ensuring transparency, ending crony capitalism and clean politics.

The BJP government had also come up with a scheme which allowed the corporate houses to purchase electoral bonds to contribute to the political parties without disclosing their names and giving any account for the same. This was contradictory to several judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts and reports by the Election Commission which insisted on transparency in the political donations. It was against this backdrop that her party had proposed state funding of elections, she said.