The Hindu : Bill on election laws likely in monsoon session

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 06, 2002

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Bill on election laws likely in monsoon session

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI July 5. The Centre is likely to introduce a comprehensive bill amending various election laws in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.

According to Law Ministry sources, the draft bill is likely to be discussed at the all-party meeting convened by the Government on July 8. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and the Law Minister, Jana Krishnamurthy, will represent the Government side.

The Centre had taken the initiative to arrive at a consensus for implementing the directions issued by the Supreme Court on May 2 notwithstanding the decision of the Election Commission (EC) to implement them to ensure more transparency in the details furnished by candidates at the time of filing nominations for contesting Assembly and Parliamentary elections.

In view of the ticklish nature of the issues involved, the Government wants to have a broad consensus of political parties before the court's directions are put into practice by the EC. If necessary, the Government is even willing to introduce further amendments in the bill to nullify the effect of certain ``impracticable'' directions.

Meanwhile, the Krantikari Manuvadi Morcha, a political party for socio-political reforms, has urged the Government to consider bringing legislation for a total ban on `defections' making it mandatory for a `defector' to resign from the seat and seek a fresh mandate. The Morcha president, R.K. Bhardwaj, told The Hindu that political defection and caste-based reservation were the root causes of almost all problems. He wanted the all-party meeting to discuss this issue also and bring about a solution.

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