The Election Commission is happy that the Assembly election in Tamilnadu is now over. The Chief Election Commissioner stated the obvious when he said "Tamilnadu elections gave us sleepless nights". It is impossible to conclude how much cash and cash convertibles were used to bribe the voters unless the political parties themselves submit honest accounts (which will never happen).
In the normal course, the ruling party (DMK) would have been voted back to power on account of its performance in terms of delivery on its 2006 poll promises particularly those concerning the have-nots. The Spectrum scam obviously queered the pitch for the DMK and the party became a by-word for corruption. As if this was not enough, the Congress party as an alliance partner became more of a liability. The Congress party in Tamilnadu is a house divided against itself and it will be a miracle if this party is able to win even 10% of the seats it contested.
With its back to the wall, DMK started converting the entire state of Tamilnadu into Thirumangalam. (In an earlier bye-election in Thirumangalam in Madurai district, Mr.M.K.Alagiri was alleged to have distributed unprecedented amounts of cash to garner votes for DMK). This is not to say that other parties were squeaky clean. They had less financial resources. The ill-gotten wealth from the Spectrum scam enabled DMK to buy votes on a much larger scale. Deontologists might say that wealth obtained in unethical ways cannot be retained.
If the role of cash in elections is not arrested immediately, the evil will strengthen further in Tamilnadu and will spread to other states. Whichever party is now elected to power, it may be forced to indulge in a bigger scam if only to fund the elections in 2016. The Election Commission has a tough job on its hands.
Unfortunately there is an acute crisis of leadership in the country now. As Julian Assange pithily said, "Manmohan Singh has a habit of reactively covering up allegations of corruption". It is a tragi-comedy that he is the most honest politician around !
In the normal course, the ruling party (DMK) would have been voted back to power on account of its performance in terms of delivery on its 2006 poll promises particularly those concerning the have-nots. The Spectrum scam obviously queered the pitch for the DMK and the party became a by-word for corruption. As if this was not enough, the Congress party as an alliance partner became more of a liability. The Congress party in Tamilnadu is a house divided against itself and it will be a miracle if this party is able to win even 10% of the seats it contested.
With its back to the wall, DMK started converting the entire state of Tamilnadu into Thirumangalam. (In an earlier bye-election in Thirumangalam in Madurai district, Mr.M.K.Alagiri was alleged to have distributed unprecedented amounts of cash to garner votes for DMK). This is not to say that other parties were squeaky clean. They had less financial resources. The ill-gotten wealth from the Spectrum scam enabled DMK to buy votes on a much larger scale. Deontologists might say that wealth obtained in unethical ways cannot be retained.
If the role of cash in elections is not arrested immediately, the evil will strengthen further in Tamilnadu and will spread to other states. Whichever party is now elected to power, it may be forced to indulge in a bigger scam if only to fund the elections in 2016. The Election Commission has a tough job on its hands.
Unfortunately there is an acute crisis of leadership in the country now. As Julian Assange pithily said, "Manmohan Singh has a habit of reactively covering up allegations of corruption". It is a tragi-comedy that he is the most honest politician around !
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