Debar booked persons from polls: Gopalaswami

Former CEC N Gopalaswami on Tuesday sought to reiterate the poll panel���s suggestion to the government to debar even chargesheeted persons, facing trial for heinous crimes, from contesting polls as a means to arrest the growing criminalisation of politics. He, however, said a window may be left open to avoid politically-motivated cases being filed against prospective candidates only to keep them out of the fray.

Recalling the recommendations of the EC in this regard, Mr Gopalaswami ��� who was addressing the media at the Indian Women Press Corps��� premises here ��� said candidates against whom chargesheets were filed up to six months prior to the poll, may not be debarred from contesting. This period, he further suggested, could also be extended to an year if the political consensus so desired.

The former CEC added that such a law, debarring chargesheeted persons from contesting, was already a part of the election manual for municipalities and panchayats of Rajasthan. ���If it can work there, we can also experiment with it here (at the state and national level),��� he suggested. ���But (by allowing) a person chargesheeted for heinous crime like murder, rape, dacoity (to contest)...how can you call yourself the largest democracy?��� he asked.

Also expressing his concern at the rampant use of money power in elections, the former Nirvachan Sadan boss recalled that nearly Rs 22-crore hard cash had been captured in Andhra Pradesh this time, where as the figure stood at Rs 16 crore in Karnataka. ���In the last assembly polls in Karnataka, Rs 45 crore was seized. Considering that what we catch is just 5-10% of the actual spending, the money in circulation, depending on your calculation, could well be Rs 900 crore,��� he said.