New Delhi: Rejecting criticism on
countermanding of Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand, Chief
Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Saturday hoped it will work as
a deterrent against use of money power in elections.
"We acted on complaints about use of money power in Rajya
Sabha polls in Jharkhand and there was actionable evidence. We
hope it (our action) works as a lesson and deterrent for
political parties and their leaders not to indulge in such
activities," Quraishi said.
He also expressed concern at Jharkhand getting the dubious
reputation of being used by some for entering the Rajya Sabha
with the use of money power and said this was unfortunate.
"It is unfortunate that the state is getting such a
reputation. It is for the state to think about it as to why
Jharkhand is becoming notorious for this (use of money
power)," the Chief Election Commissioner said.
Quraishi said it was disturbing that the use of money
power was being increasingly used in not just Lok Sabha
elections, but also in the MLC and Vidhan Parishad polls and
now the Rajya Sabha polls.
He said it is time leaders of political parties put their
heads together and come out with a solution to this problem.
"Political leaders have to put their heads together and come
out with a solution. We can't just be doing this (curbing use
of money) with the help of police. There has to be something
more to it," Quraishi said, adding that electoral reforms were
much-required now.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 31, 2012, 19:43