Udaipur: "Political parties and the expensive elections in which millions are spent are the root causes of corruption in the country. Therefore the need of the hour is to hold all elections of the country simultaneously. Also, the income generated by the political leaders disproportionately must be confiscated by the state. There is a need to rouse the consciousness of the political workers and aim at electoral reforms." This was stated by Arun Kumar Shrivastav, founder of a Ngo named Fight Against Corruption Through Electoral Reforms, New Delhi. He was delivering the Fateh Kunwar Seth Memorial Lecture in Udaipur on Saturday. The title of the lecture was " Chunav aur Bhrastachar: Badlav ki Apekshayen". He claimed that in 2014 Lok Sabha elections BJP spent some 40,000 crores while Congress spent Rs. 7000 crores. The election Commission has laid the limit of Rs. 25 Lakhs for Assembly elections and Rs. 75 Lakhs for Parliamentary elections. This is too much.
How can a common political worker manage to spend this much, he asked. But the truth is, in every election at all constituencies this limit is crossed. Who funds these elections? If the capitalists do it, then they are bound to reap the benefits once the people they supported come to power. This is what is happening now. The capitalists funded the BJP and are now reaping the benefits.He said that there is no inner party democracy in any political party. Those who have control over the finances command all. He claimed that Narendra Modi emerged as Prime Minister simply because only he could mobilize those 40 thousand crores which BJP spent in electioneering. Adwani and other leaders could not do so, therefore they had to retire.He said that in Bihar elections BJP used 22 helicopters. Congress, RJD, and Janata Dal-United together had three. This expenditure in elections must stop if we want to control corruption, he said.
The function was chaired by former Chairperson of Institution of Engineers, Udaipur chapter. He endorsed the views of Arun Shrivastav and added that poverty alleviation is the key to fighting the menace of corruption. In the beginning, Prof. Hemendra Chandalia, Editor of Mahavir Samta Sandesh welcomed the guests and presented the outline of the issue. He stated that corruption is not just financial. Keeping a large part of the population in constant fear and insecurity is also corruption. maintained that the union government has failed to fulfill the promises made before 2014 elections and has started the dirty game of communal divide. Harish Suhalka offered a vote of thanks. Engineer Piyush Joshi, Arjun Dan Daitha, State President of Janta Dal-Secular, Ashok Manthan etc. Participated in the discussion that followed.
