 | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | SECURITY BLANKET: Paramilitary presence ensured a safe environment | | The possibility of a free, fair and peaceful election in Bihar is about as remote as snow in Patna. That was, of course, until last month when the state witnessed, perhaps for the first time in living memory, an election devoid of the usual Bihar flavour: violence, death, kidnapping, rigging and armed men capturing booths. These are the normal images of democracy at work in the state. This time, they were replaced by images of Mohammed Shahabuddin, the don-turned-RJD MP on the run; the resignation of Union minister Jaiprakash Yadav who was forced out of office for intimidating policemen, orderly queues at polling stations and an environment of security. This is not exactly good news for self-styled champions of democracy who slaughter all democratic cannons to perpetuate their hold on power. The Left parties, whose mastery over "scientific rigging" has seen the CPI(M)-led Front remaining in power in West Bengal for an unprecedented 28 years, are not exactly brimming with good humour over the Election Commission's methods in Bihar. The commission has already initiated the process of electoral roll revision in West Bengal, which is due for assembly polls early next year. The technical expertise and experience of cleansing the system in Bihar will surely come in handy in the state. For nearly three decades, using a combination of a committed babudom and a heavily unionised police force, the Left has zealously guarded its fort. These tactics will be tested as the commission delves deep into its Bihar experience. | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | WINNING TEAM: Careful planning was the key to Tandon's success | | E-2005 in Bihar would not have been possible without meticulous planning that helped avoid the pitfalls of the past. Take a look at the statistics. In the Assembly elections in 2000, 61 people had lost their lives. Some died while trying to capture booths; others died while trying to protect the same booths; yet others were lynched for simply trying to vote. Five years down the line, things improved remarkably and in the February elections that threw up a hung assembly, the number of dead in poll related violence had come down to 27. The three-stage polling in February however held an important lesson. After the simultaneous polling in Haryana and Jharkhand was over in two stages, 495 companies of Central paramilitary forces (CPMF) could be pressed into service for the 70 seats going to polls in the third stage. The violence subsided dramatically. This November the number of deaths was just two. | | INTERVIEW | B.B. TANDON | | "Election costs are a worry"
B.B. Tandon is perhaps the most self-effacing CEC the commission has ever had. Polite to a fault, he takes his job of keeping out criminals from the election process very seriously. Special Correspondent Neeraj Mishra met him in his office in Nirvachan Sadan. Q. Which factor motivated you and your team the most?
A. As a bureaucrat I have spent 35 years in the system and I know what ails it. There is dissatisfaction with how we elect our governments and how little people value their votes. My job is to ensure an environment for people to freely exercise their franc Q. Do rising costs of holding elections worry you?
A. Yes. But there is no way out. I think it should be seen as an investment in better governance. What's the point in holding a cheap, shoddy election if we don't get the government we want. Q. Criminalisation remains a problem. More than 100 MLAs in Bihar have a criminal record.
A. We have recommended to the Government that if charges have been framed against a candidate for an offence punishable with two years or more of imprisonment, he should be debarred. While that is being considered, we ensured that not many criminals filed nominations. More than 1.5 lakh non bailable warrants were executed in Bihar and the percentage of accused in the fray came down to 28 from a high of 50 plus in the past. Q. The judiciary now literally controls the executive, is the EC now controlling politicians?
A. I would not like to comment on the judiciary's role but our role is very simple: Ensure fair elections which will automatically throw up better leaders and issues. | | Since the early 1990s the EC has become a different body, a departure from the past when politicians governed the dates, methods and even decided which officer will be on poll duty where. It was T.N. Seshan who first gave it teeth and the kind of profile that the commission required to take on wily politicians. Through the Lyngdoh-Krishnamurthy era it acquired an impeccable impression of being impartial. It went through phases of reform-from voter I-cards to phased polling to changed proformas making declaration of assets compulsory. Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon has already emphasised that increased use of technology will be his contribution to the process. "The first thing we decided for the November polls was to send in the CPMF much in advance and in huge numbers. They were posted a month before the state went to polls and it instilled a sense of security among the voters," says Tandon. More than 1.5 lakh non- bailable warrants were executed within a span of one month. Policemen would also wait at the nomination centres for candidates who were dodging non-bailable warrants. This prevented a large number of criminals from filing their nominations. To instil full confidence in the district administration, the commission paid at least four visits to the state and Tandon himself made an unprecedented eight tours to Bihar. "The superintendents were enthused because the commission changed even thana level officers wherever it received complaints," says an officer. | | FACE RECOGNITION SYSTEM | | | | TECH TRIUMPH: Special digital software was used for the first time to detect bogus voters | The commission also invested heavily in improving communication. All polling stations were linked with police stations, sector magistrates and district and central control rooms. That apart, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer N.K. Sinha would talk to pre-selected "agents" on the current status of polling. These agents were usually shopkeepers or individuals with personal phones living close to polling stations. All complaints of booth capture could be immediately counter checked. The man who kept the operation going on behalf of the election commission, Special Observer K.J. Rao, became the torch-bearer for fair elections. The cornerstone of the commission's triumph was its use of digital technology. "These elections were by far the best advertisement for technology," says Sinha, himself an engineer by education. For the first time 4,000 digital cameras were put to use after selecting the most sensitive of the nearly 57,000 polling stations. A special spy software-Sagem Face Recognition System-was used to digitally match faces. The programme throws up pairs of faces that have maximum number of matching coordinates. Thus anyone trying to hoodwink the system by shaving a beard or tying a turban and impersonating another voter, could be traced through the software. Voters at various polling booth were photographed and later at the time of counting, the software was used to detect duplication. After the first phase itself word went out about pictures being taken at the booth and the commission has reason to believe that that may have scared off potential bogus voters. Two years ago during the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Sinha and Anand had been instrumental in detecting some of the biggest frauds in voter rolls. In one case, more than 1,200 voters were found registered on the same address-clear proof that almost all of them were bogus voters. "We took care to put the voter lists through another software which detected similar names and age groups with different addresses, repetitions and all homes with more than 15 voters," says Anand. The results were then verified on the ground. The process led to nearly 18 lakh names being deleted from the voters list while about 4.5 lakh voters, whose names did not appear in the rolls were added. The next target it seems is to put voter rolls online and prevent bogus voting at the booth itself. Some states going to polls in the next six months time have already expressed nervousness with roll revision and the use of technology. That nervousness, it seems, is now all pervasive among politicians. The judiciary already sets the tone in matters which directly affect the population and is firm in its directions to the executive. Politicians fear that the EC is biting into the pie they had assiduously created for themselves. Or more accurately, the commission is disturbing the vote banks they have created. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh had even tried to embroil Rao in a controversy by accusing him of being a communalist. Backed by the CEC, Rao, of course, refused to be cowed down. Politicians also fear long drawn elections. Most believe that a five-week four stage election can run the voters out of steam and most have expressed anguish at the low voter turnout. A Bihar politician points out that the paramilitary forces were overused and may have been a hindrance in voter turn-out. Tandon says each state has a different solution and 90 per cent of the states have had a one-day election which is, of course, preferable. "Everyone wants roads and power and industries. Only voting in a secure climate can ensure that base considerations like caste groups are kept out," says B.P. Mohapatra of NGO ADR-Loksamvad which compiles facts and figures on criminals in the fray during elections. EC's ability to alter the political landscape and issues will be seriously tested in the coming months when West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu go to polls. There is little doubt that Tandon and his team will be ready with the right prescription.
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