Although the Supreme Court verdict of March 2003 upheld the constitutional right of the people to gain information about electoral candidates’ backgrounds and history, PAC believed that the Election Commission guidelines for the disclosure of this information would remain toothless unless they were properly complied with and information actually disseminated to voters. This hypothesis was put to the test in the two city municipal councils on the outskirts of Bangalore, K.R. Puram and Mahadevpura, both with populations under 300,000 and where city council elections were held in August and October 2003, respectively. PAC undertook a quick assessment of how the EC guidelines were implemented in these elections and presented the findings to the Commission for further action. The main objective of the campaign was to publicly scrutinise the veracity of information disclosed by candidates in their affidavits and disseminate that information among voters to enable them to make an informed choice.

Partner Sri Sadguru Seva Samsthe, a local NGO, carried out activities pertaining to elections as planned by PAC in K.R. Puram and Mahadevapura.

About the Campaign:

K.R. Puram - PAC made the following observations:

• Most of the contesting candidates were either ignorant about or indifferent toward the EC guidelines.

• Almost all the notaries failed to comply with some of these basic rules, and a few even added their seals before candidates had signed their affidavits.

• 30 out of the 170 candidates in the elections did not bother to declare the value of their assets, either fully or in part.

• 12 individuals did not sign the affidavits or did so improperly. One among this group even won a seat.

• Returning officers had not ensured that affidavits were complete and duly signed and notarised.

The PAC team concluded that the Election Commission’s guidelines for the declaration of candidates’ information were seriously breached in the K.R. Puram elections.

Also, PAC noticed that the authorities did not make much effort to publicise candidates’ background information. Affidavits were bunched up on notice boards in the municipal office and the Taluk office. To support citizens’ right to know, the Centre, in partnership with local civic groups, started a campaign to disseminate comparative information on candidates in several wards in K.R. Puram and to challenge cases of false and incomplete information.

PAC also reported the lapses to the Karnataka State Election Commissioner soon after the election, along with suggestions on how to improve the level of compliance with the EC guidelines. The Commissioner agreed to take prompt action against the erring Returning Officers and the notaries. Some of his actions were publicised in the press.

Mahadevpura - The Public Affairs Centre launched a massive campaign in Mahadevpura CMC from October 15 through 17, 2003. Shree Sadguru Seva Samste, a local NGO, joined hands with PAC and proved especially helpful in the dissemination of information on candidates. This was done by means of leaflets distributed in all the wards of the CMC. Announcements were also made through loudspeakers in all the wards at the time of dissemination. On the polling day, 15 well-trained teams of two volunteers each conducted exit polls in almost all the wards where the leaflets were disseminated.

Impact:

• As a result of feedback given by PAC after the K.R. Puram CMC elections, the State Election Commission made a serious effort in the Mahadevpura elections to ensure that the procedures for candidates’ affidavits were fully complied with.

• PAC’s analysis of the Mahadevpura affidavits showed that most of the information required had been furnished by the candidates except for a few missing details about assets. The notaries had also properly attested the documents and the Returning Officers had done their jobs well.

• For the first time, PAC was also able to get the City Police Commissioner to quickly verify the criminal backgrounds of the candidates.

• The PAC findings and proposals had reverberations on elections all over the country. After the flouting of the disclosure guidelines in these two elections, the Central and State Election Commissions, as well as the media and civil society groups, geared up in many places to take collective action to uphold the citizens’ right to information.