Poll reforms next in line

Taking the war against corruption to the second level, crusader Anna Hazare said citizens must have the right to reject candidates during elections as part of electoral reforms after completing the Lokpall fight.
A victorious Anna, after successfully making the UPA Government bend down to set up a committee to draft the Lokpall Bill, asserted that it was the right time in the country to bring in the required changes and weed out corruption.
"If we talk of removing 100 percent corruption, we can achieve 90 percent by the Lokpal. Rest 10 percent would be achieved when we are able to change the way elections are fought in the country. We should be able to reject undesirable candidates. The election system needs a change," Anna said at a press conference at the Press Club of India on April 10, 2011.
Ruling out contesting elections himself, Anna said elections in the country had become a very expensive affair. "It takes Rs 6-7 crore to fight elections these days. Votes are bought for Rs 100 or a bottle of liquor or giving a saree. I cannot even think of doing that," he said and added that he would indeed float an organisation that would work for public awareness.
As for the composition of the draft committee on Lokpal Bill which had raised several heckles, Anna sought to clear the air saying the members were selected after much deliberation.
The committee has lawyer father-son duo, Shanti and Prashant Bhushan, besides Anna's think-tank, former IPS officer Kiren Bedi and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.
The Baba had wanted inclusion of former IPS officer Kiran Bedi on the panel while voicing concerns over nepotism.
Anna, who still stays in a temple in his village in Maharashtra, said that Bhushans were included as the committee needed some legal bend also as each clause of the present legal system had to be dealt in detail. "I talked to Baba Ramdev and told him that Bedi herself did not want to be on the committee. All the minor differences will be sorted out," Anna said. He ruled out any change in the membership of the committee.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal and Bedi did all the explaining at the much-awaited press conference. While agreeing to declare their assets, the draft committee member said that views of other members would be sought before the committing but added, "That should not be an issue. We will declare all our assets," Kejriwal said.
Bedi urged the media not "to smell a rat in everything" while Kejriwal said the media should not see "conspiracy in everything".
The committee is expected to meet on April 16 and the draft would be prepared in full public glare.
The hard copies ought to be sent to each Gram Sabha so that everybody's suggestions are incorporated, Anna, a former Indian army soldier, said.
The Bill would be presented in the Monsoon session of the Parliament and if the political leaders fail to pass it by August 15, "we will again resort to this blackmail, if it is being termed so," Anna added.
While Chief Ministers Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar got a pat from Anna for their efforts on rural development, Modi fell short of getting 100 percent marks from the Pune crusader. "The way the Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Bihar have worked in their states, this should be adopted by other chief ministers. The chief ministers of other states should also work like this. I will accept Modi as 100 per cent ideal when he brings Lokpall in the state," he said.