Need to give the Election Commission more teeth, says Varun Gandhi

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“It’s high time that the Election Commission of India got some teeth. What we see today is that the body is completely toothless. We have seen that the body has only two auditors — a number which goes up to four sometimes — who are supposed to scrutinise the hundreds and thousands of documents submitted by the candidates ahead of elections. How is it even possible that they can do that effectively. A country like Argentina has 400-odd auditors with its election governing body. We need to give it more power,” said Gandhi.

Gandhi praised Maharashtra for using the Right to Information (RTI) effectively but also lamented that the most number of killings related to RTI activism have happened in the state.

“Right to Information Act is a fabulous piece of legislation and it has contributed in a huge way in strengthening the common citizen. Maharashtra has seen a whole breed of RTI activists that has come up in last decade or so. However, it’s also a sad and alarming situation that most number of of RTI activists too has happened in the state,” said Gandhi.

PIC president Raghunath Mashelkar and senior journalist Dilip Padgaonkar too spoke on the occasion.