CEC hints at laws to curb ‘ruling advantage’

The incident weighed heavy on Lyngdoh’s mind as he remarked that the EC was helpless in dealing with situations like the AIADMK winning the Sathankulam seat inspite of EC’s indictment. ‘‘We are supposed to be living in a civilised democracy wherein we deal with politicians with some repute,’’ said. Apparently referring to Jayalalithaa, he said if politicians don’t feel ashamed then the EC could not help the situation.

The other major issue before the EC, Lyngdoh said, was the massive manipulation by the ruling parties in the electoral lists. He claimed the EC would gradually put all the voters’ lists on the internet and that would go a long way in checking the petty tricks of the politicians.

Lyngdoh confessed that ‘‘thousands’’ of names got deleted from the electoral rolls ‘‘for no reason’’ and ‘‘also non-existing people were included in the list.’’ Stating that ‘‘it is happening because there is electoral revision every year,’’ he said: ‘‘For us in the EC, it is not possible to monitor’’ this process everywhere.