BENGALURU: Appreciating Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri’s decision to take up a discussion on elections reforms in the Assembly, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the suggestions coming out of the debate will be documented to provoke the thinking of people, especially the youth.
“Democracy has succeeded despite Tamil Nadu’s concept of the nation and Punjab and Jammu Kashmir nursing their own ideas. The transfer of power has been graceful, unlike after the recent US polls,” he said.
The nexus between corporate houses and political parties is not new and it existed even during the pre-Independence era when Mahatma Gandhi had a cordial relationship with Bajaj Group. “After Independence, when the license raj prevailed, only a few companies could get licences to set up industries. Later parties started collecting funds from them,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah insisted that political parties raising funds through electoral bonds should be stopped to check the nexus between corporate bodies and governments. The nexus is leading to commercial mafia ruling the roost.
“Like appointing judges, a collegium should be set to appoint the election commission chief and its members,” he said. Expressing his suspicion over electronic voting machines, he held the Election Commission of India responsible for over 19 lakh missing EVMs.