IN RAPT ATTENTION: Chief Election Commissioner B.B.Tandon (second from right) listens to a Vedic recitation by students of the TTD's Vedapatasala at Tirumala on Thursday. The TTD Executive Officer, APVN Sarma, is also seen.

TIRUPATI: Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon on Thursday said that the existing laws were not adequate to check the entry of politicians with criminal record from contesting elections. Talking to mediapersons at Tirumala, where he arrived on a 2-day pilgrimage, the CEC pointed out that mere filing of chargesheet against a candidate in the court did not entail the disqualification of a contesting candidate. Under the present laws, unless the incumbent is prosecuted by the court, the `disqualification' clause would not come into operation, Tandon said.

Similarly, the CEC admitted that there were `loopholes' in the laws enacted to check the electoral expenses by a candidate and the party with the result that a strict enforcement of the code in this regard was becoming difficult.

"We know the election expenses are becoming increasingly high," he said and felt that money spent by an individual candidate was getting mixed-up with funds spent by the party concerned. The loophole is to be plugged first, he said.

Team work

When the media drew the attention of Tandon to the widespread appreciation for the manner in which the CEC had conducted the polls in the politically-sensitive Bihar, he attributed it to good planning and team-work by all concerned. He said the same formula would be replicated in the elections due next year in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Pondicherry. "We will ensure a free and fair election in letter and the spirit," he said and added that the screening of the electoral rolls in the five States was already under way. The EC would ensure that all the eligible voters as on January, 1, 2006 exercised their franchise without any hitch in the States, Tandon asserted.

Vedic recitation

Meanwhile, taking some time off his busy schedule, Mr. Tandon spent nearly an hour in the TTD's Veda Pathasala at Tirumala and listened to the recitation of vedas by young students. He was received with traditional honours at the temple and the Vedic school by the TTD's Executive Officer, A.P.V.N. Sarma.

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