Social activists pitch for graft-free political system

Call to elect honest people in 2014 general polls

Hyderabad : In what could be a step forward towards fighting against the entry of 'corrupt politicians' into legislative bodies- right from Gram panchayat to Parliament, well-known social activists on Friday mooted " people's councils' and ' people's political front' to help elect honest people in the next general election.

Participating in the launch of Melukolupu ( Jaagorey/ save Democracy) programme, organized by National Alliance of People's Movement ( NAPM) here, the Co-Founder of Asha for Education Sandeep Pandey said the two major challenges lied before the country was entire political machinery was financed by 'corrupt ' money and wrong policies are being formulated by corrupt politicians to benefit the corporate sector.

To dismantle the ' institutionalised corruption' and correct the aberrations in political system, he suggested creation of people's council, representing all communities. The council will identify honest persons in the respective constituencies and field them in the elections. He wanted to take up the task at least in some areas and expand the same depending on the response in the next election.

He also called upon all organisations, engaged in social movements, to unite and form a people's political front and field the candidates in the poll. Noted water conservationist Rajendra Singh said 'contractors driven democracy' was flourishing as the corporate world dictated the political system and exploiting natural resources through 'wrong' policies in the name of development in the country. In return, political leaders were receiving commissions for doing favours and the same money was being spent to win the elections.

MKSS ( Mazdoor Kisan Shakthi Sanghthan) activist Nikhil Dey said ' we need alternative politics and not political alternative'. If it not possible, radical reforms should be brought in the electoral policy to check growing influence of money in election. " We need to have to face many challenges to cleanse the tainted political system." NAPM National Convener B Ramakrishna Raju said the objective of Melukolupu is to educate voters about the consequences of electing corrupt leaders.