According to former CEC Dr SY Quraishi, following the strict implementation of model code of conduct, a lot of nuisance is eliminated from the elections. And with increasing participation from voters, the elections have now become the festival of people

According to former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr SY Quraishi, with measures like voter education and strict implementation of model code of conduct, elections in India have become the people's festival.

Speaking at the Mumbai launch of his book “An Undocumented Wonder- the Making of the Great Indian Election”, organised by Moneylife Foundation and supported by Emergent Medi-Tech, Dr Quraishi said, "When we started strict implementation of model code of conduct, one TV anchor, wrote an article saying that the Election Commission has killed the 'festival of democracy'. I wrote a counter article, in which I told her to send her address and I will send the 'festival of democracy' to her house. And what will it contain, somebody will come and paint walls with slogans, somebody will put posters, banners, forcibly put flags, they will shout, if this festival you are missing then we will return it to you!"

"The festival of democracy including nuisance had a voter turnout of 20% at that time. So what festival was it? Now it is people's festival with 80% voter turnout minus the nuisance," the former CEC said.

During his tenure as CEC, Dr Quraishi started an initiative for voter education. Many people, apprehensive about the idea, told him that his job was to conduct elections and not educate voters. He said, "If people don’t come and participate, the vote count is low and the question of legitimacy of the representative is raised. Somebody comes with 15% vote, 85% has not voted for him therefore he is not the real representative. Then some people suggested to make voting mandatory like in Australia. I talked to my friend from that country and asked about his experience. He told me to collect Aus $50 fine, they have to spend Aus $5,000 and litigation of two-three years. And despite all, the voter turnout there is 90%."

He said, "We thought voter education is the answer. They should come out in large number. And we found out in urban areas, voter apathy was more pronoun. To deal with this apathy, voter education was best way. And you can see, how systematic voter education had done wonders, with 70-80% voter turnout and one place in Tripura it is 93%. And that is without compulsion. Here, we are getting 93% turnout with love, persuasion. I think this is the answer."

Talking about his experience in setting up India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM), Dr Quraishi said, "We thought we have come to a stage where we should share our experience (of conducting elections on such a large scale). Again, many people questioned about training foreigners in IIDEM. I said, this institute should train our own 11 million people, and beside that 500 foreigner, what is the problem? And you will be happy to know in three years 42 countries got training from us. Several Ambassadors say what we are doing (at IIDEM) is setting a biggest Indian brand worldwide."

The book was launched in Mumbai on Friday by HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, in the presence of television and film actor Kabir Bedi and noted social activist Medha Patkar.
 (Read: What makes Indian elections a great wonder?  )