Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

How to Choose a Good Political Leader
(Association for Democratic Reforms)
Vote Smart

• Are you finding it hard to choose? Too
many political parties? Confused?
• It is important to work out what is good for
you, your family and your community, and to
stand up for what you believe in.
• That's why it's very important to vote for your
kind of leader. As the old saying goes,
• "Vote for policies, not personalities".

Vote for policies, not personalities

• Know your Candidates
• Know who they are and what party they are
representing. Visit their offices in their
electorates, ridings, zones, areas, etc. Ask
to meet with your local representative.
• Go to "meet the candidate" events hosted in
your area. This will give you the opportunity
to meet them and to listen to their policies.
• Follow their Twitter and Facebook
accounts.

• Watch them in action in the legislature,
lower/upper house, council chamber,
parliament, or wherever they appear. Some
countries, states, and provinces have televised
debates or parliamentary/legislative sessions.
• Some have select committee sessions open to
viewing (you can visit in person or watch online
or on TV).
• Some provide YouTube clips or their own
viewing portals. Contact your local
representative to find out what is available for
you in terms of direct viewing.

Watch them in action in the legislature, lower/upper
house, council chamber, parliament, or wherever they
appear

• Research the Candidates
• Look up what they want to provide for you and
others.
• Make sure you know what they're talking
about.
• Also do a bit of research on them, such as
their educational background and any
criminal records.

• Be direct––write letters with your questions
to the relevant persons and expect a reply.
• If you don't get a reply, follow up on it; they
will know you are serious about learning more.
Find out how they are viewed within their
party, not just by outsiders; remember that
everyone remains an individual, even when
toeing the party line.

Be direct––write letters with your questions to
the relevant persons and expect a reply

• Keep an open mind––politics is an area
where reform can occur, so if someone does
have a criminal past, see how they have
absolved themselves and whether or not you
consider their current work sufficient to
overcome that and whether their experience is
being put to good use.

• Don't vote for someone just because they're a
part of a certain party.
• There have been many great leaders from the
main parties, and their greatness has been based
on their abilities/skills, their knowledge, their
experience and their intellectual prowess.
• Don't let their title or party membership sway
you. Look for someone who is capable,
competent and responsible, who is willing to
put people before power.

Vote for the best candidate, not the party

Association for Democratic Reforms
(ADR)
• The Association for Democratic Reforms
(ADR) is an Indian non-partisan, non-
governmental organization which works in the
area of electoral and political reforms.

(ADR)
• Along with National Election Watch (NEW),
ADR is striving to bring transparency and
accountability in Indian politics and
reducing the influence of money and muscle
power in elections.

History
• ADR came into existence in 1999 when a
group of Professors from the Indian Institute
of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and
Bangalore filed a Public Interest Litigation
(PIL) with the Delhi High Court regarding the
disclosure of the criminal, financial and
educational background of the candidates
contesting elections.

(ADR)

History
• The PIL was upheld by the Delhi High
Court in 2000 but the Government of India
appealed to the Supreme Court of India
against the High Court judgement.

History
• However, in 2002 and subsequently in 2003,
the Supreme Court made it mandatory for
all the candidates contesting elections to
disclose their criminal, financial and
educational background prior to the polls
by filing an affidavit with the Election
Commission of India.

Supreme Court made it mandatory for all the candidates
contesting elections to disclose their criminal, financial and
educational background prior to the polls

History
• The process led to greater awareness
among voters of criminal cases against
politicians.

Objective
• The objective of ADR is to improve
governance and strengthen democracy by
continuous work in the area of Electoral and
Political Reforms.
• The ambit and scope of work in this field is
enormous, hence, ADR has chosen to
concentrate its efforts in the following areas
pertaining to the political system of the
country

The objective of ADR is to improve governance and
strengthen democracy by continuous work in the area of
Electoral and Political Reforms

Objective
• Corruption and Criminalization in the Political
Process
• Empowerment of the electorate through
greater dissemination of information relating to
the candidates and the parties, for a better and
informed choice
• Need for greater accountability of Indian
Political Parties
• Need for inner-party democracy and
transparency in party-functioning

Empowerment of the electorate through greater
dissemination of information relating to the candidates
and the parties

Function & Research Areas
• Election Watch or Analysis of Affidavits Election
Watch is the flagship programme of ADR. Since
2002, National Election Watch (NEW) and ADR
have been conducting Election Watches across the
country.

• As part of this programme, affidavits of
candidates contesting elections are minutely
examined and citizens are provided with the
information about their background details
to help them make an informed choice.

• The Election Watch has so far collated data of
about 1,82,108 candidates which can be
accessed easily on www.myneta.info

Election Watch or Analysis of Affidavits

• Election Expenses of MPs and MLAs: ADR
also analyses the election expenses declared by
elected representatives and the data is released
to the media/citizens. Register of Members’

• Interest of Rajya Sabha: ADR also analyses
Register of Members’ interest of the Rajya
Sabha, which was brought into public domain
in June 2011 after ADR’s two-year-long RTI
battle

The purpose of the Register of Members' Interests is to place on
the public record Members' interests which may conflict, or may
be seen to conflict, with their public duty.

• Political Party Watch (PPW):
• ADR’s PPW program is aimed at bringing
more transparency and accountability in the
functioning of political parties.

• In 2008, based on an appeal filed by ADR, the
Central Information Commission (CIC)
declared that the Income Tax Returns of
political parties should be made available in
the public domain by the IT Department.

Central Information Commission (CIC)

• Since then, ADR has analysed the IT returns of all
National and Regional parties of India whose ITR
details are available in public domain.

• An analysis of their Income Tax returns and
donations statements filed with the Election
Commission of India (ECI) shows that the
sources remain largely unknown.
• ADR analyses the sources of funding of
National and Regional political parties.

ADR analyses the sources of funding of
National and Regional political parties.

• Contribution Reports of Political Parties:
Under this programme, the contributions
reports of political parties containing
information about receipt of donations by
corporate houses and individuals above Rs
20,000, are analysed.

Contribution Reports of Political Parties

• Contribution Reports of Electoral Trusts:
Apart from individuals and companies, there
are electoral trusts which contribute the most
to National parties and a few Regional parties.
The details of contributions received by the
Electoral Trusts and the details of donations
given by the Trust to political parties are
analyzed.

Contribution Reports of Electoral Trusts

• Election Expenditure of Political Parties:
ADR, through this programme, analyses the
details of expenditure declared by various
political parties after Lok Sabha and Assembly
Elections.
• Till date, expenditure reports for 91
Assembly Elections and 3 Lok Sabha
Elections have been analyzed.

Election Expenditure of Political Parties

• Legal Advocacy: ADR also resorts to legal
advocacy for Political and Electoral Reforms.
Time to time ADR takes up various issues in
the light of good governance by filing
relevant complaints/appeals and PILs/writs
with Central Information Commission,
Supreme Court/ High Court as well as other
Central and State agencies.

• ADR also attends various
consultations/round-tables with bodies like
Law Commission of India, Election
Commission of India, Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha Secretariat.

ADR Youth Outreach Programmes
• Hum Badlenge Apna Bharat
• The programme aims to educate senior school
children of the challenges faced by Indian
Democracy today via workshops.
• The workshop trainers use videos, audios,
quiz papers and other interactive materials
to engage with the youth.

ADR Youth Outreach Programmes
• ADR Campus Ambassadors
• The programme aims to engage with college
youth in issues related to Indian democracy and
involve them proactively in organizing events.
The selected Campus Ambassadors are
apprised about the issues ADR is working on
and their roles and responsibilities as ADR
campus representative.
• All the activities are approved, sponsored,
assisted & supervised by the ADR Team.

Achievements
• May 2002 and March 2003: ADR's petitions
resulted in a landmark judgment by the
Supreme Court of India by making it
mandatory for the candidates contesting
elections to Parliament and State
Assemblies to file self sworn affidavits
(Form 26) declaring full information
regarding their criminal, financial and
educational background.

ADR's petitions resulted in a landmark
judgment by the Supreme Court of India

Achievements
• April 2008: ADR obtained a landmark
ruling from the Central Information
Commission (CIC) stating that Income Tax
Returns of Political Parties would now be
available in the public domain along with the
assessment orders.

Achievements
• June 2011: After a two year long RTI battle,
crucial information on the 'Registers of
Members' Interest' was finally mandated by
CIC to be available in the public domain in
June 2011.

Achievements
• June 2013: The Central Information
Commission (CIC) in an effort towards making
political parties transparent as well as
accountable in their functioning, declared the
six national parties BJP, INC, BSP, CPI,
CPI(M) and NCP as public authorities .
• All the six parties refused to comply with CIC's
order. In 2015, a petition was filed by ADR in the
Supreme Court to implement CIC's order by
bringing them under the preview of Right to
Information Act, 2005.

In 2015, a petition was filed by ADR in the Supreme Court to
implement CIC's order by bringing them under the preview
of Right to Information Act, 2005

Achievements
• July 2013: Supreme Court delivered a
Judgment on a petition filed by Lily Thomas
and Lok Prahari NGO, (ADR Intervened)
setting aside clause 8(4) of the Representation
of the People Act.
• As a result of which sitting MPs and MLAs
were barred from holding office on being
Convicted in a Court of Law.

Sitting MPs And MLAs Were Barred From Holding
Office On Being Convicted In A Court Of Law

Achievements
• September 2013: ADR had also intervened in
the petition filed by Common Cause for having
a separate button on the Electronic Voting
Machine (EVM) with the option of ‘None of
the Above (NOTA).’ The Supreme Court
gave a favourable ruling on 27 September
2013 and the NOTA button was inserted in
the EVM machines for the Lok Sabha
elections in 2014.

NOTA button was inserted in the EVM
machines for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014

Achievements
• May 2014: The Delhi High Court issued
notices to the Government of India and the
Election Commission on a petition filed by
ADR to monitor election expenditure of
political parties.

Achievements
• August 2016: Prof. Trilochan Sastry, Chairman
ADR, represented ADR at the 3rd Asian
Electoral Stakeholder Forum (AESF III)
conference in Bali, Indonesia.
• February 2018: On a petition of Lok Prahari
regarding disproportionate asset increase of the
MPs & MLAs, Supreme Court made it
mandatory for candidates to declare sources of
income of spouse & dependents in Form 26 of
affidavits. ADR had intervened in the matter &
also provided all the necessary data.

Supreme Court made it mandatory for candidates to declare
sources of income of spouse & dependents in Form 26 of
affidavits

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
• ADR has become the single data point for
information/analysis of background details
(criminal, financial and others) of politicians
and of financial information of political
parties.
• In the last few years, based on ADR’s report
and data, a huge number of coverage was
received in print and online media

Terminology
• Civil Society
• Civil society refers to the space for collective
action around shared interests, purposes and
values, generally distinct from government and
commercial for-profit actors.
• Civil society includes charities, development
NGOs, community groups, women's
organizations, faith-based organizations,
professional associations, trade unions, social
movements, coalitions and advocacy groups.

Vote Smart
• Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a
non-profit, non-partisan research organization that
collects and distributes information on candidates for
public office in the United States.
• It covers candidates and elected officials in six basic
areas: background information, issue positions
(Political Courage Test), voting records, campaign
finances, interest group ratings, and speeches and
public statements.
• This information is distributed via their web site, a
toll-free phone number, and print publications.

Democracy
• A system of government by the whole
population or all the eligible members of a
state, typically through elected representatives.
• Democracy is a system of government where
most or all people have rights to equal legislative
participation.
• In a direct democracy, the citizens as a whole
form a governing body and deliberate and vote
directly on each issue.
• In a representative democracy the citizens elect
representatives from among themselves.

Republic
• A republic is a form of government in which the
country is considered a "public matter", not the
private concern or property of the rulers. The primary
positions of power within a republic are attained
through democracy.
• A state in which supreme power is held by the
people and their elected representatives, and
which has an elected or nominated president
rather than a monarch.

Four Pillars of Democracy
• Democracy involves people participation and
for that, we have four pillars of democracy
• Legislative
• Legislative pillar basically is responsible for
making laws that will govern a state . These
laws are either formed directly by people
(Direct democracy) or through representatives
elected by people(Indirect democracy).

• Executive
• This pillar of democracy is responsible for
implementing the laws formed by
Legislative section, and issue orders for their
proper implementation. Executive section is
selected on the basis of election system, spoil
system or merit system or a mixture of above.

• Judiciary
• It is again very important pillar of
democracy and it keeps a check on laws
(given by legislative) and orders (issued by
executive) and ensures that these laws and
orders do not curtail the fundamental rights of
citizens of a country.

• Press/Newspaper
• This pillar of democracy ensures tut all
people living in far off areas of country are
aware of what's happening in rest part of it.
It ensures the transparency in the working of
all the above three systems.

My Neta
• My Neta
• http://www.myneta.info/
• Toll Free Helpline
• Toll-free No.: 1-800-110-440
• Missed Call No. : 08010445555
• Day/Hours of operation: Mon-Fri (10am – 6pm)
• Information given: Criminal records, Assets, Liabilities
and Education Qualifications.
• Source of Information: Candidate information given in
affidavits.
• Initially the information based on earlier affidavits only will
be provided. New information based on current affidavits
will also be provided as and when it becomes available

• Association for Democratic Reforms
• https://adrindia.org/

Links to Candidate Affidavits –
Election Commission of India
• https://eci.gov.in/candidate-political-
parties/link-to-candidate-affidavits/

Vote Smart
• Project Vote Smart
• https://votesmart.org/
• Project Vote Smart
• https://youtu.be/XkIxnsvSVOo

Criminalization of Politics
- satyamevjayate.in
Episode 05 : Criminalization Of Politics
• https://youtu.be/WUNTc8uedNU

Civic Anti-corruption Organisations
• A variety of organisations have been created in India to
actively fight against corrupt government and business
practices.

Bharat Swabhiman Trust
• Bharat Swabhiman Trust was founded by yoga
guru Baba Ramdev.
• The stated aims of this trust are to make India
corruption-free, to promote indigenous industry, and
to make India yoga oriented
• http://bharatswabhimantrust.org/

5th Pillar
• 5th Pillar – Empowering Citizens to Tackle
Corruption
• 5th Pillar is a non-profit citizens’ coalition
formed with the mission to Encourage, Enable
and Empower Every Citizen of India to
Eliminate Corruption at All Levels of Society.
• 5th Pillar released and distributed in large
numbers the Zero Rupee Note(ZRN), a awareness
tool that resembles a fifty rupee currency, with the
number and words ZERO RUPEES on it, and the
pledge “I will neither accept nor give bribe”.

Zero Rupee Notes by 5th Pillar Help Fight
Corruption

Transparency International India (TII)
http://transparencyindia.org
• Transparency International India (TII) is a
leading non political, independent, non-
governmental anti-corruption organization of
India. TII has extensive expertise and
understanding of issues of corruption in India.
• From villages in rural India to the corridors
of power in National Capital, TII gives voice
to the victims and witnesses of corruption.

Transparency International India (TII)

Vote for Policies
• Vote for Policies is a not-for-profit organisation
run by volunteers in UK,
• Vote for Policies has been used 2 million times giving
people more confidence to vote by knowing what
they are voting for
• https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/

Swachh Neta
• ‘Swachh Neta’ campaign which aims to put
the candidates through the ‘swachhta’ test to
ensure that Indian voters get honest politicians
• https://www.swachhneta.com/

NOTA
• NOTA means "None of the Above" option which
enables the voter to officially register a vote of
rejection for all candidates who are contesting.
• If a voter chooses to press NOTA it indicates that the
voter has not chosen to vote for any of the party.

Central Information Commission
• The Central Information Commission has been
constituted with effect from 12-10-2005 under the
Right to Information Act, 2005.
• The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over
all Central Public Authorities
• https://cic.gov.in/

DemocracyOS - Change the Tool
• DemocracyOS is an online space for
deliberation and voting on political
proposals. It is a platform for a more open and
participatory government

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

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