The Erode East bypoll has turned out to be a win-win-win for all principal stakeholders — the DMK, AIADMK and the people of the Kongu town. The DMK believes the victory of the Congress, its ally in the polls, is a foregone conclusion.

The AIADMK’s Edappadi K Palaniswami is buoyed that he managed to get the two leaves symbol. And the voters of Erode are merry because they hit the jackpot with a seemingly never-ending array of gifts from every party in the race. The only casualty in the bypoll appears to be democratic principles.

So brazen were the violations that political observers are aghast at the extent of electoral corruption in the runup to the bypoll. If the 2009 ‘Thirumangalam formula’ (when the DMK was accused of deploying a large number of its senior leaders in the bypoll and bribing voters) became the infamous benchmark for voter bribing in Tamil Nadu, the token system to bribe voters adopted by T T V Dhinakaran in RK Nagar in 2017 took electoral corruption to a new level.

In Erode East, the parties appear to have outdone themselves with their ingenious electoral corruption. Cash for attending campaign meetings is the unwritten norm during election campaigns. But in Erode, voters were paid for not attending campaign meetings of the rival party.

Biryani packets, dhoties, saris, anklets, thamboolam plates, cellphones, pressure cookers, smart watches — the list of goodies given to voters was endless. All this in addition to a final payment of `3,000 or `2,000 per person to vote in favour of a particular candidate. Cash distribution is not new to TN.

In the past, it was done discreetly, late at night or in the wee hours. In Erode though, motorcycle-riding cadres knocked on the doors of houses in broad daylight and went about distributing wads of notes. All that the election authorities could do was book a few cases against unnamed people for distributing pressure cookers.

Former chief election commissioner T S Krishnamurthy says the system of political parties and candidates spending money during the polls should be done away with. “I have been suggesting that a national election fund be created. Industrialists and other individuals should be allowed to contribute to the fund and get 100% tax exemption.

That money should be spent by ECI in consultation with political parties,’’ he says. “Candidates should not be allowed to spend money during elections. If found spending, they should be prosecuted.’’ This needs an amendment to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, he adds.

“Wisdom will dawn on political parties that for their own good and for the nation’s interest they should bring the amendment.’’ State coordinator of Association for Democratic Reforms Joseph Victor Raj says the EC must get more stringent. Though election authorities book cases on those who are caught bribing voters or seize gifts meant for voters, no follow up action is taken.

“Candidates found to bribe voters should be disqualified and debarred from contesting elections. But all that the EC has done whenever large-scale bribing was found was only postpone the polls as in the case of Thanjavur and Aravakurichi,’’ he says. Activists say though there are electoral malpractices reported in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal, cash distribution has been higher in TN and has been increasing with every election.

One solace was that electoral violence was less in TN compared to these states, they say. Former TN chief electoral officer Naresh Gupta says curbing electoral malpractice has become difficult in byelections compared to general elections. “When it comes to general elections, there is no fullfledged government.

During a bypoll, you have a ruling party with the entire state machinery at its disposal, determined to win the election. Hence there was a suggestion to do away with bypolls,” he says.

“The party that has won the constituency in the general elections can nominate its representative as the MLA for the remaining term.’’ This again can be done only through an amendment to the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Arrapor Iyakkam, which petitioned the ECI to rescind the Erode East bypoll due to voter bribing, has been demanding electoral reforms to curb poll violations for a long time.

“If elections are rescinded, it affects all candidates including those who are not corrupt. Instead, candidates found to violate rules should be punished,” says Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam, which has been suggesting an investigation and prosecution wing of ECI with full-time staff to follow up on election-related offences.

Former chief election commissioner V Gopalswami says ECI cannot be blamed for electoral malpractice. “The EC does not have arms and legs on its own – it has to depend on government machinery.’’ He believes it is time to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1951 in Parliament to give the commission more powers. “But will political parties agree to that?’’ he says.