INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES

About:

• Meaning: An independent candidate is one who contests polls without being affiliated to any political party. Independents often support policies that are different from major political parties.
  
  
• View of the Law Commission of India (in its 255th report):
  • Independent candidates should be barred from contesting elections.
    
    
  • A proviso should be added after subclause (d) of section 4 of the RPA stating: “Only the political parties registered with the Election Commission under sub-section (7) of section 29A shall be entitled to put forward candidates to fill a seat in the House of the People.”
    
    
  
  
  
• Reasons sighted by Law Commission:
  • They are either not serious or contest elections just to confuse the voters.
    
    
  • The number of independents winners has been decreasing. In 2014, 3,182 independent candidates contested the Lok Sabha elections and only 3 won seats
    
    
  • It is difficult for independent candidates to campaign and influence large numbers of voters in India with little money and influence.
    
    
  • Supreme Court, in Dhartipakar Madan Lal Agarwal v. Rajiv Gandhi, recommended that Parliament devise ways “to meet the onslaught” of such non-serious independent candidates.
    
    
  • Proliferation of candidates puts “unnecessary and avoidable stress” in election management and increases security and election administration expenditure.