Neelam Verma's commentary on the Supreme Court ruling that made it mandatory for election candidates to declare assets and criminal antecedents.

For years now, the Election Commission has been making efforts to set things right and warning political parties not to give tickets to candidates with criminal background, all in vain. It is unfortunate that though, India has been a democracy for more than fifty years now, yet its people do not have a right to choose their own people literally. As long as the people have no say in the selection of candidates for election, they do not have the right to elect and be elected. The voters today have to choose from the candidates put up by political parties and do not have any right to put up their own candidates- as not many candidates have the money power to stand as independent candidates.