'Piecemeal' reforms will serve no purpose: Former CEC

Visakhapatnam, Nov 16 (UNI) Former Chief Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurthy today observed that the electoral reforms conceived so far were 'piecemeal' in their approach.

Speaking at a Meet-the-Press programme, conducted on the occasion of the National Press Day here, he said it was the mandate of the Parliament to bring in amendments and reforms to the existing laws and Acts for better functioning of the democracy in the country.

Mr Krishnamurthy, who began his career as a journalist in the 1950s, was all praise for his predecessor Mr T N Seshan for bringing an identity to the constitutional body in the country, for the first time.

He asked how one could expect better reforms in every sphere of public life, when most of the law-makers, at some point in their career, had been noted 'law-breakers'.

Mr Krishnamurthy criticised the corrupt, caste-based and communal politics prevailing in the country, alleging that the partisan projections by political parties in the secular, socialist and democratic society for achieving political mileage and wooing vote banks had worsened the situation.

However, the Election Commission remained the custodian of democracy. ''The media's role is to bring forth such lacunae to make democracy deliver its best to the people,'' he observed.

UNI