IN the historical records of Indian elections, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) will have a special place. No single voluntary organization has perhaps done more to clean up politics and empower voters. Efforts by ADR have led to criminal records, educational qualifications and financial assets of candidates being put up for scrutiny. The opaque electoral bond scheme by which companies could anonymously fund parties for elections has also been cracked open, allowing its camouflaged transactions to be in full view. And, most recently, the Election Commission’s intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar was subject to close questioning and scrutiny.
These battles have been doughtily fought in the courts over the years with a thoroughness and persistence that has been difficult to dismiss. As happens in court, outcomes have taken time to arrive. But ADR’s hallmark has been to be meticulous and do the distance. It has steered clear of slogans on the streets.