Executive Summary

The report summarizes the key findings of the focus group discussion conducted with 2 panel
groups of 5 people each. The discussion was held on their views over existence of religion in
the world. They were asked to give their meaningful ideas on “Do the world need religion?”
The discussion revealed the mutual agreement of the members over the idea having the pros as
well as the cons. As a by product, the consultations gave valuable insights to the underlying
views and thought process of different minded people with regard to such a prevalent topic.

Introduction
A focus group discussion usually involves a gathering of people from similar backgrounds or
experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest. It is a form of qualitative research where in
the questions are asked about the people’s perceptions attitudes, beliefs, opinion or ideas
which are further used to gather feedback and opinions from customers. It involves
interviewing a small group of usually 8 to 12 people, led by a moderator (interviewer) and
pre planned by a researcher in a loosely structured discussion of various topics of interest.

Focus groups are very widespread and appear to be an accepted form of research for a lot of
organizations. They are used either in the early stages of the product lifecycle to explore
options and formulate new ideas, or in later stages of the process to validate concepts and even
choose between different prototypes and designs before launch.

Focus groups have a distinct advantage over some other types of market research in the sense
that: they are more structured and direct , but also expressive and are very flexible by design.
They actually capitalize on the ability of decision-makers to talk to their customers and their
knowledge of their brands, products, or services which makes them a good alternative to gather
in depth information about people’s thoughts opinions. A well prepared moderator acts as a
proxy for the decision makers. The also serve as an alternative way of obtaining information
from the consumers without using a survey.

The purpose of a focus group discussion is not to arrive at a consensus or some level of
agreement, or to decide what is to be done about something but to identify the
feelings, perceptions and thoughts/opinions of consumers about a particular product, service,
or solution. Thus the participants are able to interact, influence, and be influenced just as in the
dynamics of real life.

Topic
India holds the distinction of being the largest democracy of the world. Elections are
undoubtedly the most important and integral part of politics in a democratic system of
governance. Politics is understood as the art and practice of dealing with political power, while
election on the other hand is a process of legitimization of such power. Democracy are meant
to function only upon this faith that elections are free and fair and not rigged and manipulated,
but are effective instruments of ascertaining popular will both in reality and in form and are
not just mere rituals calculated to generate illusion of difference to mass opinion, it cannot
survive without free and fair elections.

Free and Fair elections to choose political representatives lay the foundation cornerstone of a
democracy and are a fundamental human right of the people. Voting procedures play an
important role in the conduct of free and fair elections in a democracy. They convert voters’ s
preferences into a political mandate which further forms the basis for policymaking.
Elections , at least in theory ought to go a long way towards making democracy ‘work’, but in
many contexts, they fail to embody democratic ideals because they are affected by electoral
manipulation and misconduct. Electoral fraud is infact considered one of the leading causes
of concern for the democracy as a whole.

This topic undertakes an analytic and explanatory investigation of electoral malpractice, which
is understood as taking examples of various major defects: money power, muscle power,
criminalisation of politics, poll violence, booth capturing, communalism, , non-serious and
independent candidates etc.

Money Power: Money power plays a destructive role in our electoral system as it seriously
affects the working of periodic elections. It leads to an all round corruption and contributes to
the generation of black money economy which a matter of fact is ruling our country at present.
A prospective candidate spends millions of money towards transport, publicity and other
essential items of election campaign. The election expenses have increased beyond any limits
more so in the recent years due to the desire on the part of every political party to spend more
than their rivals in the fray which further leads to of an overflow of black money into the
corridors of political parties despite the liberalized economy induced to the political system of
country.Nowadays the scenario is such that only those people can participate in elections who
have a lot of money, because today vote is not a mean of public opinion. It is being purchased

Muscle Power: Pre & Post-election intimidation, Victimisation, Violence including booth
capturing or most of the riggings of any type are mainly the products of muscle power. These
are prevalent in many parts of the country specially in Bihar, Western Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra etc and this cancerous disease is slowly spreading to south like in Andhra Pradesh.
Criminalisation of politics and Politicalisation of criminals are like two sides of the same coin
and are the main factors which are responsible for the manifestation of muscle power at
elections. The criminals achieve success at elections for their benefactors through the
excessive usage of muscle power.

Misuse of Government Machinery: It is generally complained that the government in power

at the time of election misuses official machinery to increase the winning prospects of its party
candidates. The misuse often takes different forms including issuing advertisements at the cost
of government and public exchequer highlighting their achievements, disbursements out of the
discretionary funds provided by the ministers, use of government vehicles for canvassing etc.
This further gives an unfair advantage to the ruling party at the time of elections and thus leads
to misuse of public funds for increasing the prospects of candidates of a particular party.

Criminalisation of Politics: Most Political parties in the country tap criminals for fund and
in return provide them with political patronage and protection. It has been estimated that
roughly 20 per cent of candidates in any state election are drawn from criminal backgrounds:
There have been several instances when Mafia dons and other powerful gangsters have
converted their muscle power into votes at gun point. Voters are often forced to vote for the
local strongest man in terms of muscle power . Infact it is very common for candidates with
criminal records to get tickets from the national party These instances time and again show
that democracy in India has largely failed to be what it is meant to do actually mostly because
the electoral system has been perverted. Criminalisation of politics has become an all-pervasive
phenomenon. There was a time when politicians hired criminals to help them win elections by
booth capturing. Today those very same criminals have begun entering the parliament and the
state legislatures without any fear.

Non-Serious Candidates in Political Parties: In recent years there has been a steady increase
in the number of candidates in elections, mainly due to the participation of Independents. The
Independents contest elections light heartedly and lose their deposits. These Non-serious
candidates are floated in the market mainly by serious candidates who either want to cut
sizeable portion of votes of rival candidates or split the votes on caste basis or to have an
additional physical force at polling station and counting centers so as to control the general
public in their favour. This further causes inconvenience to election authorities in the
management of elections which allows for rigged practices to be conducted as thee voters
become handicapped in identifying the candidates of their own choice. This in turn affects the
sanctity of elections.

The Electoral fraud not only undermines public trust in democratic institutions by electing
political leaders that have the greatest capacity to organize electoral fraud but it also adversely
affects the provision of public goods. There is an absence of any checks and balances on the
political leaders to stop them from spending disproportionately on private goods, at the expense
of public goods, to buy the loyalty of a small fraction of people with whose support they
commit the fraud. In a rigged electoral system, politicians fail to provide security to common
people because they depend on criminal elements in the electoral process. Politicians,
therefore, end up supporting and protecting criminals instead of being able to prevent them.

Patterns observed:

 The current election system is rigged and manipulated. The selected representatives
make fake promises to the citizens during the election so as to gain their goodwill and
trust. However they always fails to deliver them.
 The group believes that the representatives are never seen after the elections are over
but only before and during the elections , just when they need the support and
assurance that people are going to vote in their favour.
 The group focuses on the need for exercising the power of choice and the right to vote
freely without getting influenced by any external biases
 And also who seriously care about bringing a change in the real world and earn their
respect through their service for others rather than buying them for money.
 The group focuses on the need for the common masses to become responsible for
their own actions by not taking any bribes in the name of poverty.
 The group focuses on the need for electing educated politicians as it is believed that
they can bring about a change in the current political scenario by bringing in fresh
ideas.

Suggestions
The masses should exercise their vote carefully and powerfully.
They should not promote the corrupts by voting in favour of them, no matter what
It’s the Public which needs to stay more cautious and not accept the unjust and partial
behaviour of the politicians.
They should not promote the corrupt ppl by electing them.