He acknowledged that it was in the absence of ``a more effective law'' -- the EC measures notwithstanding -- that ``a total of 15 candidates with criminal antecedents could enter Parliament in this year's elections.''

Though measures initiated by the EC have succeeded to an extent, they could not bring about ``a total ban'' on entry of criminals, he admitted.

``As compared to the 1996 general elections when about 1,500 candidates with criminal records contested the polls, this year their number fell to 150 and only 15 could win the elections,'' the Election Commissioner pointed out.

He said besides the measures, the EC's campaign to mobilise public opinion against the political convention of givingparty tickets to the criminals, had played a major role in denying criminals seats in the House.

Krishnamurthy praised state election officials for conducting a ``comparatively peaceful poll'' during the Parliamentary elections to 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

He felt that steps taken by the state election machinery had brought down the number of poll-related killings in West Bengal in the 1998 general elections. ``In the 1996 general elections there were about 365 cases of violence and 21 poll-related killings, but in 1998 the cases of violence came down to 64 and there were only five poll-related killings,'' the Election Commissioner added.

He however declined to comment when asked about the EC's reaction to the Opposition's allegations of increased cases of violence in West Bengal, saying the EC ``had received less number of complains during the 1998 general elections.'' On West Bengal's rank among states with records of poll violence, Krishnamurthy said: ``We haven't prepared ranks of the statesin the violence profile.''

The list of states having a record of violence during elections includes Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Surprisingly, this time, Punjab placed among the violence-free states during the general elections, Krishnamurthy said.

On the Centre's proposal to introduce multipurpose citizenship cards, Krishnamurthy said ``the Commission didn't have the proposal with it as yet.'' The election panel would ``only respond to the Government proposal as and when it is sent to the EC,'' he added.

On whether the Voter Identity Card would then be relevant any more, the Election Commissioner said, ``When the proposal is placed before us, the EC will try to avoid duplication of the job.''