Anirban Choudhury
(eternalflamenew@gmail.com)
An unusual spectacle of a pot calling the kettle black is currently being witnessed in the country’s political landscape. What began with a press conference, followed by dharnas in front of the Parliament in New Delhi, has since metamorphosed into a political movement of sorts, with leader of the opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the helm and the opposition parties as cheerleaders. The reference here is to the vote chori (theft) campaign launched against the Election Commission of India (ECI) by the Congress and backed by the INDIA bloc.
To recall, Gandhi kicked up a political storm on August 7 when, during his press conference, he accused the ECI of “vote chori” in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency and produced what he described as an “atom bomb” of evidence. Days later, he described the poll body’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar as a “conspiracy to steal” votes in the upcoming Assembly elections there. This forced Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to hold a presser in which he challenged the leader of the opposition to file a declaration under oath within seven days to substantiate his allegations or issue an apology. Kumar maintained that Gandhi had manipulated the ECI data to buttress his accusation, besides issuing a point-by-point rebuttal to all the allegations of “vote chori”.
However, instead of responding to the CEC, the Congress leader only doubled down on his allegations, accusing ECI of bias. Upping the ante further, Gandhi has since hit the road with his “Vote Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar and even issued a threat to impeach the incumbent CEC. The Congress party has even launched a dedicated web portal, votechori.in, and a call-in number, urging citizens to join the fight for “clean voter rolls” and fair elections. Now, this is something unprecedented in the country’s electoral history, where an entire opposition is accusing the ECI of manipulating votes in favour of the ruling party. And with neither side showing any sign of relenting from their respective stated positions, it seems both sides are now clearly headed for a major collision, which will unfortunately mark a new low in the country’s electoral history.
Actually, alleging electoral fraud, malpractice or misconduct by any political party is one thing, but accusing an entire institution entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the electoral process in a free and fair manner of manipulation is quite another. This has the potential to erode the faith of the public in the entire electoral process which, despite all the shortcomings, has so far been beyond any suspicion, unlike in many other countries, including some western democracies. It thus remains to be seen how the ECI responds to the charges made by the opposition, primarily the Congress, upon which hinges the future of Indian democracy.
Having said that, it would be only in the fitness of things to recall how the ECI had conducted itself in the past. To cite an instance, then CEC TN Seshan, a known loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, had wilfully postponed the 1991 Lok Sabha election by three weeks following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. He arbitrarily did this despite ECI rules clearly mandating countermanding election only of a particular constituency where a candidate dies during electioneering, and not the entire poll process. But Seshan, who was later rewarded with a Congress ticket and fielded against BJP heavyweight LK Advani, postponed the elections across the country to enable the party of his choice to seek sympathy votes. And, as they say, the rest is history — the Congress formed the next government, though still a minority. As many as seven chief ministers bitterly opposed the postponement of the elections, with many calling it the murder of democracy and the Constitution, but Seshan still had his way.
While the functioning of the ECI in the past left a lot to be desired, the Congress too would do well to remember how it had tried to influence the functioning of the commission to suit its ends. Post retirement, former CEC MS Gill was elected to the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket and even made a minister. Similarly, Navin Chawla, another known loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty who was associated with the emergency (as recorded in the Shah Commission report), was appointed as CEC in 2009. It is thus clear that the Congress had never allowed the ECI to function freely during its rule. And, now, to accuse the same institution, which has since undergone reforms and been able to redeem its image, of bias by the same party that once tried to manipulate it by apparently misrepresenting facts has naturally raised eyebrows in certain quarters. Some are even questioning the intent of the Congress behind locking horns with the ECI, with a few observers suggesting that, unable to convince the electorate and having lost elections after elections under Gandhi, the party is now trying to discredit the entire electoral process so that citizens lose faith in the system itself. With its campaign against the electronic voting machines (EVMs) over the past few years having cut no ice with the voters, some suggest that the party has now come up with such a devious plan, impervious to the effect this could have on the polity.
No wonder critics of the Congress ecosystem trying to create a narrative of a level playing field against the ECI counter that the party should first look into its own shady and despicable past before targeting the commission. They argue that the fairness and neutrality that the ECI is now displaying is stinging the Congress and its entire ecosystem, which is unable to digest the fact that it has been out of power in the Centre for the longest period of time. They maintain that those in the Congress ecosystem raising questions against the ECI today are actually bemoaning the loss of the days when they brazenly used institutions to rig outcomes in their favour and perpetuate their rule.