Political Diary
New
Delhi, 17 October 2017
Election Omission
DELAY OPENS GOVT
LARGESSE
By Poonam I Kaushish
Rajnetik virodhi ya
jaani dushman?
Tragically, the lines between a political opponent and a sworn enemy have got
blurred. Nothing epitomizes this better than the ongoing tu-tu-mein-mein slugfest between the BJP and Congress over vikas
in
the hope this would bring them political tripti!
Inadvertently,
the Election Commission (EC) has got sucked in to its vortex complicating
matters. In a controversial decision, the Commission broke from convention
Thursday last by not simultaneously announcing polls in Gujarat and Himachal
Pradesh, even though the terms of the two state Assemblies expire within two
weeks of each other.
While
the Gujarat Assembly’s term ends on 22 January next, Himachal finishes on 7
January and will vote on 9 November and election results declared 40 days later
on 18 December, yet for reasons best known to the EC it has differed the
announcement of the Gujarat polls, notwithstanding voting will wind up before
the Himachal results are declared so that they do not affect voters in Gujarat.
Raising a moot point:
Is the Congress justified in surmising that the EC per se was prejudiced against it vis-à-vis Gujarat and favouring the Saffron Sangh? As the terms of
the two Assemblies are almost coinciding why should the Commission wait to
announce dates for Gujarat?
And if Gujarat votes will be counted within a week
of Himachal, why has it been spared the imposition of the moral code of conduct
from now? What does that really achieve? Why is there a gap of 39 days between
the voting and counting in Himachal? Did the EC compromise its impartiality and
independence? Can the Commission be a law unto itself?
Undeniably,
this has sent a wrong message and set a bad precedent as normally the
Commission holds elections together in States where the incumbent Governments
are completing their five-year term within six months. The poll dates for these
States are announced simultaneously.
For
instance, earlier this year, UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand went to
polls together. Their poll schedule, spread over a month from4 February to 8
March were all announced on 4 January. Also, with the exception of 2002-03 —
soon after the Godhra riots — when the Gujarat Assembly was dissolved
prematurely with elections being announced on 28 October 2002 and in Himachal
on 11January 2003, the Commission has been announcing polls simultaneously in
Gujarat and Himachal since 1998.
Certainly,
with the model code now in force in Congress-ruled Himachal and not in BJP run
Gujarat the Party has the benefit on not only knowing broadly when elections
will happen, before 18 December but can go to town by announcing various
populist sops and schemes to woo voters without having the restrictions of the
model code. Already, Chief Minister Rupani has announced setting up 16 new
industrial estates with the aim of creating one lakh new jobs and inaugurated
Rs 780 crores development works in Vadodara.
Predictably, the Congress came down with a
ton of bricks accusing the EC of succumbing to Saffron pressure to give Prime
Minister Modi a free hand in announcing Government largesse for Gujarat at his
many rallies. The CEC Joti’s defence that the decision to defer Gujarat’s
announcement was done to avoid an unreasonably long imposition of the Model
Code of Conduct which should ideally not exceed 46 days does not cut ice.
Remember,
the MCC was in force for 83 days during the Gujarat and Himachal polls in 2007
and 2012. And, in Punjab and Goa for as many as 64 days earlier this year even
though they were the first States to wrap up voting on 4 February.
Besides,
the Commission’s averment that the delay was due to the Gujarat Chief
Secretary’s plea seeking more time before election announcement as the Code
would disrupt flood relief in the state does not hold as reprieve and
rehabilitation are routine measures undertaken at time of strife.
Paradoxically,
the truth is that even as Parties evoke the Code, it is only a voluntary
compact arrived between the EC and the Parties and has no statutory binding.
With all wantonly violating it, the Commission is powerless.
Asserted
a senior official, “the Code lacks legal sanction and is intended to work as a
moral policeman to ensure free and fair elections. We can only freeze a Party’s
election symbol or derecognize it as a national Party. Nothing more, nothing
less.” In other words one can merrily violate the Code wantonly and yet get
elected to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.
There
is no gainsaying a long and hard battle lies ahead for bringing a change in the
political system and the present political ethos. True, the BJP and NaMo’s
prestige is at stake in Gujarat. The issue is not whether the Congress is able
to beat the BJP at the numbers game or vice versa.
But
as former Chief Election Commissioner Quraishi avers, “The poll deferment raises
serious questions. If the Government does announce new popular schemes and
freebies, it would cause the Commission huge embarrassment. It would be accused
of giving the Gujarat Government the few extra days before invoking the moral
code.
“It’s
hard earned reputation of ferocious independence could be in tatters which
would be disastrous for our democracy. Politicians must remember that their
legitimacy comes from free and fair elections conducted by a Constitutional
body whose legitimacy is the ultimate guarantor of the credibility of
elections.”
In sum, the right to
hold free and fair elections is fundamental to democracy with the Constitution
empowering the EC with absolute powers under Article 324. Which states: “The
superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral
rolls for, and the conduct of all elections to Parliament and to the Legislatures
of every State …. Shall be vested in the Election Commission”
Undoubtedly, Chief
Election Commissioners such as T N Seshan, N Gopalaswamy and James Lyngdoh, MS
Gill pushed forward the frontiers of what the Election Commission can do. Rigid
enforcement of the model code of conduct by ‘Bulldog’ T N Seshan made
Governments and netas afraid of the Commission. This helped in ensuring fair
elections. Gopalaswamy streamlined the system and Lyngdoh ensured that even in
Jammu & Kashmir elections were honestly held after a long history of
rigging.
All have steadily,
without fuss taken steps to deepen democracy. But at the same time for future
polls, the Election Commission should be more alert, ensure that it doesn’t
give any Party or candidate to accuse it of playing favourites given that it
has been lauded for the remarkable way it has conducted polls, that too without
many complaints of rigging or other poll irregularities barring violations of
the moral conduct which are rising election after election. Kudos to it for its
catchy advertisements resulting in increased voter turn-out.
Clearly, even as all
eyes and action shifts to who wins NaMo’s home State Gujarat, our Parties need
to realize that were it not for our Constitutional institutions holding
steadfast the country could descent into mayhem and anarchy.
At the end of the
day, it matters little who wins the elections as we the people are the ultimate
losers. As the system, Government, politicians and politics, everything is
gamed to deprive the aam janata of a
better life. India’s voters must not
allow themselves to be taken for granted any more. Time we made our democracy
truly representative. What gives? ----- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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