By R. Chandra Prakash

Title: Through The Broken Glass-An  Autobiography

Author: T.N.Seshan

Year:  2023

Pages: 350+

Price: Rs. 795

Publisher: Rupa Publications Pvt.  Ltd., New Delhi

T.N. Seshan was appointed as the tenth Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the year 1991. By 2023 the number of CECs has risen to 25! However, other than T.N. Seshan, today no other CEC’s name is in the public domain. Interestingly,  among nearly 42 years of illustrious bureaucratic career, it was T.N. Seshan’s last 6 years as CEC which shot him into public limelight.

T.N. Seshan was not only a stickler to rules and time schedules, but was also a staunch believer in destiny, astrology, religion and  rituals. He was a mixture of both brilliance and brashness. Obviously, T.N. Seshan and controversies were inseparables. If he was  conferred with the Magsaysay Award for his yeomen services as CEC,  he was also  recipient of choicest of epithets! He was called Hitler, Dictator, Megalomaniac, Maverick and even an Alsatian dog — that growled, barked and bit!! Such an extreme bandwidth of ‘personality’ certainly generates a high degree of interest in his autobiography.

A genius  with two birth dates

T.N. Seshan was born on 15th May 1933 as the sixth child, after an elder brother and four sisters, to Sithalakshmi and Thirunellai Samibhattar Narayana Iyer or T.S. Narayana Iyer. His birth place Palghat was already known for Musicians, Intellectuals, Astrologers, Black Magicians and, of course, the Palghat Brahmins! ‘Thalayalam’, a strange mix of Tamil and Malayalam was exclusive to Palghat Brahmins, who were therefore also called as ‘Thalayalis’.

T.N. Seshan was taken to Basel Evangelical School in Palghat, for admission to first standard. Seshan’s performance at the admission test was so brilliant that  headmaster Stephan decided to admit him directly to the third standard. Suddenly, Stephan realised that Seshan would complete his secondary school by 13th year of age, and consequently, later on he would  become ineligible for admission to the intermediate!  Because students had to be at least 13 years plus six months of age for being eligible to admission to intermediate course! To overcome this strange future obstacle, Stephan suggested that the date of birth of  T.N. Seshan be advanced!

Thus, T.N. Seshan got his second and  an ‘Official’ birth date — 15th December 1932, as against his ‘Real’ birth date — 15th May 1933

Not fit for the role!

 The  story of how a reluctant T.N. Seshan ultimately acce-pted to become the CEC is quite captivating. 

Seshan was due for his retirement by 31st December, 1990. In November 1990, Vinod Pande, the Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, offered T.N Seshan the post of Principal Secretary to Prime Minister. Explaining T.N. Seshan refused this offer.  He records, ‘I was not a good choice, that I was a very difficult person to work with, and that he would be better off finding somebody else.’

Around the same time, due to the untimely death of the then CEC, Peri Shastri,  Vinod Pande, came back with yet another offer to T.N. Seshan. This time that of CEC. Seshan’s  immediate reaction, once again was a firm ‘no’. He knew that despite a few involvements with the elections  quite early during his long career, he had served for 20 years or more only in the scientific departments. His honest assessment of himself was, “I knew nothing about elections. I, anyway, did not think very high of CEC’s post. I did not know much about it at that time. …And so, I said,  no, I do not want it. I am not fit for that role.”

Very shortly thereafter, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Minister, Commerce and Industry in the Chandra Shekhar government, T.N. Seshan’s friend (later turned foe), came  with  the offer of  same CEC post. These repeated offers made Seshan to contact at the middle of the night his old boss Rajiv Gandhi, whom he had closely served in different capacities, including PM’s security. He was seeking an appointment to discuss this matter. On Rajiv Gandhi’s suggestion, both met within 30 minutes of the call. 

Rajiv Gandhi’s response to this offer is quite interesting! To quote from the book,  “What? Is he going to give you the CEC’s post? He will repent later…This job is neither good for you, nor will appointing you as CEC be good for Chandra Shekhar. Take this job only if no other job is available.”

As T.N. Seshan only got more confused from this response, he later met the President, R. Venkataraman, whom he knew from his Tamil Nadu tenure.  Even this veteran leader was not in favour of T.N. Seshan accepting this job. To quote from the book, “The CEC’s job will not suit you. You can’t get any other job? If you have no alternative, take this job.” More confusion!

Next, T.N. Seshan consulted his elder brother in Chennai, who himself was a retired, distinguished IAS Officer. Brother’s reply, ‘You are going to be 58. Why do you wish to be stuck in Delhi? Come here. It would be supporting for me too.’ Having no clear direction from his brother as well, T.N. Seshan sought the advice of his father-in-law in Bangalore.

Astral influence

Having frankly expressed his total ignorance of these positions, his father-in-law preferred to consult astrologer Krishnamurthy Shastri of the Malleswaram Shiva Temple.

And Krishnamurthy Shastri predicted thus, “However much you may deny, you will take up this job. You will be in this job for six years. And for those six years, it will be like sitting on a bed of thorns. But nothing bad will happen.”

Such suggestions and opinion only further confused T.N. Seshan. A great believer in destiny and the religious ethos, T.N. Seshan finally thought of seeking the advice of Kanchi Seer at Kanchi Mutt.

For this he sought the intermediation of a friend in Kanchi Mutt. As if the Seer had some premonition of the purpose of his seeking this appointment, T.N. Seshan’s friend called back within 20 minutes of his call and said, “There was a great surprise. Before I could even ask the Seer, he himself said, ‘It is a respectable job, ask him to take it, and gave his approval’.”

T.N. Seshan having got these two positive responses from the Malleswaram Shiva Temple astrologer and the Kanchi Seer, immediately contacted Subramanian Swamy and confirmed his acceptance. Thus, a reluctant T.N. Seshan became the CEC,  indeed with some astral influence.

CEC- A task cut out

In the mid 1970s when Allahabad High Court judgement endangered her Prime Minister’s position, Indira Gandhi tried to overcome the impediments by the modifications in the relevant laws and even imposing the Emergency. And this exposed the Indian democracy to the power politics. For nearly five years the country saw total abuse of official power for  political and personal purposes.

Gandhian principles, which were the benchmark of freedom struggle, were replaced by tantalising slogans. The election became the sure path to power. Country saw squabbles for power-sharing and the  injection of caste  as a power into politics.

T.N. Seshan had a ‘task cut out’ for him when he accepted the position of CEC! How T.N. Seshan converted his reluctance in accepting the post of CEC into a resolve to clean up the election process is also a story of how India was saved from becoming a Banana Republic.

[Second and the final part soon]