According to a report in The Hindu, the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has said that the Election Commission of India (ECI), though a quasi-judicial body, is not behaving independently.

The provocation was the amendment of Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 by the Union Law Ministry. This amendment has restricted the type of “papers” or documents that were earlier open to public inspection.

This, according to Kharge, is Modi Government’s “systematic conspiracy” to destroy the integrity of the institution, the Election Commission. And, therefore, Kharge says that it is a frontal attack on the Constitution and Democracy.

Like the British King Henry VIII, who was granted the title ‘Defender of Faith’ by Pope Leo X (1521) for his defence of the Catholic Church against the threat of protestants, Kharge seems to have become the ‘Defender of Constitution’ against the alleged threat to Constitution by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, when the Papacy refused to oblige Henry VIII to divorce his first wife and remarry, he turned against the Catholic Church and created the Church of England independent of the Papacy. Can we see a similar drama being played out in the Congress party now held captive by the dynasty? Time will tell, but we see the straws in the wind of such possibility. Already the I.N.D.I.A Block, led by Congress with Rahul Gandhi as Leader of the Opposition (LoP), has shown its disenchantment with the LoP. They have keenly observed his poor and childish performance in the Parliament and outside.

As the de jure Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge (people know who the de facto Congress President is) has a responsibility to attack Modi and all that NDA does. But sadly, there is no rationale behind such attacks, like in the case of ECI. So, after the Home Minister Amit Shah episode and the bloody incident at the entrance to the Parliament House during the Congress protest that went awry, Kharge seems to have   targeted the ECI.

It is difficult to divine the apprehension of the Congress President that the amendment of the Rule (not the Statute) would cause the destruction of the institutional integrity of the ECI.

When the President of the Congress becomes a doubting Thomas and wants a public inspection of certain electronic documents related to the electoral candidates, it is going to be a huge, complex exercise for the ECI. Yes, when individuals go to Court or appeal to ECI for clarity, such individuals could be allowed inspection. No wonder, the Rule was amended only to restrict the type of “papers” and documents being demanded for public inspection, which if not amended will open a floodgate of demands in the present vindictive political ecology.

The ECI is one of the corner stones of Indian Parliamentary Democracy. No one should destabilise it for political advantage like the Congress does with the EVMs. When Congress wins, EVMs are good and when it loses, EVMs are suspect and are hacked.

To counter Kharge’s fears, it could be said that if ECI is attacked or suspected of its impartiality each time the Congress loses, it may endanger the Constitution and as a natural corollary the Democracy.

After all, we have had a most commendable performance from this institution ever since the first general election was held in 1951-52 with Sukumar Sen, an ICS Officer, as the Chief Election Commissioner of India. He was even honoured with a Padma Bhushan.

The second Chief Election Commissioner was K.V.K. Sundaram, also an ICS, who wrote many books on matters of State, guided the formation of linguistic States and was honoured with a Padma Vibhushan.

We have had so far 25 Election Commissioners, including the incumbent one Rajiv Kumar. Some of them were ‘His Master’s Voice’, some easily compromised to the powers that be and even entered the government. But, there were some who enhanced the esteem and credibility of the Election Commission like the legendary T.N. Seshan (1990-96). He even gained an epithet as Alsatian, an alliteration on his name, but referring to Alsatian dog, because of the dog’s special qualities — intelligent, loyal, confident and courageous. T.N. Seshan had all these qualities. He redefined the visibility, transparency and the power of ECI, probably for the first time in its history.

Seshan became known for his electoral reforms. He identified more than 100 electoral malpractices, fixed them despite protests and reformed the election process itself, ending the evil of rigging, booth capturing and bribing voters. The later evil only to some extent. He strictly enforced the Election Code of Conduct, Voter ID and limit on election candidate’s poll expenses. Yes, may be he was not wholly successful nor his successors, but the steps he took had its impact on the conduct of the candidates.

Unfortunately, the successors in office after T.N. Seshan were more of the crony types not inclined to implementing Seshan’s reforms. It started with M.S. Gill (1996-2001) when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister!

However, he was credited with introducing the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). Upon his retirement he joined Congress party and never looked back — became Rajya Sabha member and a Minister. He was the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports and he was the boss when India hosted 2010 Commonwealth Games that saw several cases of corruption and mismanagement.

Considering the way the ECI was functioning, despite political interference and individual Election Commissioner’s career and political ambitions, the institution has stood the test of time. However, to protect the ECI from subversion by the Machiavellian politicians and some of its ambitious Commissioners, per force, amendments to Rules mentioned above are necessary. Let politicians of all parties ensure the impartiality and effective functioning of ECI which alone enables our Constitution to survive and Democracy to function.

Mallikarjun Kharge may find some other issues to attack BJP and Modi. Not the ECI.

Jai Hind

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