There’s egg on the face of the Modi government for the way the Election Commission was left handicapped right at the moment it entered the last lap of holding elections to Parliament and some state assemblies. The circulation of names of two retired Civil Service officials on various unofficial platforms was hurriedly dismissed as ‘fake’ a day before the actual selections were done by a panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. This only added to the overall confusion that plagued the EC in this critical hour. The three-member panel was reduced to a solo show by the CEC after one retired and another tendered his resignation over as-yet-unexplained reasons. The government involved in the selection of new members should have been prepared for such eventualities at least in the case of a retirement, so that a replacement could have been effected without any loss of time. Clearly, the deficit in governance vis-à-vis the Modi dispensation is all too evident. This is inexcusable for the prime reason that the time for issue of notification for the 2024 general elections was already at hand. It was to be issued this week, but the nation is in waiting mode.
While the appointments were finally made on Thursday. new issues arose. As per a complaint from the opposition representative Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the government furnished him with a list of over 200 persons last night, from which a consensus was proposed for filling the two posts; and “six names were brought before the selection committee 10 minutes before the meet.” As Chowdhury noted, it was impossible for a selection committee member to pick the right names in a matter of a few hours. Worse, the three-member selection panel was overloaded in favour of the government — with the PM and home minister sitting on it alongside the opposition leader. Had the Chief Justice of India too been there, a more balanced decision about each selection could have emerged. But the government averted that scenario by recently excluding him from the selection panel.
It is important that the people do not lose faith in the well-established systems. The EC as an independent Constitutional authority should be able to function in a fair manner, as had been the case when those like TN Seshan headed it. Now, the other extreme can be to appoint ‘yes’ men or puppets and manipulate the system. The fairness of the election process is a matter of top priority for a democracy to thrive in a dignified form. India enjoyed such a reputation and the scenario should only turn for the better. Manipulating EC is tantamount to manipulating the poll process.
