Ashok Lavasa warns ‘heightened expectations’ from EC leads to disappointment

The former election commissioner listed 3 major challenges to 'free and fair' elections: enforcing model code of conduct, handling media, and controlling expenditure of parties.

File photo of Ashok Lavasa | Commons

New Delhi: With less than 24 hours to go before India goes to polls, former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa on Thursday underlined the “heightened expectations” placed on the Election Commission.

Lavasa said people see the Commission as a “superman” who can handle all challenges and meet public expectations. He pointed out how the Commission’s performance is purely judged based on its ability to hold those in power accountable, and this expectation stems from the “potential powers” it has.

“People expect the EC to exercise its powers at every step possible. I must say that the heightened expectations have led to greater disappointment. And, I don’t know who exactly should be blamed for it,” Lavasa said during the launch of Conversations with Media 2.1, co-hosted by India International Centre and Press Club of India.

EC and its 3 challenges

The former election commissioner listed three major challenges the poll body encounters while organising “free and fair” elections: enforcement of the ‘model code of conduct’, handling media performance, and controlling the expenditure of political leaders and parties.

The model code of conduct — documentation derived after a consultation process — controls four groups: political parties, election candidates, the ruling party, and bureaucrats. Though, it currently doesn’t apply to law enforcement or courts, “EC maintains a very studious approach on how to deal with their actions,” Lavasa said.

Underling the jurisdiction of the poll body, he said “EC has the power to call out the complaints they receive, even pertaining to the law-enforcement agencies, but at the same time, there is a framework within which it operates. So, the challenge is to balance the two.”

Lavasa also discussed the “blurry line between publicity and paid news”. If the media heavily promotes a certain party or leader during elections, it’s hard for the EC to intervene. During elections, news gets tilted. While covering the polling, some reporters have reported in a fashion to sway the voters. This is a growing challenge, he said.

These issues are complicated, and expecting the EC to solve them all might be too much. According to Lavasa, one solution could be banning political content during elections, which might restrict freedom of expression.

“Social media adds another layer of complexity,” he said. The EC has made progress by talking to social media platforms and getting them to agree to certain rules. They’ve also helped track spending on social media by parties and candidates and removed offensive content, hinting towards the viral videos of the recent farmer protests, which were taken off X.

‘Audit party accounts’

Lavasa admitted there is no control over the money a political party spends.

“There should be a limit to the spendings of the political parties, their accounts should be submitted for audit to Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), and they should be public entities which are in purview of Right to Information Act,” he said.

In an indirect attack on the present dispensation, the retired IAS officer, quoting from Rajendra Prasad’s 1949 speech in the Constituent Assembly, said: “Whatever the Constitution may or may not provide, the welfare of the country depends on the way it’s administered, and that will depend on the men who administer it. If elected people are men of character and integrity, they will make the best out of the defective Constitution. If they lack these abilities, the Constitution cannot help the country.”

(Edited by Theres Sudeep)