First things first. I believe the Election Commission, along with the Supreme Court, is the most important constitutional body in India. It deserves our respect and admiration for the role it has played over the last seven decades in allowing us to proudly describe ourselves as the world’s largest democracy.
So here’s the problem: this current avatar of the Election Commission is wiping out that sterling record. I know fewer and fewer people who admire our present election commissioners. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in particular, has lost the respect of much of the nation with his farcical press conference a few days ago.
What this means is that India’s democracy is now facing one of the worst crises in its history.
Lest you think that sounds overdramatic, let me explain.
Election Commission’s key role in Indian democracy
Electoral franchise is one part — the major part, certainly, but not the only one — of modern democracy. Not only should people be governed by those they have elected, but they should also be guaranteed certain basic rights — liberty, free speech, dissent, and more — for democracy to function effectively.
The tragedy of India is that many of these rights are often disrespected or overturned entirely. It’s always easy to point fingers at the government of the day, but let’s accept that the decline began decades ago, long before the BJP was even founded. Indira Gandhi first subverted many of our democratic institutions and later went the whole distance: censoring the press, arresting journalists, locking up the opposition, and more.
The whole promise of India as a nation was about to be betrayed. The Supreme Court, which was supposed to protect citizens, failed. Only elections saved democracy.
Convinced that she would win and legitimise her dictatorial regime, Indira Gandhi called a general election in 1977. She lost that election so badly that all future would-be dictators learned two lessons: never actually declare an Emergency, just impose it quietly. And don’t call an election unless you are certain of winning it.
That’s why the Election Commission is so important. If elections are fair, and the people of India are allowed to register their protest and vote out tyrants or scamsters, only then can democracy survive.
All the other features we associate with modern democracies (mostly in the West) — liberty, dissent, justice, etc — are already in trouble in India. It is difficult, if not impossible, for a poor person to find or afford justice or to speak out against powerful officials or politicians.
Also read: Why Modi, BJP should worry about bad blood between CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Rahul Gandhi
How Election Commission lost people’s trust
The only time every citizen of India feels empowered is when they vote. That’s when the roles are reversed: when politicians must come to the people to ask for something. And the ordinary citizen knows that at least on that one day every few years, they have the right to send a tyrant or a crook packing.
Take away electoral franchise and you take away our right to be called a democracy. That’s why it is so important that elections remain fair and beyond controversy.
It’s not easy to do this in a country the size of India. And yet the Election Commission has often shown more courage than the judiciary. It turned Indira Gandhi out of office when she was all-powerful. In the 1990s, when TN Seshan was Chief Election Commissioner, he showed politicians their place and reminded them that the Constitution was more important than any individual.
It is to the credit of those who conduct our elections that, until recently, even the losers did not claim the process was unfair. Yes, there were complaints about booth capturing, but the Commission usually ordered repolls in those booths.
All that has changed. A few years ago, doubts were raised about the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Those doubts never gained much traction with the general public because nobody could convincingly explain how the EVMs had been tampered with, and former Election Commissioners made it clear that rigging them was impossible.
But over the last couple of years, especially after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, there have been concerns about how electoral rolls are compiled. The allegation is that the Commission is complicit in adding a significant number of bogus voters in various constituencies. This is not done everywhere, so there is no question of the BJP winning a Soviet-style majority. But it is done shrewdly and selectively in enough constituencies to affect the outcome. It only works when the mood is not overwhelmingly anti-BJP and the votes of other parties do not swamp the bogus ones.
Because this sounds like a sophisticated way of influencing elections, it is a hard allegation to substantiate. About the only thing critics can do is point to mysterious spikes in voting numbers and to suspicious or duplicate names in the rolls.
Which is exactly what the Opposition — and Rahul Gandhi, most recently — has done.
Also read: Dismiss debate on EC functioning as ‘hoo-haa’, then hail India as ‘robust democracy’
CEC shows no interest in convincing Indians
Any sensible Election Commissioner knows that for the process to have credibility, both the government of the day (which appointed these commissioners and changed the selection process to exclude the Chief Justice) and the Opposition must have faith in the Commission. Most important of all: so must the electorate. The reason the EVM allegations receded was because the public was not convinced.
To retain the faith of the Opposition and the public, the Chief Election Commissioner must go out of his way to demonstrate that once he occupies this constitutional office, he forgets his loyalties to those who appointed him and functions only in the interests of the Constitution.
One of the problems today is that the Election Commission sees no reason to take the Opposition’s complaints seriously. When someone points out anomalies in the rolls in detail, a sincere and honest guardian of the Constitution would say: “I need to examine your claims and give you an equally detailed response.”
He does not say: “How dare you? File an affidavit or we won’t listen to you! Apologise!”
Do these sound like the words of a man determined to get to the truth? A man with nothing to hide?
Worse still: there is no interest in convincing the people of India. Asked several important questions at his now notorious press conference, CEC Gyanesh Kumar simply did not answer them.
Later, supporters of the government tried to muddy the waters by focussing on a numerical error in a tweet sent out by a pollster, arguing that because he made a mistake, the well-documented allegations levelled by the Opposition must also be false.
None of this augurs well. The only thing that powers Indian democracy is the belief every Indian has: that they will get a fair opportunity to choose their leaders and throw out those who have not performed.
Take away that assurance and you puncture the heart of Indian democracy. And you rob elected governments of their very legitimacy.
Vir Sanghvi is a print and television journalist, and talk show host. He tweets @virsanghvi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)