New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi Tuesday made “institutional capture” the focal point of his attack during a Lok Sabha discussion on electoral reforms and the Election Commission of India, accusing it of colluding with the ruling dispensation in “stealing votes”.
He alleged that the BJP is directing and using the ECI to “damage India’s democracy”, and that the is “colluding” with the ruling dispensation to “shape elections”.
Rahul demanded that machine-readable voter lists be made available to political parties, that the order to delete CCTV footage 45 days after polling be withdrawn, and that the immunity granted to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners from court proceedings for actions taken in office be removed.
He also said that parties should be given access to Electronic Voting Machines so they can examine their architecture.
“That is all the electoral reforms you need. And I want to assure the Election Commissioner that they might be under the impression that this law lets them get away with it. Let me remind them, do not worry. We are going to change the law, and we are going to change it retroactively, and we are going to come and find you,” the Congress leader said.
Referring to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Rahul said that the “project” did not end after his killing by Nathuram Godse.
“Everything has emerged from the vote, all the institutions have emerged from the vote. So the project after Gandhiji’s assassination, the next step of the project was the wholesale capture of India’s institutional framework,” he said.
Rahul’s remarks drew protests from the treasury benches and interjections from Speaker Om Birla, who advised the Leader of Opposition to stick to the subject of electoral reforms. Union home Minister Amit Shah was present in the House when Rahul spoke.
“After the father of the nation was assassinated, his vision of an equal India, of an India where institutions belong to the people, had to be destroyed. And I will give some examples so that it is crystal clear that this is the case. Everybody knows how vice chancellors are placed on top of Indian universities today. Every single person knows this,” he said.
Rahul alleged that the EC is among the institutions which have been captured. Referring to the series of press conferences he has held since August on “vote chori” or irregularities in electoral rolls of Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the Congress MP said he has already placed in public “adequate proof” that the ECI is “colluding” with those in power to shape elections.
He questioned the removal of the Chief Justice of India from the panel that picks the Chief Election Commissioner through a law enacted in 2023.
On 2 March 2023, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners should be undertaken by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. Rahul had previously underlined that the law “bypassed the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court’s order” and was in “flagrant violation” of it.
“Why is he (the CJI) not in that room? I sit in that room. It is a so-called democratic decision. On one side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Amit Shah, on the other side, the Leader of Opposition. I have no voice in that room. What they decide is what happens. So the first question is, why are the Prime Minister and Amit Shah so keen on choosing exactly who the Election Commissioner is?” Rahul asked on Tuesday.
Rahul also brought up the Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which grants immunity to the CEC and ECs from any legal action for decisions taken while in office.
“Second question, and an even more devastating question, no prime minister has done this in the history of India. This government changed the law to make sure that no Election Commissioner could be punished for any action they take while they are in office. Why would the Prime Minister and his minister give this gift of immunity to the Election Commissioner? Why would they need to give this tremendous gift that no prime minister has given ever before? Mr Shah is looking at the ceiling, maybe he will answer this question when he speaks and finally,” Rahul said.
Wearing a white kurta with open sleeves instead of the white T-shirt that has become his trademark look in recent years, Rahul used the analogy of weaving threads into fabric, including Khadi, to describe India’s rich diversity and institutions, which he said stand on the foundation of votes.
“They are happy to see the fabric, but they cannot stand the idea that every single person in the fabric of our country, regardless of what religion they come from, regardless of what community they come from, regardless of what language they speak, should be equal. Because they fundamentally do not believe in equality. They believe in a hierarchy, and they believe that they should be on top of that hierarchy,” he said.
This is an updated version of the report in accordance with the list of expunged words released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)