New Delhi: Lawyers empanelled with the Election Commission of India (ECI) will now defend India’s poll panel not just inside the court but outside as well.
Summoned for a meeting with the ECI chief last week, the lawyers were told to become proactive on social media platforms to justify the commission’s decisions, such as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to update the electoral rolls.
Lawyers who attended the meeting confirmed to ThePrint that the commission head himself addressed them, asking the lawyers to help the poll body counter the criticism mounted by opposition parties as well as the public. While some lawyers were physically present for the meeting, a few joined online.
The advocates were told that the numbers of some of them would be shared with media persons as well so that queries related to legal proceedings and cases involving the ECI can be tackled by the counsel.
Given that it sounded like a mandate from the ECI, a few lawyers expressed their apprehensions about the new role being assigned to them. They suggested the commission to clarify from the Bar Council of India (BCI) whether the Advocates Act, which regulates the legal profession, would permit the lawyers to take up such a task, since this would entail defending the body before a non-judicial forum.
“Briefing the media regarding a case can only be facts-based. It cannot be justified the way the ECI wants us to do,” said a worried lawyer in the know of developments, raising another concern.
Reluctance to put out briefs on social media platforms was also shared, with some lawyers wondering if that would be ethically correct.
The ECI chief mentioned a lawyer’s reel on the SIR exercise and encouraged the ones present at the meeting to attempt similar content creation in favour of the poll body on their respective social media handles.
Those who did not seem to agree with this suggestion felt that the ECI could hire social media influencers to correct any narrative it felt was distorted and misleading the public. “Lawyers are not supposed to put out briefs this way,” said another advocate who was present at the meeting.
Since the instructions were made to sound like a mandate, the empanelled ECI lawyers are in a quandary over their next move.
Dharambir Singh’s strategy
Haryana BJP leader Chaudhary Dharambir Singh, a three-time MP from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat, has announced his retirement from active politics after his current term.
In a podcast interview titled ‘The Father Daughter Podcast’ with his own daughter, Somia Choudhary, the MP said: “I’m turning 70 this month. Our elders divided life into four stages—Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyas. By the next election, I will be in the Sanyas phase, so I will not contest any more elections.” The podcast was posted on Facebook.
The announcement, his party colleagues say with a chuckle, is calculated to pave the way for his son, Mohit Chaudhary.
In the podcast, Singh opens up about his political struggles. He started his journey in 1987 by defeating then-CM Bansi Lal from Tosham on a Lok Dal ticket, later joined the Congress and finally the BJP in 2014. He mentions quitting the Congress out of frustration over repeated constituency changes.
Now, his retirement plan—and Mohit’s rising visibility—have fuelled speculation.
Mohit Chaudhary, armed with a BA degree from Panjab University, an LLB from Noida and a Master’s degree in international trade from London, is an active member of the BJP Yuva Morcha’s state executive committee and a special invitee in Rewari district.
He played a key role in his father’s campaigns in the last two Lok Sabha elections and is now increasingly seen representing Dharambir at social events. In the 2024 elections, Dharambir reportedly lobbied for a ticket for Mohit, but the party fielded the senior leader instead.
Shivakumar & Chamundeshwari’s blessings
Last Thursday, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s staff was near the cabinet hall on Vidhana Soudha’s third floor. The door to CM Siddaramaiah’s office, opposite the cabinet hall, was open. They walked in to sit for a moment when at least one MLA, considered a close aide of the CM, also walked in and ran into Shivakumar’s staff members.
The MLA and those with him thought they had mistakenly entered the deputy CM’s office rather than the CM’s office and apologised. Shivakumar’s staff told them “it was the same thing”, subtly suggesting their boss might soon assume the CM’s chair.
During this brief encounter, one of Shivakumar’s staff was praying to goddess Chamundeshwari’s picture in the CM’s office when he claimed that a flower dropped from it, which is considered a good omen.
Shivakumar’s staff was quick to take the flower and gave it to the deputy CM, narrating how Chamundeshwari had given her blessing to the imminent promotion.
People aware of the incident say that Shivakumar, a pious man, sported a rare smile upon hearing this and kept the flower. Siddaramaiah will complete 2.5 years in office this term, in the third week of November.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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