The Election Commission of India — variously called the Election Commission, the ECI or EC — was set up in 1950 as an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for carrying out election processes in India. It administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the offices of the President and Vice President.
Headquartered in Delhi, the Election Commission consists of three members — a chief election commissioner and two other commissioners — who are appointed by the President. They have a tenure of six years or until they reach the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The Election Commission prepares, maintains, and updates the electoral roll; supervises the nomination of candidates; registers political parties and classifies them on national and state levels; and monitors election campaigns, including political fund-raising.
You could not have been more wrong, Mr. Sanghvi.
The people of India have had faith in the Election Commission since 1950. Yes, at times, concerns and reservations were aired by various political parties and leaders and the same was looked into and clarified by the EC. As it is, the EC is continually engaged in updating electoral rolls and refining the electoral procedure to minimize the chances of fraud and manipulation.
Rahul Gandhi is not the mature and measured political leader whose allegations can be taken seriously and worked on. The fact that he is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) is a matter of shame and disgust for most Indians (even those who hate the Hindutva brigade).
Let us just assume that the EC does an SIR for Mahadevpura constituency and puts out the facts as well as it’s conclusions in the public domain. Do you think that the “honourable” LoP, Rahul Gandhi, would accept the results of the SIR? Do you seriously believe that Rahul Gandhi has the political maturity to understand and appreciate the EC’s work in upholding the Constitution and conducting elections without fear or favour?
The nation has no doubts on the integrity and character of the EC. it’s just Rahul Gandhi and his lackeys, Jairam Ramesh and Mallikarjun Kharge, who believe that the EC fixes elections for the BJP.
And the truth is – No matter what the EC says or does, they will continue to hold on to their beliefs. There is absolutely nothing the EC can do to convince Rahul Gandhi and his bunch of clowns that the EC is actually an upright and honest institution safeguarding Indian democracy.
Whatever credibility the Election Commission painstakingly built in the post-Seshan era was recklessly squandered during the UPA years. The current CEC has now bulldozed even the last vestiges of that fragile facade of integrity and functionality. His disgraceful press conference will be remembered as a defining low point—an epochal reminder of how a Constitutional authority, a civil servant, and even a civilised individual must never conduct themselves.