“If the object of this House is that all matter relating to Elections should be outside the control of the Executive Government of the day, it is absolutely necessary that the new machinery which we are setting up, namely, the Election Commission should be irremovable by the executive by a mere fiat. We have therefore given the Chief Election Commissioner the same status so far as removability is concerned as we have given to the Judge of the Supreme Court. We, of course, do not propose to give the same status to the other members of the Election Commission. We have left the matter to the President as to the circumstances under which he would deem fit to remove any other member of the Election Commissioner, subject to one condition that the Chief Election Commissioner must recommend that the removal is just and proper”.
—Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar, Constituent Assembly Debates, on Election Commission of Bharat, Volume VIII, June 15, 1949
The vote-chori campaign started by Rahu Gandhi and company has taken an ugly turn when Dr Sanjay Kumar of Centre for the Studies of Developing Societies (CSDS) apologised for a blunder he made while projecting inflated voter data in Maharashtra. The political rhetoric targeting the Election Commission started with the same data, so the foundation of the entire Yatra undertaken by the dynastic duo, Rahul Gandhi and Tejaswi Yadav, has shaken. Despite such a blow, a categorical point-by-point rebuttal by the Election Commission and other claims also falling flat, Rahul Gandhi and his companions would relentlessly continue with the campaign for three reasons.
After all opposition forces, with support from international actors and NGOs, tried their best to build the 2024 election campaign around ‘Constitution in Danger’ and experienced limited success, the reversal of the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly Elections was a big blow. The ‘atom bomb’ PowerPoint presentation was based on five allegations and all of them proved to be self-inflicting. The CSDS, known for its data presentation for dividing the Hindu society on caste and regional lines with a heavy foreign funding, punctured the main allegation with an apology. The voters themselves came forward and called out misuse of their names in the political campaign. Zero-numbered address was an initiative by the Commission to ensure the inclusion of homeless voters. What happened in Central Bengaluru is nothing new, as Muslim majority seats have seen similar trends elections after elections. No one is claiming that electoral rolls in such humongous electoral machinery are perfect; hence, the exercise like Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is necessitated. Ironically, the Rahul Gandhi-led opposition does not want SIR to take place.
Though questioning of the election results by political parties is not a new trend, now, not the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) but the entire election process is on the radar. Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi faced consecutive defeats even after trying with campaigns like soot-boot ki Sarkar, Chowkidar Chor Hai and questioning initiatives like demonetisation and GST. How can the BJP, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, win elections without facing anti-incumbency? The answer lies in inability of the opposition in understanding the pulse of the voters.
The opposition to SIR is meant essentially to save the illegal voters who do not have valid proof of citizenship. It has nothing to do with the poor and rural masses, as they are beneficiaries of the Government schemes and have voter IDs along with ration cards and bank accounts as their residence proof. To further the vote-bank politics, the SIR process is being questioned both in Bihar and West Bengal.
Discrediting the entire election process is an even more dangerous trend. The Election Commission has been asking for filing the complaint under affidavit which is not adhered to. The ultimate objective of this campaign is to create doubt in the minds of voters about the electoral process so that a situation akin to a civil war can be created by fuelling sentiments. It is a playbook of the anarchists supported by the regime change experts functioning from outside. Rahul Gandhi, through his secret foreign visits, each time comes up with some antiques to question democracy in Bharat. Using democratic space to subvert constitutional democracy is the international trend that we must be cautious about. We are not a fragile democracy like Pakistan or Bangladesh, and the Election Commission of Bharat is globally recognised as a Constitutional body. Earlier, no rules regarding the appointment of Election Commissioners were formulated, which was corrected through a parliamentary law. Further electoral reforms such as curbing criminalisation of politics or use of money power in elections can be discussed and debated as happening with the proposed set of laws as envisaged by the Constitution makers but damaging the constitutional body for political ends is a destructive ploy. All the sections of society must resist this dangerous game designed to destabilise the democracy by targeting the Election Commission.
