Is Criticism Of Election Commission Justified?

The Election Commission of India has come under scrutiny for its “little action” on most of the complaints filed with it regarding the violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

In a letter addressed to the President of India, a group of 66 former bureaucrats expressed their “anguish” over the conduct of the election watchdog, saying the poll panel suffers from a “crisis of credibility”.

The Election Commission is being “too soft in its action”, the letter said, highlighting nine instances, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of Mission Shakti, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Modi ji ki sena’ comment and the curious case of NaMo TV.

BloombergQuint spoke to Deb Mukharji, former high commissioner to Bangladesh and one of the signatories to the letter written to the President, and SK Mendiratta, former legal advisor to the Election Commission of India, to understand if the criticism faced by the poll panel is justified.

The group of retired bureaucrats had been in discussions with the Election Commission since last year regarding various issues relating to the elections, Mukharji said. But the group felt that the election watchdog was not discharging its constitutional responsibility, especially at a time the nation is looking up to it to provide a completely fair and level playing field for all political parties and candidates, he said. The group, according to Mukharji, had no other option but to approach the President who is the last resort.

The Model Code of Conduct is not legally binding on political parties and candidates, but the Election Commission has the power to take action against them under the Indian Penal Code. A total of 153 cases, according to the Election Commission’s website, have been filed before it. Of which, notices have been served to 14 parties, while the poll panel has decided one way or the other in 51 cases.

If there are real objections, the aggrieved parties should file complaints with the police of the courts rather than go knocking at the Election Commission’s door all the time, according to Mendiratta.

The letter by the former bureaucrats highlighted most cases of alleged violations of the poll code by people related to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. While it raised questions on the political motivations, Mukharji said the group had also written similar letters to the ruling Congress government in Punjab asking it to reconsider its decision to impose life imprisonment for acts of sacrilege.

Watch the entire discussion here: