Sometimes I wanted to tear my hair out (not that I have much left, being bald) when I read the grand pronouncement of our Election Commission..........
It is bad enough that they wanted to enjoy displaying their naked power for 2 months whenever any election is to be conducted, by invoking the Model Code of Conduct, during which time the entire policy making comes to a stand still. They even had the temerity to tell the Union Government that it cannot propose any state specific projects for those States going to poll in February and March. Budget is for a whole year. Pray tell me why should a particular state lose some of its benefits for a whole year just because there is an election around the corner?
It still defies logic why our EC need polls spread over 45 days with Electronic Voting Machines, when 3 decades ago the same EC was conducting one day polls all over India with paper ballots with counting done on the 3rd day!! 45 days is too long a period, and with polls being held in 6-7 phases spread over a month and a half, the conditions under which Phase 1 voters vote can be totally different from those in which Phase 6 voters vote, which is totally unfair. EC has not learned a lesson from 1991 when the whole dynamics of voting changed between various phases due to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi during the period between phases. Congress, that was on the verge of being wiped out, rode on the sympathy wave in the later phases and just about managed a majority using unfair means.
Our Election Commission is all hot air and no action. Last year they countermanded an election in 3 Tamil Nadu constituencies during TN Assembly elections because Candidates were seducing the voters with money. With only 3 constituencies to monitor, you would expect the EC to control this bribing during the bye elections 6 months later. Wrong. Now the major political parties were so brazen, they were knocking apartment and house doors and offering each voter Rs 2000 as cash. For those who were not in the house when the guys landed up at their houses, these parties opened booths - yes booths- in full public glare and you can walk up to the boots and demand money, and get it too. This is an absolutely true story and has been told to me by first hand witnesses and by people who availed these 'benefits'!!
Then there is the ridiculous cases of 'don'ts'. You can spend only 'peanuts' during election campaign, you have to file an affidavit showing your assets (EC doesn't know what to do if the affidavits are false, which more often than not is the case), no exit polls, no TV advertisements (Why cant parties use TV as a medium in a big manner? Why should you put a cap on expenditure?), no mikes after 10 pm, and campaign has to stop approximately 40 hours before polling starts (Why cant Candidates campaign even during election day?). Then there is the issue of the candidate not being allowed to talk about Religion, God, Caste, National Security, Virat Kohli, Salman Khan.......................... the list is endless. Absurd. Religion is the back bone of our social fabric. By putting restrictions on what can be discussed, EC is violating our right for Freedom of Expression, enshrined in our Constitution. It is time someone called their bluff.
The beauty is that the same EC cannot do anything in the event of a complaint of Electoral Malpractice! It has to be handled at the Judiciary level!! One can do anything one wants, knowing fully well our Judiciary will take 20 years to arrive at a judgement. Meanwhile you can be MP, Minister, Prime Minister or Kingmaker!! If you have any doubt, just look at P Chidambaram!
