Referring to the process of selecting the Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said he was wondering if there was any point in attending the meeting of the selection committee. This is because the committee comprises three members – the Prime Minister, a Union Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition.
It is obvious that whoever the government wants to select will get selected, and the Leader of the Opposition can, at best, give a dissenting note. In other words, the procedure adopted is a farce.
Concerned about the “devastating effect” of leaving appointments solely to the Executive, the Supreme Court established a new process in March 2023, ruling that the appointment of the CEC and Election Commissioners (ECs) would be done by the President on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India.
This arrangement was to prevail until Parliament enacted a law for the appointments. It was undoubtedly the best and most transparent procedure to elect the new chief of the Election Commission.
The Union government eventually brought in a law in December 2023, making it mandatory to appoint the CEC and ECs through a shortlist panel and a selection committee.
However, the Chief Justice of India was dropped as a member of the Selection Committee and replaced by a Union Minister. Effectively, this left the choice of the new CEC and Election Commissioners entirely with the government.
The legislation was challenged in the Supreme Court by various organisations and individuals, but the court has been dragging its feet for reasons best known to it. As late as January this year, the court assured that it would hear the matter in February. However, no progress has been made, and the date for the selection committee meeting has now been fixed.
The manner of selecting the Chief Election Commissioner has become even more contentious, particularly in view of the extraordinary misuse of the office by the current incumbent, Rajiv Kumar, who is due to retire shortly.
During his tenure since 2022, the Commission has been reduced to an extension of the BJP. Whatever decisions it took were tailored to suit the ruling party.
For the Election Commission, which readily endorsed the government’s proposal for ‘One Nation, One Election,’ it failed to hold assembly elections simultaneously even for Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi, which it should have done.
Earlier, the Commission spread out the Lok Sabha elections over a month and a half—the longest election schedule ever—aligning with the ruling party’s, or more particularly, Modi’s, convenience.
There are numerous instances, too many to list, where the Election Commission has turned a deaf ear to complaints against ruling party leaders for using derogatory or communal language while being quick to issue notices and reprimand opposition leaders.
The latest example of how the Election Commission has allowed itself to be manipulated is evident in the way it handled the Delhi elections.
The polling date was fixed just days before the budget, which was designed to be middle-class-friendly. For those who might doubt the link, the full-page advertisements in Delhi on the day after the budget, showcasing the proposals as “Modi’s gift to the middle class of Delhi,” make the intent clear.
It also appears that some thought was given to timing the Prime Minister’s response to the budget discussion with the end of campaigning for the elections. Although he did not explicitly mention Delhi or the elections in his speech in Parliament, only a child would believe that he did not have Delhi elections in mind while delivering it. He was all over television channels long after the deadline for campaigning had ended.
The ruling party has perfected the art of manipulating the Election Commission, although it must be admitted that it was the Congress that initially started this misuse, albeit more discreetly.
The induction of former Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill into the Congress and his subsequent appointment as a minister was certainly undesirable and cast a shadow over the credibility and impartiality of the Election Commission.
There were other instances where the Commission favoured Congress-led governments, but the BJP has taken this manipulation to an unprecedented level.
It is high time for the Supreme Court to intervene immediately and stay the meeting of the selection committee until it delivers its judgment on the petitions challenging the 2023 amendments.
This article was originally published in Punjab Today and can be read here.
