DEVSAGAR SINGH
New Delhi, July 16.
A constitutional body like the election commission of India deserves to be kept away from public controversy because it affects all cutting across party lines.
What is happening now is just the opposite—the ECI is embroiled in public spat with the Opposition parties.
The reason why the Opposition parties and the election commission do not see eye to eye on most issues is the trust deficit. The commission is viewed as an adjunct of the government rather than an autonomous body. Its actions, even in discharge of its constitutional duties, are seen as moves aimed at helping the ruling party. Take the case of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. Coming as it does just a few months before the assembly elections in the state, it raised hackles of the Opposition which alleged that the entire exercise is to disenfranchise a large number of people by demanding birth certificates and domicile proof while ignoring adhaar and voter cards.
True, the ECI may be constitutionally and legally right in doing the intensive revision of electoral rolls, but why just before the polls? Why did the commission not do it well in advance giving people enough time to procure the documents? Now the matter has gone to court, complicating matters. Clearly , the ECI realized the mistake as is clear from its recent move asking state chief electoral officers to be ready for a nationwide SIR. Assembly elections are due in five states next year, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The Bihar SIR is mired so much in controversy that the final list of voters is bound to be questioned by many, especially the Opposition. Even the media has begun to speculate that as many as 70 lakh voters in the state may be “phantom” voters whose names are likely to be cut. The insinuation is that these “ phantom voters” are infiltrators from Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Seemanchal region of Bihar consisting of five districts close to Bangladesh border is said to have maximum number of bogus voters. The RJD , the main opposition in the state, is usually the party favoured in this region.
The growing mistrust between election commission and the Opposition began with the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls where the BJP won disproving all poll predictions. Despite attempts, the ECI failed to convince the Opposition that these elections were fair. It is against this background that the forthcoming Bihar poll is being viewed. It is not to say, however, that the Opposition was necessarily right.
The TMC ruled West Bengal has already begun to cry foul taking it for granted that the election commission will do an SIR for the voters in the state as well. Sharing a huge border with Bangladesh, West Bengal’s concern is genuine. At the same time, it definitely enjoins the commission to do an intensive revision in the state so that genuine voters are not left out.
Indeed, the election commission has an uphill task. This could have become easier and smoother had there been no lack of trust. The poll body has had rough patches even before the Modi regime. But the matters never reached such proportions.
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