'This Election Commission Has To Go!'

'The current Election Commission functions more like a government department than an autonomous body.'

Even before Rahul Gandhi started his vociferous campaign against 'vote chori', quite a few independent voices raised their voices against the alleged irregularities in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and assembly elections in some states.

One such voice was that of political economist Parakala Prabhakar who has been very critical of the way the Election Commission of India conducts recent elections.

He had told Rediff in December 2024, "The entire process tells me the Election Commission has proved to be partial."

"This (Election Commission) is THE MOST partial," Mr. Prabhakar asserts in the current interview.

"How can you trust the mandate when the body that conducts the elections is perceived as not impartial, transparent and accountable?", Parakala Prabhakar asks Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

When we spoke last year, you had said the Election Commission's conduct was not transparent and that it refused to be accountable.

Any responsible, accountable body, especially a Constitutional body which is supposed to be autonomous, independent and impartial, should sit up and take note of the allegations, apprehensions, suspicions and doubts raised.

Raised even by citizens?

Yes. It was not only me as a citizen, but many citizens groups have been raising doubts and suspicions, and asking questions.

We have been raising questions and whether those questions amount to suspicions, allegations or charges is a different matter. But there are questions.

Any responsible, impartial, autonomous body should first of all say, let us probe them, let us examine them and let us find out whether there is any grain of truth in what you are apprehending.

Instead, they are casting aspersions on those people who are asking questions. They are asking them to submit affidavits and trying to cast doubts on their patriotism, their loyalty to the Constitution, etc.

This is a very evasive kind of attitude. This does not behold an autonomous, impartial referee kind of a body.

They have to get to the bottom of the suspicions or questions and find out what the truth is and what the untruth is.

When people like us raised questions, they didn't even bother to answer them.

When a responsible person like the Leader of the Opposition raised the questions in a press conference, the EC started reacting to it even when the press conference was in progress.

Why didn't they wait till it was over and take time to probe and then say, they are unfounded or misleading?

Rahul Gandhi said the Election Commission was acting like an agent of the BJP.

I met a person on a flight who had been following my writings and talks. He asked me, 'Are you still considering the Election Commission of India as an autonomous body?'

He then said, 'See, the BJP has different morchas like the Yuva Morcha, Mahila Morcha, kisan Morcha, etc. Similarly, they have an Election Morcha too!'

I also would say the Election Commission of India has become the Election Morcha of the BJP.

If you look at the Lokniti-CDS poll conducted in six states, it found that overall, 21.7% of the people interviewed felt the Election Commission of India was completely under pressure from the government.

And the percentage of people who said they did not trust the Election Commission of India rose from 11% in 2019 to 31% now.

In UP, it rose from 11% to 31%. In Kerala, it rose from 10% to 24%. In Madhya Pradesh, it rose from 6% to 22%.

In 2001 when the Election Commission of India was celebrating its golden jubilee, the then President K R Narayanan said in his speech that the credibility of the Election Commission was much higher than that of even the judiciary!

So, from that situation to more than 20% of the people losing trust in the Election Commission...

It is a tremendous nosedive. This is a very well-earned mistrust of the Election Commission of India by the public.

The way they conduct themselves, the way they are so opaque, the way they are so unaccountable, it justifies people's lack of trust and confidence in the body.

Is it not dangerous in a democracy for people to lose trust in the body that conducts elections?

It is dangerous. And then it hollows out democracy.

How can you trust the mandate when the body that conducts the elections is perceived as not impartial, transparent and accountable?

Then the mandate becomes suspicious.

The mandate becomes doubtful.

People have reasons to think that the mandate is fixed in favour of the ruling party.

You said the government should go as the voters list also is faulty...

What I feel is, with a clean voters list, voters elect a government.

Now, with SIR and the kind of inexplicable and unjustified deletions, it looks like the government is electing the voters.

So, instead of electors selecting the government, it is the government that is selecting the voters.

Rahul Gandhi called the introduction of SIR in Bihar just before the assembly election a conspiracy to steal one more state. Do you feel that way?

My suspicions are only strengthened by the way the Election Commission is conducting itself.

It is further strengthened by the press conference addressed by the Chief Election Commissioner. No answers were forthcoming. Instead, you heard platitudes and generalities.

For example, you see pictures of women queuing up to vote in the press releases of the Election Commission. But when we ask for videos, they talk about privacy. Isn't that contradictory?

The EC says that SIR will be introduced nationally from October onwards...

If somebody says that the voters list needs to be cleaned, we have no objection. We want a clean voters list.

But you need to first of all, make it transparent and simple.

For the first time, the Election Commission has put the burden on the voter to prove his or her identity. This has never happened before.

It is the Election Commission's responsibility to enrol the voters. But today, it is the other way round.

And the kind of documentation the Election Commission is asking, is absolutely irrational and impractical.

It looks as though it is designed to eliminate people rather than enrol people.

Look at the adamant refusal of the Election Commission to divulge the names of those people whose names were deleted.

It repeatedly refused, and even to the Supreme Court, it refused. Only after the Supreme Court was very insistent that they published the list.

But between the Supreme Court's insistence and the publication of the list, the Election Commission went on putting out stories to 'sources' that a lot of foreigners and infiltrators were deleted. But they refused to divulge the names.

Once the Supreme Court put its foot down, the names were published.

And there was not a single case of infiltrator deleted.

So, what was all those 'sources' talking about?

What was the drama of the Election Commission cleaning up the voters list?

Then, there were so many irregularities of 20,30,50 people residing in one address.

A lot of people had asked for the report of the study that recommended the intensive revision but nothing has been shown. One wonders whether there was a study or not.

Why is the Election Commission hiding these things?

Do you feel this is one of the most partial Election Commissions in memory?

This is THE MOST partial.

You spoke about the survey that found the trust people had in the Election Commission going down...

The point is, this Election Commission should go.

The way it is constituted also should change.

You cannot have a selection committee which is 2:1 majority for the ruling party.

It is now in a sense, a government department rather than an autonomous body.

Let's not jump to the conclusion that a government appointee will necessarily be partial.

Please recall what T N Seshan said after he took up the position as the chief election commissioner. He was appointed by the Government of India.

He said, 'I am not answerable to the government of the day. I am not a government department'.

It is the Election Commission of India and not the Election Commission of the Government of India. There is a distinction.

He, very, very aggressively asserted the independence and autonomy of the Election Commission of India.

Sadly, the present set of people who are sitting in the Election Commission fail to do that.

Do you think India misses a person like T N Seshan?

Of course, yes. Because he had set a very high standard for the Election Commission.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff