“It is no use blaming the looking glass if your face is awry.” – Nikolai Gogol
The Election Commission of India is the apex constitutional body for conducting elections for the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, President, Vice President, and state legislature. Its head, the Election Commissioner, is appointed through a select committee, including the PM, the Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha, and a Union Minister nominated by the PM. The role of the committee is to ensure transparency in the appointment process, but when the office of the Election Commission is under question, it raises serious concerns. The opposition has every right to interfere in the political arena, as the guardian of a healthy democratic process. In fact, Ivor Jennings has said, “The Leader of the Opposition is the alternate PM.”
But the consistent accusation of INC over the bureaucratic selection of the Election Commissioner has proved to be vanum opus, as Congress was in the same shoes in which today it is trying to point out nails.
Congress, from time to time, has tried to control the apex functionary of elections in India and has been seen giving them political favors in order to reward loyalists for toeing the line and using former Election Commissioners for its political gain.
Former CEC | Tenure | Post-Retirement Favors
- KVK Sundaram (1958-67) – Chairman of the Law Commission and Padma Vibhushan
- Nagendra Singh (1972-73) – Padma Vibhushan
- RK Trivedi (1982-85) – Governor, Padma Vibhushan
- VS Ramadevi (1990) – Governor
- TN Seshan (1990-96) – Contested election from Congress in 1996
- MS Gill (1996-2001) – Rajya Sabha member (2004-2016), Minister of Youth Affairs (2009-11), Minister of SPI (2011)
- MS Lyngdoh (2001-2004) – Joined Congress
- N Gopalaswami (2006-2009) – Padma Vibhushan
Congress is hypocritical on the appointment of the CEC, as Gyanesh Kumar officially assumed charge as India’s new CEC, but Congress raises concerns over his appointment, alleging why the CJI was not included in the appointment panel of the CEC, even though the ruling of the SC in 2023 said that “the selection panel would jointly appoint EC until Parliament formulates a law on the same.”
After passing the bill, it is clear that the SC never said the CJI should be part of the select committee, so why is the opposition crying? Now, the question is, how was the CEC appointed during the Congress regime? Were appointments done by neutral bodies? Rahul Gandhi chooses drama over integrity, ignoring his own party’s past of creating loyalists out of Election Commissioners.
They thought that the BJP would adopt a similar political tactic. As Edward Howe said, “A thief believes everyone steals.” But Congress forgets that for greater and more popular success, such a short-sighted tactic will not be helpful and is just another way to ignore its own accountability and question institutional transparency.
We should not throw stones at others’ houses if ours is made of glass. Historically, Congress has paid favors to most of the Election Commissioners in its tenure, undermining the transparent democratic process. The position of the Election Commissioner should not be politicized by any political party, as politicization can hinder institutional legitimacy.
The questioning of the CEC is one side of the coin, but on the other side, there can be a negative ripple effect of this baseless accusation turned political stunt, showing the acute dissatisfaction of the opposition and causing ire for the election machinery.
Now, why can questioning the recruitment process turn dangerous for the opposition?
- Declining credibility – The opposition itself does not have a credible political performance but questions the institution and the process.
- Consistent incompetency – The opposition adapting the new tactics of defaming electoral institutions shows how weak it has become, resorting to blame games and double standards to prove its point.
- Trust deficit – The INC represents a wide section of the Indian population, but it feeds distrust in them by questioning the recruitment process. This affects voter turnout and decreases the will to vote. In a country where political literacy is still largely absent in Tier 2 and 3 cities, Congress can fall prey to its own political tactic.
- Political inaccuracy – The whole recruitment issue highlights the political inaccuracy of Congress itself because, in the appointment of any Election Commissioner, the select committee is considered for an opinion, which itself includes the Leader of the Opposition. Then how could Congress not point out the discrepancies in the appointment pre-elections but blame the whole process after, claiming the recruitment is faulty?
In contrast, the Modi government has included the LOP in the selection as per convention and has not created loyalists out of Election Commissioners, as Congress did during its political regime. The BJP has not made any retired CEC a governor or given them accolades like the Padma Bhushan.
Congress has reentered a time where it highly needs to assess its stance on Indian institutions, their legitimacy, and accept its shortcomings rather than going berserk about the ruling party, accusing it of full-fledged electoral discrepancy. As a Chinese proverb says: “The man who blames others has a long way in his journey to go. The man who blames himself is halfway there. And the man who blames no one has halfway arrived.”
Although not blaming at all is counterproductive to the existence of the opposition, Congress definitely needs to be the man who blames himself for his failures. Every time someone says that they failed because of someone else, there is a very high chance that they are avoiding some truth about themselves.
The politics of the blame game done by Congress is an escape from constant complexity to the world of entertainment because running a nation and making better lives for people often requires constant effort. Things only get better when you solve hard problems, and avoiding them will only take you down the path of obstinacy.
The only time a politician will try to avoid the blame game is when they are the target. Hence, no such questions on the selection process were entertained during Congress rule at the center. The same Congress that disregarded norms is now blaming the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance for the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. The people are not amused, and they know the truth.
from National https://ift.tt/Elvsotx