Step Back Now
Government shouldn’t tamper with the Election Commission’s powers
The government’s assurance that it’s not considering a proposal to whittle down the Election Commission’s powers is welcome. We hope it means that the move to curb the EC’s powers of enforcing its model code of electoral conduct is definitively scuttled. The clarification comes on the back of a spiralling controversy over a government proposal to give statutory shape to the code of conduct, strongly opposed by the EC as well as opposition parties as it would take enforcement out of the EC’s hands. It’s good that all-round outrage has forced the government to clear the air. But it also needs to abide by its public assurance, and desist from any move that would debilitate a vibrant and effective institution like the EC.
At the heart of the controversy is the EC’s high-profile model code of conduct, effectively leveraged to rein in political parties and leaders from conducting extravagant poll campaigns or making snappy policy announcements in the midst of electoral canvassing. Consider the EC’s recent censure of UPA cabinet ministers Salman Khurshid and Beni Prasad Verma, following their violation of the code by announcing new sops for Muslims in the midst of UP’s poll campaign. That the ministers subsequently dared the EC to make good its reprimand was bad enough. But any plans that the government may have up its sleeves to clip the EC’s wings would be much worse.
Providing statutory backing to the electoral code of conduct is a bad idea that shouldn’t be entertained. What it would mean is that the EC wouldn’t be able to look at violations of the code. Instead they would be tried in a court of law, making them a long-drawn-out, dilatory affair that would further weigh down an already overburdened judiciary. It would be a drastic departure from present norms, under which the EC hands out swift orders against unruly and irresponsible politicians in the midst of hectic electioneering.
At a time when the nation is exercised over the failure of institutions to deliver, any attempt to diminish the efficacy of the EC, one of the few institutions that’s delivering what it’s supposed to, is inexplicable. By ensuring safe conditions for voters to turn out in maximum numbers and conducting free and fair elections even in politically sensitive parts of the country, the EC has won nationwide prestige and acclaim. One of the things Indians can be genuinely proud of is that the country has an independent and effective Election Commission. Let’s keep it that way.
