Personal View

After 25 years in public life, the PM has left the polity damaged Alok Tiwari Last week, amidst the turmoil over Election Commission’s dubious SIR the BJP tried to get the country’s attention to another matter. It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi completing 25 years in public life. At another time, the effort would have dominated the news cycles, like when the party recently reminded everyone that Modi had become the longest serving “elected” prime minister of the country. But it is a measure of where both the prime minister and the country stand that despite full page ads in the newspapers, IT Cell exercises in social media, and op-ed writers, the landmark barely registered. The other thing happening about EC, CEC, and elections right now is just too big. This ought to serve as a reality check for the party and the man himself. Over the years, Modi has mastered the art of occupying the centre-stage. This was true during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister. It has become more pronou...

Cumulative transgressions by the EC have begun to feel like a coup Alok Tiwari Even as there are demonstrations across the country asking for removal of Chief Election Commission Gyanesh Kumar, there are newer revelations by the day that suggest he was totally running amok within the commission. His attempts to cover up the lapses after they have been exposed are just as serious. The EC claim in its press release that changes in Form 6 (used for voter enlistment) were ratified by the Supreme Court has turned out to be a bald-faced lie. This has been called out by the court itself. We already know that EC software meant for use by field officer had restricted access to them. The EC not only improperly removed names of lakhs of citizens from the voters’ list, but when they proved their bona fides before local officials to the latter’s full satisfaction, the officials were unable to reinstate the names. Now it turns out not just the field officers but the head of tribunals in West B...

Illegalities in EC have rocked the very foundations of Indian democracy Alok Tiwari That the Election Commission (EC) of India has not remained the same in Modi government’s third term hardly needs retelling. The government, even in its previous innings, had sought to use it as a political tool. These were within limits of what can be called plausible deniability, until current chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar took charge. Before him the EC accommodated poll dates or split the phases in different states to suit the ruling party’s convenience. It allowed more leeway to it in adherence to model code of conduct than it did to opposition. There were complaints of voters being added or deleted in suspicious manner in pockets. These were not unprecedented acts, just their scale became extraordinary after 2014. We still believed that even though the field may no longer be level, it was not unplayable. That has changed with Gyanesh Kumar. Things have become extreme and brazen. T...