In two separate interviews to discuss the Election Commission, at a time when it has been reduced to a one-man Commission and the prime minister has the power to overrule Opposition concerns whilst appointing two new election commissioners, two former chief election commissioners have expressed concern about the public image and impression of the Election Commission.
S. Y. Quraishi says the Election Commission’s image has been “damaged a lot” in the last decade. He says “it worries me that the Election Commission has come into public criticism”. He says it has failed to establish an arm’s length distance from the government. He says it’s guilty of lack of communication and, specifically, criticised the Commission for not meeting political parties.
In a separate interview, T.S. Krishnamurthy said “the Election Commission has to prove its credibility by its performance” adding “it should not hesitate to correct the impression it’s not free and fair”.
Both former chief election commissioners made clear that their preference would be a multi-member i.e. three member Election Commission but Quraishi added that, in principle, he has no problem with a one-man Commission and went on to specifically say that if that one man is the present CEC, Rajiv Kumar, he has complete faith in his integrity and competence.
Both former CECs also said they would prefer a collegium for choosing election commissioners which is not dominated by the government. Krishnamurthy specifically said he would have preferred the Collegium outlined by the Supreme Court, where the prime minister, the chief justice and the leader of the opposition together choose election commissioners.
Speaking about the circumstances reported by newspapers surrounding the surprise resignation of Arun Goel – which are so far speculative and not confirmed – Krishnamurthy said “I do not approve of a person straightaway resigning” and he added “difference of opinion is healthy and should continue”.
Both former chief election commissioners spoke about how in their time well-considered steps were taken to ensure that differences of opinion were resolved and not made public.
