Election Commission of India (ECI)

At ABVP Event, Ex-CEC Sunil Arora Hits Out at Critics Who Questioned Fairness of 2019 Polls

Arora referred to a letter written by several retired civil servants, to draw attention to ‘serious anomalies’ in the manner in which Lok Sabha elections 2019 were conducted.

New Delhi: Former Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, at an ABVP function on Friday, April 15, appeared to take on critics who had questioned his neutrality, The Telegraph has reported.

The ABVP or Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is the students’ arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In a book release event in New Delhi, Arora referred to a letter written by over 60 retired civil servants, to draw attention to ‘serious anomalies’ in the manner in which Lok Sabha elections 2019 were conducted, saying they were among the “least free and fair elections” in three decades.

The July 2019 letter, written in the immediate aftermath of the Lok Sabha polls that year, was addressed to then-chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, and election commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra.

It pointed out that even though it is the duty of the ECI to be transparent and accountable to the Indian citizens, ‘repeated omissions and commissions’ of the poll body have created an impression “that our democratic process is being subverted and undermined by the very constitutional authority empowered to safeguard its sanctity.”

Also read: Elections 2019 Among ‘Least Free and Fair’ in Three Decades: Ex-Officials Write to EC

Three years later, Arora said according to Telegraph, “They called themselves guardians of democracy…. The second para itself said this had been the least fair and impartial election in the history of democracy. Is there anything more shameful?”

Arora then said that he can called “a retired CEC” for guidance in crafting a suitable reply to the writers of the letter. Arora referred to the person as “Gill sahab”, ostensibly meaning M.S. Gill, who was chief election commissioner from 1996 to 2001.

“He [the former CEC] said: ‘Maine samjha tu siyana munda si (I thought you were a smart boy)’. If you reply to them, they will sit in India International Centre and send you another letter…. That’s the gist of what Gill Sahab said,” Arora said, according to Telegraph.

The newspaper could not contact Gill to verify whether Arora was referring to him.

Election commissioner Ashok Lavasa who departed the EC in 2020 is well-known for having opposed five clean chits given by the Election Commission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over alleged violations of the model code of conduct.

On Friday, Arora also spoke about the 2021 Bengal assembly election – another poll exercise which took place amidst violence and in which the EC’s role has been called to question. He said he was asked by journalists to comment on the volatility of the state and feared “a shoe would be thrown” at him during a media conference.

“I replied that there was always volatility in Bengal, which, when harnessed in a certain way, ensured social reforms earlier than in any part of India and gave birth to so many revolutionaries. The same volatility, if not harnessed properly, is the reason you are asking me this question,” Arora said.

In a piece for The Wire, P. Raman offered a rundown of events in which parties had flouted the model code of conduct, but the EC had been explicitly partisan in handing out punishments.

‘Ayodhya’

The Telegraph report also noted that Arora made a comment on one of the authors of a book he quoted from – the biography of freedom fighter Mahavir Singh Rathore, titled Vikat Viplavi, by Balbir Singh and Gopal Sharma.

Speaking about one of the authors, Arora reportedly said: “He is a senior journalist of our Rajasthan, who was associated with the RSS. I don’t know if he still is. In Ayodhya too, he had reached the front. As director, public relations, I had got his pass made by telling a batch mate of mine.”

“The comment drew applause from the audience, who appeared to have inferred that he was referring to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992,” the Telegraph report noted.

Bengal: EC Imposes 24-hour Campaign Ban on BJP’s Sayantan Basu, TMC’s Sujata Mondal

The bar on campaigning by the leaders will be in force from 7 pm on April 18 to 7 pm on April 19.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Sunday imposed a 24-hour campaign ban on BJP leader Sayantan Basu and Sujata Mondal of the Trinamool Congress for their controversial remarks during the ongoing assembly polls in West Bengal.

The bar on campaigning by the leaders will be in force from 7 pm on April 18 to 7 pm on April 19.

In an order, the poll panel said it had carefully considered Mondal’s reply to its notice which does not justify the relevant portions of her statement “denigrating the Scheduled Caste community in West Bengal”.

“Now, therefore, the Commission hereby sternly warns Sujata Mondal and advises her to desist from using such statement while making public utterances during the period when the Model Code of Conduct is in force,” according to the order.

Basu was issued a notice for his remarks that “if you kill one we will kill four of you…”

The Commission said the order on Basu “sternly warns and condemns Sayantan Basu and strongly advised him to desist from using such statement while making public utterances during the period when the Model Code of Conduct is in force.”

Besides warning the leaders against making such statements, the poll panel imposed a ban on campaigning by them.

Sushil Chandra Appointed Chief Election Commissioner After Sunil Arora Demits Office

According to a notification issued by the Legislative Department of the ministry, Chandra will assume charge on April 13.

New Delhi: On Monday, Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra was appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner, the Law Ministry said.

According to a notification issued by the Legislative Department of the ministry, Chandra will assume charge on April 13.

Incumbent Sunil Arora demitted office on Monday.

“In pursuance of clause (2) of Article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Sushil Chandra as the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from the 13th April, 2021,” the notification read.

Chandra was appointed as an election commissioner on February 14, 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

He would demit office on May 14, 2022.

Under him, the Election Commission (EC) would hold assembly polls in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

The term of the assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab ends on various dates in March next year.

The term of the Uttar Pradesh assembly ends on May 14 next year.

New assemblies have to be constituted before their five year term ends.

Chandra was the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes before he joined the EC.

FollowIng the retirement of Arora, the three-member poll body as of now has a vacancy. While Chandra will be the new CEC from Tuesday, Rajiv Kumar is the other election commissioner.

Chandra, an IIT graduate, is a 1980-batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre).

Since Chandra has expertise in taxation and investigation, he has helped the poll panel in election expenditure by political parties and candidates, a senior EC official said.

Before Chandra, T S Krishnamurthy was the other IRS officer to be appointed as election commissioner. He went on to become the chief election commissioner in 2004.

Chandra completed his B.Tech from Roorkee University and LLB from Dehradun and joined IRS in 1980.

He has served in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Mumbai and has worked in the areas of international taxation and investigation at various places.

He was commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) International Taxation at Delhi.

Before being appointed chairman of CBDT, he was member (Investigation) in the Board.

Besides the last Lok Sabha polls, Chandra was also a part of preparations in holding assembly elections in Delhi, Haryana and a few other states.

He is also an ex-officio member of the Delimitation Commission tasked to redraw the assembly constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

(PTI)

After Mamata’s Injury, TMC Sharpens Attack on ECI for Favouring BJP

Banerjee has suffered a fracture near her heel and injuries to ligaments and muscles and is undergoing treatment at the SSKM hospital in Kolkata.

Kolkata: West Bengal’s ruling party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), has sharpened its attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) after party chief Mamata Banerjee’s injury, alleging lapses in her security arrangements, and accusing the ECI of “working at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”.

Mamata Banerjee had taken her first dig at the ECI the day the polling dates for four states and one Union Territory was announced. Referring to the eight-phase polling in the state over 34 days, of which 23 days are after polling in all other states would be over, she had asked whether the ECI had prepared the dates in consultation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to suit their campaign schedule.

Following her injury on Wednesday, the TMC, in a strongly-worded letter submitted to the chief electoral officer of the state on Thursday, took sharp digs at the ECI for arbitrary changes in the posting of senior bureaucrats since taking over the charge of the state administration. The party has alleged that some unknown persons had entered the crowd and deliberately pushed her.

She has suffered a fracture near her heel and injuries to ligaments and muscles and is undergoing treatment at the SSKM hospital, a premiere government-run hospital in Kolkata.

Also read: Bengal: As Left and Congress Ally With Muslim Cleric’s Party, Will BJP Be the Winner?

‘A deep rooted conspiracy’

“It appears that there is a nexus between the complaints by BJP against the erstwhile DGP, the ECI unilaterally removing the director general of police (DGP), (and) the superintendent of police (SP), and the district police (who report to the new DGP) being absent at the time of the brazen attack on Mamata Banerjee,” said the letter signed by the TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee, Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.

“At the time of the assault, neither the SP nor the local police, was present to give her security cover, even though she is a Z-plus protectee. Only her personal security officers were with her,” the TMC complained. It suggested that the seniormost police officers should be chosen with great discretion and mutual consultation.

The state’s DGP Virendra was replaced on Tuesday by the ECI. The TMC’s letter said that the ECI had “summarily removed and replaced the DGP without any consultation with the state government, at the behest of the BJP” and added that “an attempt” on her life took place within 24 hours of the state’s DGP’s removal.

Election Commission of India. Photo: eci.nic.in

The party also referred to the transfer for additional DGP (law and order), Jawed Shamim, a few days before the DGP’s removal, and alleged, “Deliberate transfers at the top echelons of the police administration on the instruction and at the behest of BJP, are having serious destabilising impact on the state administration.”

Terming the “gruesome attack” as “a deep rooted conspiracy to take the life of our chairperson”, the TMC called for an immediate investigation.

Mamata Banerjee sustained injuries in Nandigram on Wednesday, barely a few hours after submitting her nomination for contesting from that high-profile seat that came to political prominence during 2007-08, largely due to her role in leading an anti-displacement movement, in which Suvendu Adhikari was her chief local leader. After Adhikari’s switch over to the BJP, Mamata decided to herself contest from the seat.

Also read: West Bengal: It’s Mamata Banerjee Versus Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram

In a video message from the hospital bed, she told her party supporters to maintain peace and that she was likely to use a wheelchair for the campaign but would not miss out on her scheduled meetings.

The TMC had strongly criticised the transfer of senior government officials during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well and Banerjee had reinstated all such officers to their original posts soon after the elections were over.

To describe the alleged partial attitude of the ECI, the TMC on Thursday also cited a case in which the party’s Joypur constituency (Purulia district) candidate Ujjwal Kumar’s candidature was rejected by the returning officer on Wednesday, following which Kumar moved the Calcutta high court.

On Thursday, justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya set aside the returning officer’s order, terming the officer’s grounds as “hyper technical.”

Since then, the TMC has launched a campaign citing how they were facing obstacles from all corners.

Last week, the party had wrote to the ECI, seeking the removal of deputy election commissioner Sudeep Jain from the responsibility of being in-charge for the Bengal elections, alleging that his actions during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were “completely biased, partisan, reeked of partiality and tainted.”

The ECI, however, rubbished the charges against Jain soon after.

According to political observers, the TMC is trying to create pressure on the ECI, as the party believes many of the ECI officials’ moves were influenced by BJP leaders.

The BJP has long been alleging that the administration in Mamata Banerjee regime had been “completely politicised”, a charge that was also echoed by the state’s governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Also read: Book Review: Understanding the BJP’s Rise in West Bengal Through a Journalist’s Eyes

Other political opponents of Mamata Banerjee, the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress, have also spoke in the same tone.

All parties had submitted deputations before the ECI seeking special arrangements to ensure free and fair elections in the state, which has a few decades’ history of political violence ahead of, during and after the elections. This time, central paramilitary forces arrived in the state even before the elections were announced.

The BJP’s state unit spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya did not want to comment on any controversy involving Mamata Banerjee’s injury. “We first want to see her get well soon. The allegations that she is making (of a conspiracy to harm her) is a major one and needs to be thoroughly probed,” he said.

BJP leaders Sabyasachi Dutta and Sisir Bajoria went to the office of the chief electoral officer on Thursday. They too sought a probe and requested the commission to make the video footage of the incident publicly available.

“The footage should be made public so that people get to know what actually happened and the blame do not come on the ECI. They should make such videos public in their own interest,” Dutta said.

The ECI had sought a report from the state police on Wednesday itself. A senior officer of the state police, who did not want to be named, said that a preliminary report had been submitted to the ECI by Thursday afternoon and it termed the incident as “an accident” and ruled out the possibility of “an attack.”

However, there has been no official statement from the ECI at the time of filing this report.

Dismissing PIL on Bihar Elections, SC Says COVID Can’t Be Ground for Postponing Polls

It is for the Election Commission to decide on the deferment of polls, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said.

New Delhi: Stating that COVID-19 cannot be a ground for postponing elections, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking to defer the Bihar assembly polls till the state is free of the novel coronavirus.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will consider everything, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said.

The bench, also comprising Justices R.S. Reddy and M.R. Shah, said it is a premature petition as no notification for the assembly polls has been issued till now.

The petitioner, Avinash Thakur, had sought a direction to the Chief Election Commissioner to postpone the polls due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the ground that the Representation of the People Act provides for the deferment of polls in extraordinary situations.

“How can we ask the ECI to not hold elections? COVID cannot be a valid ground for postponement of elections,” the bench stated.

When the petitioner’s counsel said the RP Act provides for the deferment of polls due to an extraordinary situation, the bench said it is for the ECI to decide and the court cannot direct the poll panel to not hold elections.

The petitioner’s counsel also argued that elections are not paramount but human life is, and even MLAs and common people are suffering due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bench said it cannot pass orders for the deferment of polls and the ECI will take into account every situation.

It said no writ can be applied like this and dismissed the PIL.

President Kovind Accepts Ashok Lavasa’s Resignation From Post of Election Commissioner

Lavasa, known for his dissent in the EC, will be joining Philippines-based Asian Development Bank as the vice president sometime in September, sources say.

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Ashok Lavasa as election commissioner, a notification by the Ministry of Law and Justice said on Wednesday.

Lavasa had on Tuesday sent his resignation as election commissioner to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“… the President is pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Shri Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner with effect from the 31st August, 2020,” the notification said.

Lavasa was next in line to head the poll panel. He would soon be joining the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as vice president, sources say.

Also read: Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, Known for Dissent in EC, May Leave Early for ADB Job

He would be joining the Philippines-based ADB sometime in September, they added.

“The ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as vice-president for private sector operations and public-private partnerships,” the multilateral lending agency had said in a statement last month.

He will succeed Diwakar Gupta, whose term will end on August 31.

Lavasa’s term in the election commission would have ended in October 2022 had he become the chief election commissioner (CEC).

He is the second election commissioner to step down from the poll panel before the completion of his term. In 1973, CEC Nagendra Singh resigned after he was appointed a judge in the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

Lavasa’s resignation comes at a time when the election commission is preparing to hold Bihar assembly polls amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Lavasa, a career bureaucrat, joined as the election commissioner on January 23, 2018, and, being senior most on the poll panel, would have become the CEC in April 2021 after the term of incumbent Sunil Arora ends.

Lavasa made headlines during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when he gave a dissenting note to the Election Commission of India giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on allegations of violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Ex-BSF Jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav Joins JJP, Says Will Contest Against Khattar

Tej Bahadur Yadav had been disqualified earlier this year from contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chandigarh: Former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, who was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video complaining about the quality of food served to the troops of the force, joined the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party on Sunday and said that he will contest the assembly polls against Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Yadav, who hails from Mahendergarh district, joined the JJP in New Delhi in the presence of its leader Dushyant Chautala.

“I am thankful to the JJP and Dushyant Chautala that they nominated me to fight against the chief minister from Karnal,” Yadav said.

He said unemployment was a major issue in Haryana.

“You know the condition of Haryana and how many people are unemployed in the state,” Yadav said, adding that his fight has always been against corruption.

“In Dushyant, I see the image of late Chaudhary Devi Lal and like him, he has a clean reputation. In the future, I want to see him as Haryana’s chief minister and for this, we need people’s support,” he said.

Polling for the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 21.

In the Lok Sabha polls, Tej Bahadur was fielded by the Samajwadi Party against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi but the Election Commission rejected the BSF personnel’s nomination, saying he had not furnished all the details sought.

Meanwhile, the JJP released the second list of party candidates for the Assembly polls late on Sunday evening.

The 15 candidates announced by the party are: Bhag Singh (Kalka), Kusum Sherwal (Sadhaura-SC), Mange Ram (Radaur), Prof Randhir Singh (Pehowa), Rajesh Dhull (Pundri), Bhim Singh Jallala (Nilokheri-SC), Gurdev Ramba (Indri), Kuldeep Malik (Gohana), Rajender Ganeriwala (Sirsa), Sanjay Dalal (Bahadurgarh), Sanjay Kablana (Badli), Upender Kadiyan (Beri), former MLA Moola Ram (Nangal Chaudhary), Taiyyab Hussain Ghasediya (Nuh) and Kuldeep Tewatia (Faridabad).

The party on September 13 named seven candidates in its first list. Of these seven candidates, one is a former minister and two former legislators.

The JJP, which came into existence after a vertical split in INLD following a feud within the Chautala clan, is contesting the next month’s polls alone.

(PTI)

Tamil Nadu: Election Commission Cancels Tiruvarur By-Poll Because of Cyclone Gaja

The constituency fell vacant after DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi passed away on August 7, 2018.

New Delhi/Chennai: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has cancelled the January 28 Tiruvarur by-poll, necessitated by the demise of DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, after political parties expressed reservation in holding the exercise in view of the ongoing relief measures following Cyclone Gaja.

An EC order said the notification issued for the by-poll had been cancelled.

The order signed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora and fellow commissioner Ashok Lavasa said a fresh date will be announced in due course of time.

“Bye-election for Tiruvarur rescinded as per orders of the ECI,” Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer N. Satyabrata Sahoo said in a brief statement in Chennai.

The ECI, in a communique to the state CEO, said the poll panel’s notification dated January 3, scheduling the by-poll to Tiruvarur on January 28, “shall stand rescinded forthwith”.

The Tiruvarur constituency fell vacant after the MLA representing the seat, DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi, passed away on August 7, 2018.

Tiruvarur is one of the worst-hit districts in the Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu due to severe cyclonic storm Gaja in November 2018.

Also Read: Ground Report: In the Aftermath of Cyclone Gaja, the Anger

Tiruvarur district collector L. Nirmal Raj, who is also the district election officer, had on January 5 held a meeting with the representatives of the political parties after the CEO asked him for his view on holding the by-poll.

Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha member D Raja had submitted a representation to the CEO, seeking postponement of the by-poll.

At the meeting with the collector, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) mooted for the by-poll’s postponement, while the DMK, though it had announced Poondi Kalaivanan’s candidature from the seat, said the by-poll should be held after the completion of the cyclone relief work.

DMK chief M.K. Stalin had said “people know the motive” behind announcing by-poll to only Tiruvarur though 19 other seats were vacant as well, adding that his party was “not afraid” of the by-poll.

Besides the DMK, the T.T.V. Dhinakaran-led Amma Makal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) had also announced its candidate and the ruling AIADMK was previously expected to declare its nominee Monday.

As many as 18 seats fell vacant after AIADMK legislators were disqualified for siding with Dhinakaran and the Tiruparankundram seat fell vacant after the ruling party’s AK Bose passed away last year.

Election Commission Asks Facebook to Block Ads 48 Hours Before Polling

The Election Commission requested Facebook to block posting of election advertisements during the period of last 48 hours and to collect details about the expenditure part of the advertisements for elections.

New Delhi: The Election Commission has asked Facebook to examine blocking of political advertisement during the last 48 hours before elections in the country, a request the social media giant hasn’t responded to as yet, but is examining.

At a June 4 meeting of the Committee constituted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to study provisions of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a Facebook representative agreed to examine providing a window or button on the Facebook page for flagging complaints about violation of election laws, according to minutes of the meeting reviewed by PTI.

The representative also agreed to examine if the number of Facebook reviewers attending to complaints against contents posted by users can be increased from current 7,500 persons. The number, he said, could be augmented during election period if the need arises.

Section 126 of the Representation of the People prohibits displaying any election matter by means, inter alia, of television or similar apparatus, during the period of 48 hours before the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in a constituency.

An official of the social media giant at the meeting stated that complaints can be lodged against the ‘contents’ on the Facebook and these are reviewed as per the global community standards. “If contents are found to be violating the community standards, they will be taken off,” he stated, according to the minutes of the meeting.

Action would be promptly taken if a complaint was made by the Commission or its machinery about violation of any provision of the law in regard to “contents on Facebook”.

“In such cases, action will be with regard to violation of the law and not merely based on the global community standards. There is a policy of taking special care during elections,” he told the meeting.

In the case of proved violations, the Facebook informs the users concerned and contents are removed. The cases of removal of contents are also posted on the transparency page of Facebook.

“Maintaining a safe community for people to connect and share on Facebook is absolutely critical to us. In our recent meeting with the Election Commission of India, we explained that we review content flagged to us on basis of our global ‘Community Standards’ and remove it from our platform if found in violation of our policies.

“Additionally, we also reiterated that we remove content which is in violation of any provision of the law in the country,” a Facebook India spokesperson said.

At the meeting, the official was “requested to consider the possibility of blocking posting of election advertisements during the period of last 48 hours and to collect details about the expenditure part of the advertisements for elections,” according to the minutes.

A source aware of the company’s stance on the matter said that Facebook has not made any specific commitment on this as yet, but is examining the request.

It was also suggested to him that there should be some mechanism to deal with cases of repeated violation by the same user, he said.

Committee chairman and senior deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha said the aim was to prevent violations so as to ensure free and fair elections and asked Facebook to share the code of ethics/guidelines for contents and consider some mechanism to forewarn the users against violation of election laws during elections.

Besides ECI officials, the panel includes representatives of News Broadcasters Association, Press Council of India and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.