Is the country heading for a very big crisis, one that it has not witnessed in decades? Since its independence, India has not had to face the issue of elections being manipulated to install a particular government at the centre and in states. At the time of writing, the whole country is busy debating what Rahul Gandhi has alleged through his disclosure about vote theft in Karnataka’s Mahadevpur assembly constituency—that an election can be stolen in favour of a political party. His accusation puts a serious question mark over the legitimacy of the Modi government and also about the whole process of the 2024 parliamentary elections. If his accusations are true, then tall claims about India’s democracy go for a toss. But that can only be disproved if a proper and honest investigation is done, but most surprisingly, the Election Commission is hiding behind technicalities.

The election commission has been led by great bureaucrats like TN Seshan and Jim Lingdoh, whose conduct as custodians of the Constitution was impeccable. They set the highest standard as chief election commissioners. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the recently appointed CECs. They behave more or less like an extension of the government. Had Seshan been at the helm of the affairs today, then he would have been the first person to ask for all the papers that Rahul Gandhi claims to have gathered and would have instituted a time-bound enquiry. Unfortunately, he is no more with us, and those who are in the chair have no interest in any kind of investigation.

It is........

© Free Press Journal