The BJP has downplayed the gravity of The Indian Express investigations, highlighting 14 occasions in 10 months when two ECs differed with the Chief Election Commissioner over the implementation of the election process, including changes to the ECIN software, by terming it as a “normal part of institutional deliberation leading to unanimous decisions”. The history of past differences between EC members suggests otherwise.

When the three-member commission concept was introduced in 1993 under PM PV Narasimha Rao, the two new ECs, MS Gill and GVG Krishnamurthy, protested that CEC TN Seshan continued to conduct the commission as a one-man show. They were not consulted, and no meetings were held before important decisions were taken. Seshan ignored their objections and approached the Supreme Court to affirm his supremacy. But the court held that each member of the constitutional body had equal rights.

Following Seshan’s term, the rule of majority has always prevailed. On the rare occasion when two commissioners, the late Navin Chawla and SY Qureshi, concurred in 2009 against then-CEC N Gopalaswami’s decision on serving a notice to Sonia Gandhi for receiving the Order of Leopold in 2006 from the Belgian government, the CEC was overruled.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Ashok Lavasa disagreed with then CEC Sunil Arora........

© Indian Express