With most political parties flouting the Election Commission’s (EC) model code of conduct with impunity, it is not surprising EC is coming in for a lot of flak and being pilloried as a stooge of the government. Though the EC has retrieved some ground in ordering that the biopic on prime minister Narendra Modi will be shown only after the elections are over, it allowed the NaMo channel to be aired and it didn’t take any serious action when Modi tried to made a clear divide between Hindu and Muslim voters by saying that, after angering Hindu voters with the UPA’s Hindu-terror charge, Rahul Gandhi was contesting in an area where the majority was in a minority. And, while it is still examining the issue, it is not clear if the EC will take a decisive stand—and without much delay—on the prime minister canvassing votes in the names of the CRPF jawans who died in Pulwama or the air force heroes who conducted the Balakot raids; this is despite the EC clearly saying, last week, that the Balakot strikes were not to be politicised.
But before alleging EC is soft on the government, it is important to keep in mind that it is not just the BJP, most major political parties are guilty of the same thing. The EC’s advisory asks parties not to make unverified allegations against one another, but that didn’t stopped Gandhi from saying, after Wednesday’s Supreme Court (SC) ruling, that SC had accepted that there was corruption in the Rafale deal and that Modi had given `30,000 crore to Anil Ambani. The SC has not opined on corruption and the fact that Ambani does not get `30,000 crore has been explained many times over, but Gandhi’s allegations haven’t stopped. While UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath was censured by the EC for referring to the armed forces as Modi’s sena, BSP chief Mayawati made an explicit appeal to all Muslims to vote against Modi.
Certainly, the EC’s reputation has taken a beating, but so has that of the entire political class since the model code of conduct is something they have all promised to adhere to. When all parties are united in throwing decency to the winds—in the days the EC was seen as more powerful, parties and individuals took the EC warning/censure more seriously—the only option for the EC is to take extreme steps to enforce its writ. This could include barring candidates from fighting elections or asking them not to campaign in certain states, but if this is done to leaders of various political parties, the repercussions of this could be a quite serious. Perhaps the EC should consider large monetary fines running into a few crore rupees, depending upon the size of the infraction.
Along with political parties—obviously it is too late to do this in the current election—EC needs to take a fresh look at the model code of conduct. Asking parties not to base appeals on the basis of caste or religion sounds very good—indeed, there is a PIL on this in the Supreme Court—but when political parties are either set up on the basis of caste/religion, or derive a substantial part of their support from such groups, it is even reasonable to lay down such a code of conduct? And if, as in this case, one party is seeking votes on the basis of it being more muscular than the other, then is it reasonable to even expect that a Balakot will not be politicised even if, in keeping with EC orders, pictures of defence personnel are not used as a backdrop to a stage in a political rally?