The EC riders

It is nobody8217;s contention that the Election Commission EC is in the midst of a relaxed, stress-free summer. The responsibility of managing the world8217;s largest polling exercise 8212; 670 million voters, voting over three weeks 8212; of enforcing the rules, of keeping generally recalcitrant politicians in check is enormous. As such, the EC is, for the most part, nobody8217;s envy and everybody8217;s pride. Successive election commissioners have become middle class heroes; the institution itself has been venerated by the media. Even so, the divide between crusading spirit and plain overkill is sometimes thin. Over the past few weeks there has been a sense of disquiet that the EC may be digressing from its core competency 8212; overseeing free and fair franchise 8212; and is in danger of becoming what it shouldn8217;t be: a poll-time government.

Two recent examples stand out. First, the EC8217;s somewhat unwarranted disapproval of the press conference at which the revenue secretary and finance secretaries announced that, in fiscal 2003-04, direct tax collections had crossed budget estimates for the first time in almost a decade. Second, the EC demand that Doordarshan News submit a detailed report of the time allotted to each political party on its channel. The press conference was somehow interpreted as a bolstering of the BJP8217;s poll theme of a booming economy, of an India 8220;shining8221;. Presumably the EC would have liked the announcement to be delayed till after the election. For one month, a routine statistical tabulation, likely to influence appraisals of the Indian economy and of the government8217;s financial well-being, would have had to wait. Why? Simply because the EC thinks telling Indians that they are paying more taxes will tilt the votes in favour of one party or the other. The directive to DD News is equally difficult to fathom. News assessment is a decidedly subjective business. On a given day, if a channel devotes 10 per cent of its time to the BJP and 15 per cent to the Congress does that indicate a bias 8212; or simply an assessment that the Congress made more news in the period? That aside, unlike say the 1980s, DD News is no longer the sole channel Indians can see. It is one of some 50 news channels covering this election, each with an individual idea of news, preferences and points of view. Outside Nirvachan Sadan, does anybody buy the argument that DD News can swing votes?

Beyond specific cases, the EC would be advised a degree of introspection on its larger role. Is it just a little guilty of pushing its remit beyond necessity? India cannot come to a stop simply because a Lok Sabha is being chosen. Elections, the EC would presumably agree, are meant to facilitate democracy. It is not usually the other way round.