Dont need more powers: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said that the unprecedented number of people who came out to vote in the ongoing elections to five Assemblies showcased the real festival of democracy

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Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Sunday said that the unprecedented number of people who came out to vote in the ongoing elections to five Assemblies showcased the real festival of democracy.

In an interview to The Indian Express,Quraishi said,The criticism that we Election Commission have taken the colour out of the elections is misplaced and misinformed. There are no unnecessary rules binding candidates or their supporters. But,we cant allow defacement of property or loud music or use of loudspeakers beyond a certain limit. It is not the EC that has come up with these rules. All this was already part of the local municipal and state laws. Our observers are only enforcing them. The positive feedback that we get clearly shows the faith that everybody has in our democratic process. The real festival or colour of democracy is when voters in large numbers come out to vote without fear,something that happened in these elections. This is true dance of democracy.

Asked if he favours more powers to deal with candidates violating the model code of conduct MCC,Quraishi replied in the negative. I have said it time and again that there is no need to give any statutory backing to the model code. The best part of the code is that it is a moral code that is acceptable to all parties. Did you hear any hate speech in these elections? We do not require any more powers. What we need is to amend certain provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act to make penalties for violation of MCC more stringent, he said.

To a question about controversial statements during campaigning by Law Minister Salman Khurshid,Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma and Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal,who were given notices by the EC for violation of MCC,Quraishi said the matter had been dealt with. People have too high expectations from the EC. They dont understand that we can only censure or reprimand a candidate or leader of a political party for violating the MCC,which we did. But,let me tell you,politicians are scared of even receiving notice under the MCC. This is the power of MCC, he said.

Asked to comment on suggestions that he acted against Khurshid due to his personal bias against him,the CEC replied,This is nonsense and hurts me deeply. There is no personal agenda. All decisions,including issuing notice to the Law Minister,were taken unanimously by the full Commission,where I was just one of the members.

On the changes in law that he would like the government to bring in to ensure more transparency in functioning of democracy,Quraishi said the ECs recommendation to bar candidates with criminal antecedents from contesting is pending with the government. It would be better if the EC were appointed through a more robust process. Also,while we have recommended banning both opinion and exit polls,by the government only banned opinion polls.

Asked to explain his twitter post where he said that opinion and exit polls should at best be on entertainment channels,Quraishi said that exit polls entertain everybody. Exit polls are not a very scientific process. There is too much variation between the results of exit polls shown on different channels, he said.