Error of Commission

The Election Commission ponders the novel challenge posed by Anna Hazare and his team,which has vowed to campaign against the Congress in the five states that will hold elections in the near future. According to Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi,this raises questions of propriety and ethics. The EC,he said,would watch carefully for any breach of the model code of conduct,for any hate speech or law-and-order problem that might come up. While Quraishi agreed that in a democracy,they had the right to support or oppose anybody,he also wondered aloud whether this movement was entering into politics,and that it was for Team Anna to make sure it did not end up on the wrong side of the law. While Team Anna was free to campaign against any party,he said that if it ended up campaigning for a particular party or candidate,that cost would be added to the partys tab.

Team Annas right to criticise or endorse any candidate has to be fiercely protected. Speculation by the CEC on Team Annas politics is entirely avoidable. As Quraishi himself said,everyone has a right to openly agitate against any political party and this becomes problematic only when they become shadow-warriors for another party.

But it is not the ECs mandate to speculate about such eventualities its role is limited to ensuring free and fair elections,and for that,to make sure it stays away from any appearance of political slant or bias. Constitutionally guaranteed full independence,the EC has been the one institution that has done India proud. Despite a few occasional controversies,the commission has been a role model for others around the world for all the disillusionment expressed about other institutions,India has placed enormous trust in its EC,and the elections they oversee. Many election commissioners have emphatically asserted their independence vis-a-vis the political establishment,some almost taking it too far. Impartiality,and the appearance of impartiality,is central to the job description. While the EC has not taken any steps that suggest it is less that scrupulously neutral,it should also refrain from commenting on the political fray until it interferes with the freedom and fairness of the election.