Opinion Express View: Free, fair, foul

The third rally of the joint Opposition front, INDIA, at Ramlila Maidan less than three weeks before the first vote is cast, was not just a pre-election rally. For the first time in recent memory, the country’s Opposition framed its biggest issue in the election, not as jobs, or price rise, not as the caste census or amity between communities — but as the election itself. United under the banners “Loktantra bachao (save democracy)” and “Tanashahi hatao (remove dictatorship)”, the Opposition alleged that the poll field has been distorted by the ruling BJP and its machine, oiled by a host of compliant institutions. That was its main charge and message from a Maidan that has played host to consequential political exhortations and clarion calls in the past, including by the Anna Hazare movement against the then Congress-led UPA government (an uncomfortable memory on the INDIA stage in the current context of Congress-AAP bonhomie). Speaker after speaker from an array of parties set aside their differences with each other and with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, to flag this concern. They pointed to the arrest of two chief ministers, Hemant Soren and Kejriwal, and to ED-CBI-I-T action against Opposition parties. At the heart, therefore, of Sunday’s messaging from Ramlila Maidan, lay the faith, vital in a democracy, in the Indian election being free as well as fair that was so far shared and even taken-for-granted. Not anymore, the Opposition said.

Of course, for the Opposition, ahead of the election, it will not be enough to raise the rhetorical pitch. It has said its piece at Ramlila Maidan, but it still has to thread it into issues that resonate among the people. It will have to continue to set aside internal differences and maintain unity. It will also have to sidestep traps like the apocalyptic framing by Rahul Gandhi — while his main thrust on “match-fixing” was pointed, his warning that if the BJP wins the election and changes the Constitution, “poore desh mein aag lagne jaa rahi hai (fires will rage in the country)”, was spectre-peddling, unwise and unwarranted. Kejriwal sent a message from jail that may have been aimed at holding on to his voter in Delhi, but could also be read as a pointer towards the Opposition’s need, nationally, to frame an agenda of an alternative governance and politics. In his message, read out by wife Sunita, were guarantees ranging from 24-hour electricity throughout the country, to better health care and higher MSPs, and an invite to “140 crore people” to help make “Naya Bharat.”

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The five demands of INDIA were addressed to the Election Commission mostly — to ensure a level playing field, put a halt to the BJP government’s attempt to forcefully scuttle the Opposition’s finances and the targeting of these parties by the ED-CBI and I-T. Many of these are uncharted waters but the EC needs to address these concerns. It is armed with immense powers, consistently affirmed by the apex court, once the model code of conduct comes into force, to ensure free and fair polls. As it watches over the election, it will be watched as well.