‘Clubbing Elections Is A Welcome Idea’
After the recent Rajya Sabha elections in the state of Gujarat, the Election Commission cracked the whip, and said there should be a better layout of polling stations. There are other challenges as well. Election Commissioner O. P. Rawat, in an interview with Suman K. Jha, lists some of them, and says that frequent elections do impede the development process and that clubbing some elections is not a bad idea.
Edited excerpts:
Q: You recently said that winning at all costs without any ethic is the new normal today. That is a very strong observation to make.
The recent elections in some of the states have thrown up a condition for the Election Commission (EC) that sections of politicians will like to win in any manner either by circumventing the rules or violating the laws — this is the impression among the common man. The common man is becoming cynical that our electoral politics is really doomed because they (parties) want to win at all costs without any ethical consideration. So, I was putting this in context.
Q: People felt that the Gujarat Rajya Sabha election was the trigger behind this observation. Is that true?
No, it has no connection with the Gujarat polls.
Q: But were you satisfied with the way the recent Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections were organised and executed?
We found that the layout of the polling station was not conducive to hold the election in an appropriate manner.
There is a condition that every MLA, after casting his/her vote, has to show the ballot to the authorised agent of the party to which he/ she belongs. We found media photographers who were standing outside near the barricade, even they could click a photo. These kind of things should not be permitted and the layout shouldn’t be such.
Q: So, did you hold someone accountable for this?
This is not a personal matter. It depends on the choice of the room, the size of the room, and then how you place ballot box, voter booth, etc. One cannot hold anyone responsible for such constraints.
Q: But then, the EC did overturn the Returning Officers’ decision…
Yeah, that is true because we found after seeing the video that two MLAs while showing to the authorised agent did not fold the ballot and turned 180 degree with the ballot open. In the process, they made it visible to so many people. The law is clear that it will be an open ballot, but it doesn’t mean it will be open to public. It will be open only to the authorised agent of the political party. It has to be hidden from others.
Q: What are the main challenges that you think the EC faces?
There are three to four main challenges. First is, quality of electoral rolls for which we are making efforts tirelessly. Every year, we have a summary revision with reference to 1 January. Once the electoral rolls are healthy, the foundation of election becomes solid.
Then there is abuse of money.
In many ways money manifests itself into distribution through freebies, through media, through muscle-men.
Another problem is paid news. Recently, one (Madhya Pradesh) minister was disqualified. It started with chief minister of Maharashtra (Ashok Chavan) being disqualified.
Q: There have been a lot of controversies over electronic voting machines (EVM). Now the parties that were raising questions have won convincingly in the recent elections, do you think the debate on EVMs’ credibility is settled once and for all?
The electronic voting machine within the administrative safeguards of the Election Commission is totally tamper proof and we have been saying this from the very beginning. However, saying that it is totally dead will be wrong because every time there is an election, somebody will lose. And that somebody will look for a scapegoat for his or her defeat. But since the Election Commission declared that henceforth, all elections will be held with EVMs and voter verified paper audit trial (VVPAT), this should satisfy everyone.
Q: The EC has raised certain reservations on electoral bonds. Do you think they are sustainable because the government thinks it’s a good idea?
Actually, as such, there is nothing wrong in improvising the way for political funding. But you know the crux of the whole issue is transparency. That this information must be known to people as to who is funding which party and who’s funding which candidate, so people can make an informed choice.
Q: How big a challenge do you think the frequent elections in India are? As with India forever in election mode, the EC is always engaged in conducting and supervising elections.
That is very true because with some or the other elections happening, the model code of conduct comes into force, and because of that a lot of new initiatives get stalled and this also requires a lot of expenditure as every party has to spend on campaigning for party symbols, party policies, and other things every now and then. So far as the Election Commission is concerned, we are concerned about the electronic voting machines. If we have to conduct elections simultaneously, we have to have ‘X’ number of EVMs for all polling stations. That number we will be getting somewhere in the next one year or a year and a half. So we will have no logistical issue. It will be only constitutional, legal and political.
Q: But by and large, you think it is a welcome idea?
Yes. If not all elections simultaneously, at least some elections. So that for a year or two, there are no elections.
Q: Since you are turning 65 next December, you won’t be here for the 2019 general elections. In the next year and a half that you have, what are the main challenges you see you are faced with?
First challenge is of all the elections in eight states. Second is the challenge of electoral reforms. Money, campaign, media and voter registration are among other. So that the electoral integrity perception about India goes up and we also go high up the integrity indices. Also we need to ensure that the VVPAT delivers and succeeds.
