Free but not so fair
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: April 16, 2024 -

REGARDLESS of what the text books say about free and fair elections being the cornerstone of a strong democracy, the conduct of any election in India, right from the Panchayat level to the Parliament, has always been mired in controversies mainly due to the intertwining of money and muscle power in Indian politics.

The very fact that Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had stressed on 4Ms, namely, muscle power, money power, misinformation and violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) as four major issues that affect conduct of free and fair elections in India when he announced the schedule of the 18th Lok Sabha election on March 16 last only goes to show that despite efforts being made to curb it, the problem has not just persisted but become all pervasive.

In addition to Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) established in 1999 by professors of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and People's Union for Civil Liberties, a human rights body formed in 1976 by jayaprakash.

Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights, which are actively working currently; several committees such as Vohra Committee Report (1993), Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998), Law Commission Report on Reform of the Electoral Laws (1999), National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2001), Election Commission of India - Proposed Electoral Reforms (2004) and The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008), which were instituted by the government itself, have time and again proposed electoral reforms for better democracy and transparent governance in the country.

Unfortunately, the recommendations made by these committees remained gathering dust despite electoral reforms being touted as the remedy for plugging the malaises plaguing the political system of the country.

This is, indeed, a sad reality with which the citizens in the largest democracy of the world have been living in for all these years and, perhaps, for many more years to come.

In the light of these facts and the situation prevailing in the state, we can't help but wonder how free and fair the conduct of election to the 18th Lok Sabha is going to be in Manipur on April 19 for the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and on April 26 for the Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency.

Apart from the fact that the election has been thrusted upon the people of the state in the midst of an ethnic conflict that has been raging for more than eleven months now with no solution in sight, absence of the buzz normally associated with the five-yearly democratic exercise of electing two representatives to the lower house of Indian Parliament by the people has been ubiquitous.

But the near-total absence of election buzz in the open seems to have paved way for a strong undercurrent of politics that had been never seen before in the state. With Manipur becoming a highly weaponised society (thanks once again to the nearly one year long unresolved ethnic crisis), intimidation of candidates and their supporters, mainly of the Indian National Congress (INC), by armed men in not so discreet manner is what everyone is hearing or seeing today.

This disturbing trend is likely to discourage participation in the electoral process even by people who did not earlier raise objection to conduct of election in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, if the election conducting authorities both in the state and at the centre fail to take up prompt and appropriate actions.

Accepting the complaints filed by the aggrieved political parties or individuals should not be the end of duty of the election conducting authorities.

Otherwise, all the efforts being made for ensuring electoral participation even by displaced people living in the relief camps would come to naught.

But more than the electoral participation by the people, ensuring a level playing field is what is needed the most for a democracy to thrive.

Only then, the text book meaning of free and fair elections being the cornerstone of a strong democracy would be appreciated by one and all without any dispute.