In India, there is a growing debate over utilising electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections and replacing them with traditional paper ballots. The topic of restoring voting papers in India has sparked debate among politicians, activists, and citizens alike. “The public’s trust in EVMs has never been lower than it is now. This is because EVM voting does not meet with the key norms of democracy that any electoral system should fulfil.” These are the continuous objections that the Election Commission receives.
This statement can be attributed to the notion that one power seems to do anything it wants to, and the central agencies are also working on their fingers. Both of these are potential threats to democracy and raise alarming questions about the fairness and transparency of upcoming elections.
Why is the public raising questions about the fairness of elections and wanting a proper analysis of the matter?
Nowadays, the reputation of the Election Commission of India revolves around a compromising zone.
Abhisar Sharma, a senior journalist, argues how a constitutional institution like the ECI, the Election Commission of India is gaining a bad name under the Modi regime. Whether it’s doubt in EVMs or the nomination of election commissioners, the evident erosion of ECI autonomy and independence is a dangerous indication of the country’s democracy.
Decide openly in favour of one party.
In a shocking incident, the instance of the presiding officer, Anil Masih, who tampered with eight ballots, all voted in support of the AAP-Congress candidate, Kuldeep Dhalor, and then declared them invalid, raises serious concerns about the election’s fairness. Masih’s tampering was, surprisingly, recorded on camera. Despite this, the BJP was declared victorious, with senior party leaders applauding the outcome. Even more astonishing was the fact that, despite this clear and publicly available evidence, the Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to take action when Dhalor sought it.
This raises the question, ‘Will the Election Commission Make Sure that Elections in 2024 Will Be Completely Fair?’
The Greatest Scam In The History Of The World- The Electoral Bond Scam.
By this time, one has enough knowledge about how things were planned and executed in the Electoral Bond Scheme to make it one of the biggest scams of the decade. If you are still not convinced, read these words by renowned economist Mr Parakala Prabhakar, who is also the the husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying that the “electoral bond issue” will incur significant costs for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr Prabhakar said, “The electoral bond issue will get much more momentum than it does now. Everyone now realises that it is not only the biggest scam in India but the biggest scam in the world. Because of this issue, the electorate will punish the administration severely.”
The Chief Election Commissioner stated that the four major hurdles to holding free and fair elections are muscle, money, misinformation, and MCC violations. So, will the Election Commission ensure that the central ruling party does not misuse the massive portion of funds it receives or is extorted through the so-called Anti-Corruption Scheme, the Electoral Bond, and the Election Commission will stand on the words of handling the 4Ms? ‘Will the Election Commission Make Sure that Elections In 2024 Will Be Completely Fair’?
The attack on opposition.
Bullying methods against the Congress, which damage its chances of effectively opposing Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party at the head of a national alliance, indicate that the governing gang will stop at nothing to maintain its control. Deploying unethical political techniques, as well as the indiscriminate use of different questionable devices to disrupt parties and tarnish opponents to eliminate them from the race, appear to be the norm in India today. The brazen government effort to prevent the Congress from effectively contesting the election is accompanied by a slew of moves, including the imprisonment of opposition chief ministers on corruption charges with dubious intent, aimed at altering the fundamental schema of India’s election process while retaining the formal panoply of things.
The most recent and most dramatic of government actions to discourage the opposition is the arrest on March 24 of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, the founder of the Aam Admi Party, once a political rival and now a Congress partner in INDIA, the opposition front cobbled together to defeat the ruling party’s perceived layout to push for a religion-based, majoritarian order and foist authoritarian rule with the undisguised aid of the wealthy and its international financials.
According to the ADR, political organisations registered with the Election Commission of India are exempted from paying taxes under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act of 1961 while having to produce yearly returns and a summary of income and expenditure.
The Income Tax Department discovered that the Congress party had received unauthorised money weeks and months before the Lok Sabha elections and closed all of its 11 bank accounts. Therefore, India’s main opposition has been weakened as the Lok Sabha election season begins. In reality, it’s mind-boggling that tax demands with penalties date back to the 1990s. Historically, all parties have solicited money from individuals and businesses. There is no alternative option in the absence of state funding for elections.
So, this abrupt attack on the opposition just ahead of elections and unethical means to disqualify them from the race raise questions like ‘Will the Election Commission Make Sure that Elections in 2024 Will Be Completely Fair’?
Why does it seem like appointing those in power who work in favour of the Union government?
Topping these is the recent change in legislation to appoint an Election Commission, which can no longer be considered independent because appointments were made after the new law went into force. In any meaningful way, this change in law can only be interpreted as the current administration’s lunge to win a third consecutive term at any cost to legislatively enable it to make effective changes to the Constitution in a politically authoritarian direction that is ideologically aimed at diminishing India’s minorities and limiting their civic space. It appears like India is missing a Chief Election Commissioner like TN Seshan!
So will the Election Commission, a respectable Independent Constitutional Authority like the Supreme Court, take inspiration from Sir Seshan and work judiciously to answer the common public’s doubts about ‘Will the Election Commission Make Sure that Elections in 2024 Will Be Completely Fair’?
The ruthless attitude of the Election Commission towards the opposition.
It is not without significance that, rather than attempting to calm opposition parties, the EC has blocked their efforts to hold a meeting to discuss widespread public suspicions about the use of Electronic Voting Machines that do not accurately record votes and instead favour the ruling party.
Why are there so many questions among the opposition and the general public that the election held under the supervision of the current EC cannot be considered free, fair, and transparent under any acceptable definition of democratic practice? The explanation stems from the past.
The previous Election Commission, led by Sunil Kumar, was similarly embroiled in controversy during the 2019 parliament election for ignoring opposition parties’ objections and showing blatant favours to the Modi regime, allowing it to surpass its 2014 victory. However, the Commission’s constitution was subject to an independent process, and the opposition parties were forced to accept it when their strident protests went unanswered.
Even an article titled ‘How ‘Exactly’ EVMs were Hacked in Gujarat for BJP? What No One Will Tell You!’ particularly justifies the doubt that EVMs can be manipulated.
Why the current governance is so much under scanner?
It has recently been made public through careful journalistic work that companies that the government has routinely raided have then been paying the BJP through election bonds, and large favours and contracts, as well as favourable policy changes, have been granted to corporate entities that funded the ruling party through this channel.
For example, In December 2023, the Modi government rushed a new telecom bill through Parliament, allowing satellite spectrum to be given via executive order, eliminating the requirement for competitive auctions. Despite the Supreme Court’s 2012 judgement mandating the forced sale of spectrum, the Modi government chose to follow the same path as Congress before 2014.In 2012, the Supreme Court revoked 122 telecom licences issued by the Congress-led government, ordering that telecom spectrum be auctioned instead; media reports welcomed the decision as “a major blow against corruption.” The court judgement is generally known as the 2G spectrum fraud, which helped Narendra Modi win power in 2014.
In the run-up to the new law, only one company passed the first two obstacles to obtaining satellite spectrum. OneWeb India obtained both the licence and the space authorization required to apply for the spectrum.
OneWeb India is the Indian subsidiary of Eutelsat OneWeb, an international satellite firm based in London. Eutelsat OneWeb’s major stakeholder is Airtel’s parent firm, Bharti Enterprises, a multinational business based in Delhi. In a press statement, the company stated: “Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives final spectrum authorisation to commence commercial services.”
However, recent research on electoral bonds raises worrying concerns. It shows that the Bharti group contributed Rs 150 crore to the BJP between November 2023 and January 2024. Following the suspension of 143 Opposition MPs, the Lok Sabha passed a revised Telecommunications Bill on December 20, 2023. The Bill not only grants draconian powers for internet suspension and surveillance, but it also fundamentally changes India’s approach to spectrum management, paving the door for administrative allocation of spectrum rather than auction.
Does the ruling BJP not pay income tax despite having vastly larger resources than all other parties combined? Leave alone the Congress, any official move to bother any registered party on the tax front stinks, given the BJP’s electoral bond-related actions, which appear to be escalating into the country’s most prominent political and financial scandal.
It’s no surprise that when he first appeared on the scene in 2014, he declared his objective to make India “Congress-mukt,” or Congress-free. That project seems to be in high gear on the brink of the 2024 parliamentary election. The rulers appear to have been alarmed by Rahul Gandhi‘s two excursions across the length and breadth of the country, which have been received with increased widespread enthusiasm and have disturbed the regime.
Where should it end?
For the parliamentary election to be credible this time, Congress’ frozen bank accounts must be restored. All income tax proceedings put on hold until the polls are over, arrested chief ministers of Delhi and Jharkhand (the latter CM had resigned on the eve of his arrest), Enforcement Directorate, CBI, and IT proceedings against opposition leaders must be dropped for the time being. Opposition demands for EVMs must be met as soon as possible by the Election Commission. In summary, vendettas against political opponents must come to an end.
Political differences that existed in the past are still prevalent and will remain commonplace in the future as well. However, a transparent election is the need of the hour to safeguard the biggest democracy in the world. For the same, the Election Commission must Make Sure that Elections in 2024 Will Be Completely Fair and that The Pillars of Democracy Still Stand Straight with Pride!
