By Devika Bedi
Mr Om Prakash Rawat has been elected as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. The announcement of his appointment was made on 21st January along with some other announcements. However, this new development in the political circle has been greatly exposed to criticism and opposition from various political parties in the country.
Parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are of the opinion that BJP’s inability to garner support for their idea of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls has led them to influence the CEC election process. They allege that Rawat’s election as the new CEC will allow the BJP to enforce their decision seamlessly by eliminating the need for general consensus from the other political outfits.
The decision of electing Rawat
Om Prakash Rawat will succeed the outgoing CEC Achal Kumar Jyoti who retired yesterday. Rawat has served as the Election Commissioner from 14th August 2015 and has finally been promoted. Besides being a retired 1977 batch IAS officer, he has also served as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defense. He has been lauded with the Prime Minister?s award for excellence in public administration.
While some believe the choice for the new CEC has been clear and that such a decision was imperative, many are accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of having a hand in his appointment due to his alleged proximities with the BJP allies. The matter came to light after the hearing of the case dealing with the suspension of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for holding offices for profit.
Kumar Shakti Shekhar from India Today, however, has contradicted Kejriwal?s accusations. Arvind Kejriwal had sought to damage Om Prakash Rawat’s image even though the latter’s close proximity to Shivraj Singh Chouhan cannot be verified. Rawat was indeed the Principal Secretary to the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Babulal Gaur who was Chouhan’s predecessor. The conundrum of Rawat holding the position and serving in good ethics remains to be solved only with passing time.
How can the CEC shape the future of voting in India?
The Chief Election Commissioner is one of the most important and significant portfolios in India. The Election Commission is a quasi-judicial body and its chief is responsible for executing and designing important and relevant election protocols.
Rawat, in one of his foremost announcements, has expressed the need for simultaneous elections for the Centre and State Assemblies. As the Election Commissioner, he gave a statement saying that ?Holding simultaneous elections would help save a lot of resources, especially for the political parties who can do their campaigning only once. Also, the Model Code of Conduct that is imposed before every election poses several constraints in the way of smooth governance, which can be done away with.? This idea has been advocated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former President Pranab Mukherjee. If this happens, not only will the state machinery be affected, but it may also have the capacity to neutralise the voices of dissent under the blanket of an influential and well-marketed idea.
The current CEC will serve for a time period of less than a year by retiring in December 2018. As constitutionally stated, a CEC’s serving period is 5 years before they retire. However, the retirement can also come into effect as and when the CEC turns 65. Amidst grave speculations over voting machines and their inability of being hack-proof, there are a lot of expectations from the new head over the conduction of fair and equal elections.
2018: The foundation for a new era of voting
While the 2019 elections are on their way, the current year will serve to be a foundation for the new and upcoming political parties. A new Chief Election Commissioner will be in full capacity to make stern changes in the way elections are planned and run. It will further have an effect on how the resources and manpower are used. At the end of the day, it is crucial that democracy should be the guiding principle for all such activities in the country, and no one better to ensure this than the Election Commission itself.
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