Electoral process being manipulated in India, do not reflect people’s will: Opposition
New Delhi: The Opposition says that “the electoral process is being manipulated and outcomes in multiple instances do not reflect the will of the people.”
According to Kashmir Media Service, a letter addressed to Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai by leaders of 24 Opposition parties and an Independent MP was made public on Friday, in which they said that India’s democracy is “in jeopardy” under the Modi government and urged the Supreme Court to intervene over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the alleged partisan functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
In the June 28 letter, signed by Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the leaders said they had taken the “unusual path” of writing to the Chief Justice because “our democracy is in jeopardy.”
They claimed that the Election Commission has displayed “brazen biased conduct” and “open, unabashed support of the BJP” by failing to act against violations of the Model Code of Conduct by the ruling party while targeting Opposition leaders.
Questioning the independence of the Election Commission, the signatories said since 2014, almost every appointment to the Commission has been of persons “closely associated” with the government.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s judgment in Anup Baranwal v. Government of India, they argued that Parliament subsequently altered the appointment process by replacing the Chief Justice of India on the selection committee with an Indian minister, a law that is currently under challenge before the Supreme Court.
Describing free and fair elections as the foundation of democracy, the Opposition leaders urged the Supreme Court to take “firm steps urgently required to restore the integrity and accountability of and faith in the election process.”
The Opposition leaders said they were turning to the judiciary because other democratic institutions had failed to act independently.
They said that “institutions themselves become instruments of oppression” and “carry forward the agenda of the government,” warning that “the future of our democracy is fraught with grave consequences.”
The signatories also expressed concern over the state of the media, claiming that the “legacy media is largely compromised,” while noting that independent platforms continued “speaking truth to power.”
They urged the top court to ensure that public faith in democratic institutions endures, noting, “We are not questioning the judiciary. In fact, we turn to the courts when every mechanism fails.”
Congress said they were making the letter public “in the interest of transparency” and in the hope that the Court would act to protect India’s constitutional and democratic framework.
