This Is the Problem With the Election Commission & 2019 Poll Dates

“Odisha will vote for 21 seats over four days, Andhra will vote for 25 seats in one day. Why?” asks Yogendra Yadav.

The Election Commission announced that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be held from 11 April to 19 May, spread across seven polling phases.

This has raised serious questions about the Commission’s rationale behind the schedule – with regard to states like Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Odisha and others – as many ask... is the Election Commission being partisan?

The Quint's Aishwarya S Iyer caught up with Swaraj India’s leader, Yogendra Yadav, who has posed a number of questions to the Election Commission.

Yogendra Yadav explains that the Commission has to answer the public’s questions about the dates.

Being autonomous, and failing to offer its rationale to the public, are two different things. True, the Election Commission isn’t answerable to the prime minister. But, why shouldn’t they be answerable to the public?

Yogendra Yadav, Leader, Swaraj India 

He adds that these decisions should be subjected to the test of public reasoning.

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in India, but they offer a rationale for their judgments, right? These questions should be answered to the public. Public reasoning is the heart of democracy. There should be a rationale for what you do, and it should be offered in public.

Yogendra Yadav, Leader, Swaraj India

21 Seats in Odisha And 4 Phases; 25 in Andhra Pradesh, But Just One Phase?

Yadav has also asked why Odisha, which has just 21 seats, is going to polls over four phases.

Odisha is a small state with 21 Lok Sabha seats and Maoist violence exists only in a small area of the state. Adjacent to it is Telangana and Andhra Pradesh where, comparatively, there is greater talk of Maoist violence. Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats and Telangana has 21 which will all go to polls on the same day. Why is that?

Yogendra Yadav, Leader, Swaraj India

Now, with reference to Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission has announced that the state’s Lok Sabha elections will be held in five phases, but its state Assembly elections wouldn’t be held at the same time. Jammu and Kashmir’s Assembly was dissolved last year after the BJP-PDP alliance failed, leading to Governor’s rule in the state. This has led to much outrage from the state’s former leaders including Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah.

‘Election Commission Should Not Be Partisan’

Amid this demand for the Election Commission to not just be independent but also “appear to be independent”, is there a reason for Indian citizens to be concerned about whether the EC is truly impartial and autonomous?

Yes, says Yogendra Yadav. And the reasons go as far back as the 1970s, when India was under Indira Gandhi.

This isn’t the first time the EC is seen to be partisan. This was the norm. EC members used to be all appointees by Indira Gandhi. In 1983, during the bypolls, there was open rigging. The EC did nothing about it. Before the 1990s, the EC was a very weak institution. 

Yogendra Yadav, Leader, Swaraj India

He adds that appointments to the Election Commission, especially in the past few years, have been “odd” to say the least.

All the appointments that have been made raise questions. How many appointments were from the Gujarat cadre? When the appointments happened, what was their background? In my opinion, putting IAS officers in the EC isn’t good. They should bring independent people. 

Yogendra Yadav, Leader, Swaraj India

So, will the Commission answer these questions? To quote someone you often hear on the television… The nation wants to know!