New Delhi, Aug 11: On Friday, the Congress made the allegation that the Modi administration wanted to maintain control over the Election Commission during an election year.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a letter that veteran BJP leader L K Advani wrote to then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in June 2012, stating that even he had recommended that appointments to constitutional bodies be made in a nonpartisan manner to avoid any perception of bias.In an effort to give the government more control over the appointments of members of the election panel, the Centre on Thursday introduced a divisive bill in the Rajya Sabha that aims to replace the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister in the panel for selection of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners.
Ramesh claimed that in addition to the prime minister, Advani had also proposed a panel that included the Chief Justice of India, leaders of the opposition in both houses, and other individuals.
“Through its 2:1 control over the Committee, the CEC Bill will ensure executive interference in its current form. The fact that Mr. Modi’s government is doing this during an election year just serves to reinforce the notion that he wants to maintain control of the Election Commission, the Congress leader alleged on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This year, elections would be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
Advani had written to Singh stating that “there is a rapidly expanding view in the country that appointments to constitutional bodies, such as the Election Commission, should be made on a bipartisan basis in order to remove any appearance of bias or lack of transparency and fairness.” “No, this isn’t a Modi critic,” Ramesh retorted. This is a passage from Advani’s letter, dated June 2, 2012, to Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister at the time. The letter is still available on the BJP website.
He said that the CJI and leaders of the opposition from both Houses of Parliament would make up the committee he proposed to choose the CEC and the Election Commissioners.In addition to contradicting Advani’s ideas, the CEC Bill that the Modi government has introduced also nullifies a ruling from a 5-judge constitutional bench that took effect on March 2, 2023.The Congress leader quoted the Supreme Court decision, saying that “the office of Chief Election Commissioners as well as the Election Commissioners have to be insulated from the executive interference” in order to allow independence in the functioning of the Election Commission as a constitutional body.
The new CEC Bill has been opposed by the Congress and other opposition parties.
