EC must preserve its sanctity and respect

Election Commission of India is one of the highest constitutional bodies of the nation. It must be respected by all political parties. It is also EC's responsibility to conduct free and fair elections. It has played a great role in strengthening the democracy. India is the largest democracy in the world. It is not easy to conduct elections so peacefully and freely, considering the length and breadth of the country. But since its formation, it has been doing a commendable job. Election Commission is also an independent body. So, it has rarely been seen that any government had ever exerted influence on it or had it been influenced at any point of time. It is the constitutional responsibility of the EC to enforce Model Code of Conduct once it declared the date of elections. The Model Code of Conduct is applied to all political parties and their leaders whether it matters little that the certain leader of the certain political party is PM or Opposition leader. Whether it is PM or opposition leader, the EC has to act without any bias, prejudice or favour. Achal Kumar Jyoti is the Chief Election Commissioner of India. He is an IAS officer and belongs to Gujarat cadre. Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, Jyoti was his Chief Secretary. After Modi became PM, he was appointed as the CEC of India. In the given position, there has arisen an unsavoury incident of violating the code of conduct by Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi, who gave the interview to the Gujarat-based 5 to 6 news channels in the evening of the day the electioneering had ended. The Election Commission on Wednesday issued the notice to Congress him asking why action should not be taken against him for violating the Representation of the People Act, hours after several TV channels aired his interview on Gujarat polls. EC’s one-sided action may be termed as its double standard. Taking action on a complaint from the BJP’s Gujarat unit, the Commission instructed Mr. Gandhi to furnish his response by 5 p.m. on December 18. The notice was issued for “prima facie” violation of Section 126(1) (b) of the Act. .The Congress, in turn, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misusing the FICCI platform. Rahul Gandhi along with the news channels were charged with violating the Model Code of conduct. Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi was served with Show cause notice and FIR was reportedly lodged against the TV news Channels, which aired his interview. Whereas this type of the violation of the code of conduct was reportedly committed by none other than the PM of the country but Election Commission kept mum. This clearly shows EC’s bias against the Opposition leader and favour for the ruling dispensation. Election Commission must keep itself above any sort of bias. It is an apolitical body. It has nothing to do with politics of the nation. Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti should know very well that his predecessors have been T N Seshan, S Y Quraishi, MS Gill and others. They have set standard parameter how EC should conduct free and fair elections in the country. Undoubtedly, Election Commission has won worldwide applause for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections. No fingers have ever been raised at its fairness. This must be maintained at all costs.