A free & fair election in J&K!

The elections are over in J&K and the Government elected through people’s mandate has been finally formed after a long wait of 6 years. Omar Abdullah has been once again appointed as Chief Minister. We have a Deputy Chief Minister from Jammu, which was unexpected. An independent MLA from Chamb assembly segment in Jammu district has been made a Cabinet Minister. There is one woman Minister, a Gujjar & a Kashmiri Minister as well in the Cabinet. Few more Ministers will be appointed in the days to come.

Many of us are now looking at the post election scenario. We are busy discussing whether the Govt of India will restore statehood to J&K or not? Some are discussing the relations between CM’s office and Raj Bhavan in the coming months. There are very few people who discuss and debate about the Election Commission of India -ECI which made this free and free election possible.

The way we witnessed smooth transition of Government from President’s rule to elected Govt in J&K without any violence is much appreciated. There may be different challenges before the people of J&K especially the Govt headed by Omar Abdullah, like restoration of statehood, but the way this three phase election concluded peacefully we must give due credit to the Chief Election Commissioner-CEC Mr Rajiv Kumar. The credit also goes to the ECI team in J&K particularly the Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole, Deputy Commissioners and District SPs of all the 20 districts.

Evolution of ECI & election rigging in J&K

The Election Commission of India-ECI is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Central and State elections in India. This commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25^th January 1950 i.e., a day prior to Indian Republic Day (Jan 26^th 1950). Jan 25^th is thus celebrated as the National Voters’ day. J&K had its own election commission until 1957. When Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who was the then Prime Minister of J&K, was jailed in summer of 1953, the election process was compromised at the behest of Congress party which was in power at centre. The writ of the election commission of India was not followed on the ground. Even the Socialist Leader Jaipraksh Narayan was not happy with the 1957 and 1962 elections. 1967 JK Assembly elections were also not free and fair. More than 50 % MLAs (39) in the 75-member house were elected uncontested. The nomination papers of 55 candidates were rejected on petty grounds to make sure Congress wins the elections. In 1967 Congress came to power in J&K with mass rigging with 60 seats. Till date the Congress party has never apologised for these political miscarriages. We must appreciate BJP for not indulging in such election rigging in J&K during their tenure.

B.K. Nehru who was the Governor of J&K between 1981-1984 in his book “Nice Guys Finish Second” mentions that from 1953 to 1975 Chief Ministers of J&K had been “nominees of Delhi” appointed through “rigged elections”. The 1977 elections were largely free and fair as Congress was not in power in Delhi. There was a Janta Govt headed by Murarji Desai who had aligned with most of the political parties in J&K except National Conference. The party under leadership of Sheikh Abdullah came to power with a thumping majority.

Great work done by T N Seshan

T N Seshan, a former Indian bureaucrat was appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of India in 1991. He served as CEC till 1996. During his period Seshan implemented several standards and it was during this time that the uniform voter ID was issued to all the eligible voters. Some of his main codes of conduct were curbing bribes, no distribution of liquor, restricting the use of PA system without permission, controlling booth capturing, controlling intimidating or coercing or influencing the voters, saving the public walls from posters and paint, submitting poll expenses and monitoring by ECI. Under T N Seshan’s strict watch, in the 1993 elections, in Uttar Pradesh, the booth capturing count fell to 255 – from 873 in 1991. The number of election day killings came down from 36 to 03. The number of constituencies in which polling had to be suspended or deferred, also came down to three compared to the previous 17.

Conclusion

When the parliamentary elections were held this year in May, it was presumed by many people that the BJP Govt at centre might influence these elections, but that didn’t happen. Then we had another free and fair election for J&K Assembly recently. There were some lapses with regard to voter awareness under SVEEP in J&K which needs to be looked into, but when we see the overall election process in J&K it was extraordinary. I am personally indebted to CEC Rajiv Kumar, JK CEO P K Pole and all the DCs and District SPs for conducting both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in J&K impartially, without any fear or favour

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is Founder/ Chairman J&K RTI Movement