Electoral OCD
Such is the cynicism enveloping India right now that the abrupt resignation of election commissioner Arun Goel is being greeted with black humour rather than astonishment. Social media wits ask whether we will soon see him joining the BJP. That would not be surprising. We have, in recent years, seen several constitutional functionaries being co-opted by the ruling party. Comptroller and auditor-general Vinod Rai, famous for his fanciful arithmetic in the 2G scam case, was given a Rajya Sabha seat. So was Ranjan Gogoi, not long after retiring as Chief Justice of India. Last week, Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay laughed all the way to the BJP right after quitting the bench. If Arun Goel, PM Modi’s favoured pick for the Election Commission in 2022, follows in those footsteps, he would surprise no one.
All the same, his resignation last Saturday is an astonishing development. It raises the question why a favoured appointee of the regime would quit his post at such a delicate point in time, with the election announcement just days away. Further, his departure as we enter the election season leaves the poll panel with only the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar at the helm. Famously, Goel was appointed “in a tearing hurry”, as the Supreme Court commented then, in November 2022.
In one day of dizzy developments, his application for voluntary retirement from the IAS was approved, the Law Ministry’s search committee sat and shortlisted four names, out of which Modi ticked Goel’s name and forwarded his recommendation to the President, who granted her assent to the appointment—all in the space of 24 hours— even as the Supreme Court was hearing a petition challenging the process of appointing election commissioners. We have no explanation from either Goel or the government why their urgent ardour has cooled now.
What we know is that Goel’s departure from the commission has been as frantic as his arrival. His resignation was accepted by the President the day he submitted it. The two election commissioners —the third post being vacant—have been visiting states to assess preparedness. Some ticklish issues have arisen from these assessments. One relates to the number of phases of polling and the security arrangements to be made. The BJP-ruled Centre has been brazen about wanting the whole election process to be seeded in its favour. It wants the poll schedule, paramilitary deployment, polling booth administration, oversight of the model code to be tweaked in its favour. Even the most pliant of election commissioners would find it oppressive to function under BJP’s obsessive compulsion for poll management.
It is entirely in character for the ruling party to not be embarrassed by any of the questions clouding India’s electoral system. Just as SBI last week used a brazen ruse to wriggle out of having to disclose data on electoral bonds, the Centre will go to any lengths to ensure the odds are stacked in favour of the BJP. No notion of propriety will stop the BJP from filling the commission with nominees of its choice, at a pace of its choice, at a time of its choosing. So, a fast-track convening of the search committee this week, short-listing of nominees, PM’s recommendation and Presidential approval for Goel’s replacement are very much on the cards. As is going into the election with only Rajiv Kumar at the helm. Anything the BJP wants is the creed ruling India right now.