fake news

propaganda

foreign

social media

Election Commission of India

Himachal Pradesh

BJP

The threats to fair elections —, interference bypowers, corporate influence, and— are greater than ever before.India won her freedom after centuries of colonial rule. Millions had to suffer and perish for us to attain self-rule. We remind ourselves and others with great pride that we are the largest democracy in the world. What is this democracy and self-rule about? Is it merely about conducting elections? No, it is about free and fair elections. The words free and fair respectively mean elections conducted without coercion and in a fair manner. What does this idea of fairness encompass? Is it only about votes not being cast for inducements of money, alcohol, or freebies?No, we live in an age where the threats to fair elections are arguably greater than ever before. They come in myriad forms, such as fake news, propaganda, interference by foreign powers, influence exercised by corporates, technology, social media, and more. There are some other challenges to free and fair elections which have been anticipated, to counter which the framers of our great Constitution and later our Parliament tried to provide for institutions and laws. Institutions such as theWhat will the erosion of free and fair elections look like? How will Indians react at even the smallest attempt by anyone to erode and attack this fairness and freedom which we have been able to give to ourselves after so much pain and loss? Will this erosion be obscene, in our face and come with sufficient warnings and trumpets? Will we scream and fight? Is it possible we won’t protest at all, perhaps not even notice as someone slowly takes it away from us? Is it also possible that we might cheer and celebrate as a thousand wounds are inflicted on democracy? Could such madness descend upon us?For the last 20 years, elections in Gujarat andhave been held at the same time. This time, that has changed. The Election Commission delayed the announcement for the Gujarat elections, while the dates for Himachal Pradesh were announced. Outrage ensued and rumours abounded that this was done to give the rulinggovernment some time to announce more sops and projects before the Model Code of Conduct kicked in. In effect, the rumours meant that the EC stood compromised at the behest of the party in power.The Model Code of Conduct inter alia attempts to ensure a level playing field both for the party in power and those outside, and prohibits last-minute policy announcements after elections are announced. Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi wrote an op-ed in a national daily expressing the hope that the government would refrain from doing any such thing, and nip all such fears and rumours in the bud. The government, however, went on a sop-announcing spree, adding credence to the fears. The EC said the delay was meant to ensure that flood relief work was not affected. A report in news website The Wire quoted the officers in charge of the relief operation in question, and claimed that this claim had no substantial basis.Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani alleged that even the Congress had brought forward elections in 2012. I am not sure if Rupani understands this, but I hope citizens do — that even if there is some merit to Rupani’s allegation, democracy is not about every party getting the chance to insult the electorate and mock the Constitution of India. The ruling government is accountable for the transgressions it commits, and ought to be ashamed of saying, ‘But they did it first’.The damage is incalculable. Has this given other parties in the future a chance to say, ‘Hey, the BJP did it in 2017’? How fragile is its governance in Gujarat that the BJP needed a few days to announce sops at the risk of harming the EC’s credibility, despite being in power for 20 years?Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is asenior lawyer, said that the EC cannot be browbeaten by losing and disgruntled parties. Surely not, but I want to ask: does this mean the victorious and arrogant parties are free to browbeat it? What are citizens to do when politicians and parties care for nothing besides and beyond winning and losing?More importantly how will the citizens of this country react to these developments? Will we brush them off as politics as usual? How valuable are our institutions and our systems to us? We will find out, very soon.I want to leave you with a quote by jurist William O Douglas, resolute defender of civil liberties, whose 36-year tenure as associate justice of the Supreme Court was the longest in US history: “As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air — however slight — lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”