Posted on 23/05/2024 (GMT 12:28 hrs)
Updated on 28/05/2024 (GMT 17:58 hrs)
An Overview: The following collage deals with the present scenario of Indian politics, with the ongoing General Election (2024), which suffers from the legitimation crisis (Habermas) due to various facts of manipulation, encroachment and atrocities. The post also talks about the role of the superrich ruling party in nexus with the Election Commission as well as the role of the judiciary in the entire process. All of this is based on secondary data reported by Non-Godi Media to elicit the future of Indian democracy.
I. Introduction
After the declaration of the parliamentary election India on 16th March 2024, we were not at all surprised by the non-Godi Media’s reports on the controversial role of Election Commission of India (ECI), the issues of bogus voting, booth capturing, various kinds of atrocities, coercive incidents etc. The malpractices of elections in India are now systemically ‘normalized’ (in the Foucauldian sense of the term). So, in this article (which is more of a collage), we have tried our best to archive some incidents of manipulation within the autocratic regime of terror since 2014 keeping in mind the Orwellian dystopic state, where “rigged election is declared as democratic election.” (Cf. Marcuse, 1964, One Dimensional Man)
Methodologically, the present article follows the widely accepted thumb rule of inductive proof. However, the present authors will also heed the flaws of inductive leap in this case, e.g., if anyone says, “All swans are white” by surveying 1 Cr white swans (swan 1 is white, swan 2 is white….swann is white), just one instance of black swan will be enough to nullify the above conclusion with universal quantifier based on simple enumeration or hasty generalization, i.e., “All”. Therefore, in the voting system, only one malpractice is enough to refute the claim of ‘democratic free and fair’ elections in the Indian territory.
II. Role of Election Commission of India
Though the “Supreme Court of India Directs Appointment Of Election Commissioners On Advise Of Committee Comprising Prime Minister, Leader Of Opposition And the CJI, VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 2 Mar 2023 ©Live Law), the political executive did not obey the order in its original form and had their own ambitions based on their profiteering whims.
“A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has ordered that Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President of India on the advice of a Committee consisting of the Prime Minister, and leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha (or leader of largest opposition party), and the Chief Justice of India….” (Source excerpted from the above report)
Instead, the political centre was throughout keen on making the selection panel of ECI an entirely political stage consisting of their own “pasandida log” (favoured people), so as to manipulate it as per one’s vested interests:
Bill introduced to remove CJI from panel to select Election Commissioners VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 10th August, 2023 ©The Hindu)
Centre defends dropping CJI from selection panel, says EC’s independence doesn’t stem from judicial member’s presence VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 20th March, 2024 ©The Economic Times)
And the Political Centre called the pleas against this move alleging “political bias” as unfounded controversy-seeking upheaval:
No bias: Govt to Supreme Court as it defends exclusion of CJI from panel to select ECs VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 21st March, 2024 ©The Indian Express)
It said: “To indicate, as the petitioners suggest, that selection committees without judicial members, would invariably be biased is wholly incorrect,” the affidavit read.”
SOURCE: Centre defends new EC appointment law, says pleas seek ‘political controversy’ VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 20th March, 2024 ©Mint)
And surprisingly enough:
SC Refuses to Stay Law Removing CJI from Panel to Appoint Election Commissioners VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 21st March, 2024 ©The Wire)
And thus:
Partisanship makes ECI an election omission VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 4th May, 2024 ©The New Indian Express)
In the meantime, Resignations of Two Election Commissioners Under Modi Regime Reflect ECI’s Decline VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 13th March, 2024 ©The Wire).
The whole situation depicted above is quite similar to the height of the “Collegium Controversy”:
Centre’s selective appointment of judges named by collegium troublesome: SC VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 7th November, 2023 ©Rediff)
Centre cannot ‘pick and choose’ names from collegium resolutions: SC VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 7th November, 2023 ©Business Standard)
This is what the present ruling party of India, the BJP, wants and usually does. It appoints selected judges and gives them post-retirement jobs, commissioners and governors in a partial, biased manner to safeguard and advance its own political vested interests.
After the five phases of voting that have already taken place, the ECI’s role is far from being under the veil. That they are biased in their conduct and are constantly manipulated by the “vishwaguru” is beyond doubt. Some instances are provided as follows:
Oppn voices outrage as EC silent over PM’s controversial remark VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 22nd April, 2024 ©Millennium Post)
EC declines comment on PM’s Rajasthan poll speech VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 22nd April, 2024 ©The Indian Express)
ECI under a cloud for going soft on PM Modi’s communal utterances VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 9th May, 2024 ©Frontline)
Till date, no action has been taken by the ECI against PM Modi for going against the Model Code of Conduct and the Constitution of India countless times. They simply sent an eye-washing letter to the BJP President J. P. Nadda (as well as to the Indian National Congress President M. Kharge) for not saying such controversial things anymore.
It is no wonder that the apex court Lawyer sent a legal notice to the EC for PM Modi’s Hate Speech:
The ECI’s deliberate “delaying” of sharing the voter turnout speaks for itself about its far from neutral/independent but political role:
SC seeks EC response on plea over mismatch, delay in voter turnout data: ‘Why is it difficult to put it on website’ VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 17th May, 2024 ©Mint)
Supreme Court asks ECI why delay in uploading turnout data VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 18th May, 2024 ©Maktoob Media)
Explain increase in voting percentage days after polling, SC tells EC VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 18th May, 2024 ©The Times of India)
Furthermore,
The Form 17C⤡ is available with all the trained Electoral Officers in all the polling booths, which must necessarily get filled up to contain the relevant numbers/data for each such booth. In the digital age, the data from these forms could easily be digitally transferred and made available to the public. However, the ECI at present is only giving a vague percentage of voters’ turnout (that too, after days of delaying) without letting the public stay informed about the exact specific details as such! This is a gross violation of transparency in the democratic process itself by expressly denying public access, making the Indian elections at present anything but “free and fair”!
This intentional delaying is analogous to what happened during the exposé of the Electoral Bonds Scam in relation to the SBI:
When asked to get electoral bond data, SBI limps before SC, but bolts for government VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 7th March, 2024 ©The Reporters’ Collective)
SC tells SBI to furnish data on electoral bonds by the end of today’s business hours VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 12th March, 2024 ©The Economic Times)
SBI submits poll bond data, EC says information in ‘digital format’, should be able to meet deadline VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 13th March, 2024 ©The Indian Express)
III. The Sceptic Question of EVMs: Scapegoating or the Frustration of Defeat?
The question of EVMs has remained a controversial issue amidst all the uproar on elections. The BJP pro-EVM stance goes as follows:
However, one cannot have any faith in the EVMs and VVPATs, since they are open to manipulation through technological means. No first or second-world tech-savvy nations (including Germany, England, France, the USA etc.) use these technologies for their elections, due to the tampering or hacking possibilities of both these mechanisms. The countless instances of such manipulation in the past decades in India prove the same.
Why the trust deficit in the EVM VIEW HERE ⤡
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw “mismatch” between the votes polled and the numbers counted in the EVMs already, re-affirming the flawed nature of the EVMs:
EVM Vote Count Mismatch In 370+ Seats and EC Refuses to Explain VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reposted on 2nd April, 2024 ©The Quint)
In the case of the method of ballot papers, booth capturing by muscle-power is also inevitable. One has seen this in West Bengal from the days of yore– from the Left front’s “scientific rigging” to the TMC’s massive use of muscle & money power (note that the TMC is the second highest earner in case of Electoral bonds). To hide the facts of movement against EVM and VVPAT, only one instance of manipulating ballot paper by a presiding officer in the Chandigarh Mayor Elections was shown or foregrounded in the media. The common people then forget about the bigger scams of the EVM!
Using the data published by the “International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Support” (International IDEA), it was found out that 30 countries are using electronic methods of voting as of 2018. 29 countries are currently conducting trials and feasibility tests on various electronic voting methods while 11 countries have done away with the practice altogether.
Source: Electronic Voting and Counting Around the World VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on December 17, 2013 ©NDI)
An electoral system of First pass the post in which proportional representation has no place (in the case of direct, general elections), where the “Right to Recall” has got no place, where the EVMs can easily be controlled by the political parties — what are we, the common citizens, supposed to do? In the name of “free and fair” elections, India is actually turning into an “electoral autocracy”, as recently alleged by the Swedish V-Dem Institute:
‘Electoral autocracy’: The downgrading of India’s democracy VIEW HERE ⤡
When the anti-EVM movement was in its peak in India, a video from Chandigarh Mayor Elections was brought forth to prove the illegitimacy of ballot papers and to promote EVMs instead. It was done as a legitimizing move to promote EVMs over and above the ballot method.
It is very difficult within this situation to choose EITHER the EVM OR the Ballot (in terms of an exclusive disjunction), since it seems to be a double-edged sword! The whole “election industry” is an expensive affair of so-called “democracy”, which generates temporary employment for some common people!
In the Uttar Pradesh State Elections in India, the BJP won by a historic record breaking margin of 325 seats. This has bought forward the issue of Election fraud in EVM (Electronic Voting) machines. EVMs can be hacked and tampered easily. That’s why most developed nations do not use an EVM.
For more information on the problem of EVMs as such, follow the links provided below:
Research paper on Security analysis of Indian EVM by University of Michigan VIEW HERE ⤡
Electronic Voting Machines & Why Voters Should Be Suspicious Of Every Election VIEW HERE ⤡
American research describing how easy is it to hack voting machines VIEW HERE ⤡
Why are states dumping EVM to go back to paper (America) VIEW HERE ⤡
Dr David Dill speaks on Indian EVM VIEW HERE ⤡
In the EVM debate, stalemate between civil society and government VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on Jan 22, 2024 © Hindustan Times)
By Dismissing Doubts Over EVMs, EC Must Know It Can’t Promise a Free and Fair Elections VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on March 19, 2024 © The Wire)
Courtesy: Dhruv Rathee
IV. Role of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The central and pivotal role of the BJP in the entire electoral autocratic rigmarole has to be investigated further at present.
A few points are enlisted as follows:
“In Surat and Gandhinagar, opposition parties and activists have accused the BJP of undermining democratic processes by using party workers and police to intimidate and put pressure on opposing candidates to withdraw, sometimes with explicit threats of violence or direct harassment of their families.” Source: ‘Pressured to withdraw’: BJP accused of intimidation tactics in India polls VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 14th May, 2024 ©The Guardian)
The 8 who withdrew in Surat: Their reasons, from ‘depression’ to ‘not wasting govt money’ VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 4th May, 2024 ©The Indian Express)
And also, in quite the same line:
Fake Signatures, Intimidating Calls: How Indore Lok Sabha Candidates Were Pushed to Leave the Fray VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 12th May, 2024 ©The Wire)
Moreover, the arbitrary arrests of Opposition members and leaders at the eve of the election is also a very suspicious affair on the part of the ruling party:
“Kejriwal has been arrested to stop him from campaigning in the general elections,” said AAP leader and Delhi finance minister Atishi, who uses only one name.” This is a way to steal elections,” she added in a statement.”
Source: Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi chief minister remanded to custody in corruption case VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 22nd March, 2024 ©BBC)
The same tactic was applied by the BJP to stop Mahua Moitra from contesting in elections from Krishnagar Constituency by deploying the ED, CBI and IT Departments:
With Mahua on her side, Mamata slams PM: ‘Vote for her as she was disqualified for speaking against BJP’ VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 1st April, 2024 ©The Indian Express)
The role of funded Muscle “MEN” of the ruling party of India to capture booths has become a very common affair across all elections:
As the 2024 Elections Approach, India Is Entering the Most Dangerous Phase of Its Existence VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 12th August, 2023 ©The Wire)
Let us see a few recent instances from the ongoing Lok Sabha elections:
MVA alleges booth capturing, bogus voting & cash distribution in 2 seats VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 15th May, 2024 ©The Times of India)
Collector to probe booth capturing claims in Maharashtra’s Beed: Sources VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 22nd May, 2024 ©India Today)
‘Bogus voting, booth capturing’: ECI seeks report on Beed booth VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 22nd May, 2024 ©The Indian Express)
All such booth-capturing instances goes against the RP Act (1951) of India.
In Manipur⤡, this was seen markedly:
And even in BJP’s hub, Gujarat, the same thing was observed:
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Man live-streams from poll booth in Gujarat, detained for bogus voting VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 8th May, 2024 ©Deccan Herald)
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: EC orders repolling in Gujarat’s Parthampura after BJP workers’ booth capturing video goes viral VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 9th May, 2024 ©Deccan Herald)
Re-polling ordered at booth in Gujarat after voter makes Instagram video VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 9th May, 2024 ©The Hindu)
This was observed all over since the very beginning of the general elections, 2024:
Lok Sabha Elections: Voting in Phase 1 Marred By Poll Violence, Booth Capturing VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 20th April, 2024 ©The Quint)
All of this draws from the BJP’s urge to silence “other” voices, the voices that resist, question and challenge their illegitimate authority over the people. The censoring and excluding attitude of the BJP is observed when:
Hate crime tracker Hindutva Watch blocked in India ahead of national vote VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 31st January, 2024 ©Aljazeera)
Moreover, the BJP openly supports and rallies for rapists as electoral candidates:
‘PM Modi is asking votes for mass rapist Prajwal Revanna’: Rahul Gandhi lashes out at BJP-JD(S) alliance VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 2nd May, 2024 ©Mint)
V. Role of Judiciary
Even in the case of Chandigarh mayoral polls, the apex court remarked:
‘A murder of democracy… a mockery of purity of elections’: Supreme Court remarks on conduct of Chandigarh mayoral polls VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on February 05, 2024 ©The Hindu)
However, the judiciary seems to be ambivalent by operating under loads of political pressure and promises of post-retirement jobs by the ruling politicians. These prevent the apex court in many instances from taking the right step and the right time. However, we expect that the judiciary will compel the ECI to behave accordingly as a constitutional body, and not as a mouthpiece of the BJP!
VI. Conclusion: Advent of Novel Spaces- Fifth Pillar of Democracy
It is to be noted that we have gathered information from the non-Godi media after empirically checking the facts. Thus, these news are not appropriated and codified by the all encompassing ruling party. This collage shows the illegitimacy of the voting system in India. As we have said in the introduction, one counter-instance can burst the bubble of inductive generalization, or prove illegitimate the whole election process in this case. However, we have cited more than one counter-instance and have thereby lost our faith in Indian elections as such: whether it is done with the help of the ballot or the EVM, the same does not matter as long as the end results are manipulated by ruling political interventions/ encroachments.
We are appealing to the judiciary for a verdict on re-election for the General Election, 2024, under the control of a neutralized body of the Election Commission.
In this context, we re also emphasizing on the Article 142 of the Indian Constitution, which provides a unique power to the Supreme Court to do “complete justice” between the parties, where, at times, the law or statute may not provide a remedy.
A humble request: get rid of Godi Modia, sponsored by Adani-Ambani. The ranking of India in the Freedom of the Press Index is simply worrying:
India press freedom score falls, says Reporters sans Frontieres VIEW HERE ⤡
Instead of such funded/sponsored/consent-manufacturing Godi Modia, you may view:
- Ravish Kumar ⤡
- Dhruv Rathee ⤡
- Akash Banerjee (The Deshbhakt) ⤡
- Abhisar Sharma ⤡
- Newslaundry ⤡
- Alt news⤡
- Ajit Anjum ⤡
- Sakshi Joshi ⤡
- Deepak Sharma ⤡
- The Wire ⤡
- Deshneeti ⤡
- Newsclick ⤡
- The News Minute⤡
- Punya Prasun Bajpayee ⤡
- deKoder⤡
- TheRedMike ⤡
- The Nation ⤡ on the YouTube platform.
In the case of print media, one may follow:
SEE ALSO:
ভোটং দেহি (Begging Votes) VIEW HERE ⤡
Now, we, the supposed “citizens” of the Indian nation-state, are facing existential crises. We understand that there is no meaning in the election when it is controlled by the pre-debt-ors, viz., WB-IMF-WTO and the MNCS. The extortionist trio of WB-IMF-WTO has already selected the installed puppet dictator. What shall we do with such expensive domain of the so-called “Democracy”? It is, after all, reduced to nothing more than a farce!
Postscript: Oh Really! Indian Elections are way too expensive!
Can any of us even estimate the amount of costs/expenditure required for holding any election in India? Considering this aspect of the issue-at-hand might enable one to further lose one’s faith in the sanctity, validity and legitimacy of the electoral process in the form it stands today.
One can get the estimate of such expenses in the following link:
2024 LS polls pegged as costliest ever, expenditure may touch Rs 1.35 lakh crore: Expert VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 25th April, 2024 ©The Economic Times)
Democracy has been reduced to a “bought” commodity (with the richest political party remaining more viable than other parties with the vigor of its shameless money power obtained from multiple sources: corporate funding through means such as Electoral Bonds etc., terror-funding and so on) with this commodification of elections in the era of “Dollar Voting”, culminating in the loss of the valuable money of common taxpayers. This is why after every election, inflation becomes inevitable due to the high level of expenditure that precedes it.
Even if the BJP, the present ruling party, is defeated on the 4th of June, it will still be quite difficult for the newly elected party/coalition of parties to get rid of or overcome the huge burden of external debt (plus interest) that has been taken by the Indian government since 2014 from the trio: WB-IMF-WTO. It will find itself helpless in the face of such neo-imperialistic dollar imperialism.
WAIT FOR UPDATES ON THE 5TH OF JUNE, 2024, AFTER 1 am (IST)!
Once in a Blue Moon Academia 
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