The General Elections in India are one of the most complex in the world, requiring delicate co-ordination and massive effort. As Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Navin Chawla was in the centre of the entire apparatus of the Lok Sabha elections of 2009. Now he gives us a ringside view of the history, the inner workings, and the future of elections in India, in his aptly named book, Every Vote Counts.
Chawla starts with a quick overview of the election setup in India—the organisation of the Election Commission (EC), phased elections, EVMs, and other factors in the news. He goes on to give us the history of the first elections in Independent India, in 1951, when the EC was headed by Sukumar Sen. Chawla has researched extensively for this section, speaking to Sen’s daughters to get a feel for the times. Then he moves on to the challenges and details of the 2009 elections, state by state. Since he can refer to his own notes for this chapter, we get a very detailed picture.
Possibly the most interesting subsequent chapters are focused on the challenges facing the elections today: the Maoist resistance to elections, the EVM rigging controversy, the rise of paid news, and the intricate manoeuvring needed for the J&K state elections. Chawla devotes an entire chapter each to these issues, throwing new light on them.
During the controversy regarding the efficacy of the EVM machines, for example, the EC was at pains to test and verify the machines with every competent expert available. Chawla makes the wry observation that parties that lost an election were always the first to accuse the EVMs of being hacked! He walks us through the processes and checks that the EC goes through to ensure the reliability of the machines themselves. Multiple people have claimed being able to hack the EVMs, and Chawla also explains how these claims were always tackled head-on and disproved. In so doing, the complexity of the whole issue comes through and the due diligence leaves us impressed.
The description of the election arrangements in the Maoist corridor is like the setup for a thriller. Multiple attacks were targeted at the election officials who were brave enough to venture in these areas - bombs concealed under roads, guns fired at moving vehicles, ultimatums to boycott the election. In the middle of this atmosphere, Chawla did his part in arranging for enough security and transportation for the brave officials—eventually talking directly to the armed forces to get his requirements fulfilled.
The Kashmir state elections story from 2008 is even more complex. In this case, it was nigh impossible to agree on an appropriate date to have the elections—voting percentages, alignment with central government elections, and other factors weighed in. Differences cropped up between the Election Commissioners themselves. The various political parties active in the state were supportive; however, they added their own quirks. Eventually, the decision was taken, the elections were held and the rest is history—with nearly 60 per cent participation.
The last part of the book focuses on the mechanics of the EC itself. One of Chawla’s main concerns is the relative role of the CEC, compared to the other two Commissioners (who were added to the Commission during the time of TN Seshan in an apparent bid to curtail his power). He goes into detail about his falling out with N Gopalaswami, the CEC, although without apportioning blame or telling any secrets.
There is also a lot of discussion about the Commission’s efforts to control paid news and the using of media for political propaganda. Without naming too many names, he reveals how all the parties use all means possible for leverage, often running afoul of the Commission. This book is required reading for all those interested in going behind the scenes of the most logistically complex democratic exercises in the world.