CEC Appointment Bill
Storm brewing over ‘downgrade’ of poll panel
The government has decided to table the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha in the special session of Parliament starting on September 18. There are two issues in the proposed bill that have raised concerns.
The first is regarding maintaining the impartiality of the election commission, and the second is about the status of the chief election commissioner and the two commissioners. Article 324 of the Constitution empowers the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections for Parliament, state legislatures and for the posts of President and Vice-President of India.
The Supreme Court in a judgement earlier this year ruled that to maintain the impartiality of the commission, the three commissioners should be chosen by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
The proposed bill, however, seeks to replace the CJI with a Union minister. This is being cited as a move that will compromise the impartiality of the commission because no Union minister will oppose the Prime Minister and hence the commission would, in effect, be handpicked by the government. This has raised concern about the conduct of free and fair elections in the country.
The second objection to the proposed bill is the ‘downgrade’ of the commission. The service conditions of the three commissioners are currently at par with a judge of the Supreme Court. The proposed bill seeks to change their salary and allowance structure which equates them with the Cabinet secretary, a notch below a Supreme Court judge. The opposition parties are planning to raise these issues in Parliament.
The new bill is also likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court as it seeks to set aside the selection panel suggested by the court.
Ghosi shocker
UP bypoll result reveals deep divide in the BJP
The defeat of the BJP candidate in an important by-election in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi assembly constituency has brought under the spotlight the divisions in the party. BJP candidate Dara Singh Chauhan was defeated by Samajwadi Party’s Sudhakar Singh by a margin of more than forty-two thousand votes.
The election result came as a surprise for the political pundits, who had unanimously predicted a BJP victory.
Their assessment was based on the perceived popularity of the state chief minister and the decision of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief O P Rajbhar to snap ties with the Samajwadi Party and join hands with the BJP. Rajbhar worked hard for the BJP candidate and announced that the Samajwadi Party candidate would lose his deposit.
Another factor that was said to be working in favour of the BJP was the decision of the Bahujan Samaj Party to not field a candidate. Since the BSP chief Mayawati has lately been seen to be moving towards the BJP, her voters were expected to vote for the BJP candidate.
But in spite of all these factors working in favour of the ruling party, its candidate lost by a big margin.
Sources say that the BJP candidate in Ghosi became a victim of the divide between state and central leaders of the party.
The defeated BJP candidate is said to be close to a senior central minister who is not on the best of terms with the state leadership. He became a casualty of a high-level fight in the party.
Sources said the BJP’s top leadership is working hard to bring the two warring sides together so that their fight doesn’t spoil the party’s chances in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.