Monday, April 13, 2026

TN Seshan and Sonali Khatoon.

Elections to the assemblies of Assam, Kerala and Puducherry have been held while elections to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu assemblies will be held next week. wikipedia. Election to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly will be held in February-March 2027. wikipedia. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been conducting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in every state to bring the electoral register up to date by removing those who have migrated, died or are foreigners. eci.gov.in. It may seem logical to delete bogus and dead voters from electoral rolls but the present EC has lost confidence and is increasingly suspected of taking orders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Last month, "The Election Commission blamed clerical errors for a letter by the EC being circulated with a BJP seal." The EC dismissed it as a clerical error but the CPI(M) party sneered on X, "It is no secret that the same power center seems to control both the Election Commission of India and the BJP. Even then, at least maintain the courtesy of two separate desks." TOI. What a descent into disgrace from the days of Mr TN Seshan under whose "superintendence, direction and control of elections, execution of the universal suffrage principle envisaged in the Constitution reached new heights, making countrymen proud of the commission and our elections (TNIE). In UP which has a BJP government the "electorate expanded by 8.43 million between the draft roll in January and the final number.., the highest among the 13 states and Union Territories where the SIR has concluded." HT. Whereas in West Bengal, which is ruled by the Trinamool Congress Party the SIR has deleted "over 5.8 million names, redrawing voter profiles across districts, border belts and high-profile constituencies." MC. Large number of Muslims have been deleted from the rolls on the ground that they are foreigners from Bangladesh (BBC) even after the odious incident of 26-year-old pregnant woman, Sonali Khatoon, who was picked up and dumped in Bangladesh and was brought back only after the Supreme Court ordered. Her husband and three others are still stuck in Bangladesh. TOI. An NGO, Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), has alleged in the Supreme Court that the EC failed to weed out 500,000 duplicate voters in Bihar (TOI), which has a BJP-led coalition government (wikipedia). In 1990, when Seshan became Chief Election Commissioner (wikipedia), India had a coalition government with Mr VP Singh as Prime Minister  (wikipedia) followed by a Congress-led minority government from 1991 under Mr Narasimha Rao  (wikipedia). Politicians were no saints at that time but at least they tried to maintain a facade of decency, unlike the brazen shamelessness at present, secure in the rock-like support of an army of deluded Bhakts  (DH) whose dung-filled skulls preclude any logical thought. Immoral politicians will do anything for power and the infinite opportunities for enrichment, but sycophants, who spinelessly accept orders to commit criminal acts, are contemptible trash. "Nobody hates living in India like Indians," said an influencer in the US. TOI. Does the EC feel insulted? If not, India is finished. No redemption.             

No comments: