Murder of democracy, PM should have acted before CJI did

The nation has been witnessing the BJP’s all out efforts to capture power in various States by any means. That is the democratic style the party has adopted. The double engine doctrine that the PM preaches and practices is another example of his undemocratic behaviour

Most of the readers must have watched the appalling video of the Chandigarh mayoral election presiding officer tampering the ballot papers, invalidating eight ballot papers and declaring the BJP candidate victorious.

Godi media has not touched upon this fraud. One TV news channel described the result as a major jolt for INDI Alliance! They would have brought the heavens down had this incident taken place in any non-BJP-run city.

But the opposition kept raising its voice which youtubers reported and pointed out the undemocratic on part of the so-called presiding officer Anil Masih, a member of the BJP’s minority cell.

Masih declared BJP’s councillor Manoj Sonkar elected stating that the latter secured 16 votes as against 12 by Aam Aadmi Party’s Kuldeep Kumar. This, after invalidating 8 votes that the AAP candidate received.

It is important to note here that AAP and Congress have entered into an understanding with their combined strength of 20 councillors. AAP candidate was to be the mayor and Congress councillors the two deputy mayors. But the entire process has been subverted and the BJP councillors rushed in to make Sonkar occupy the chair even before the Masih could complete his announcement. The hurry with which they literally gushed in showed the over-enthusiasm on their part as if there is no tomorrow.

AAP’s Kumar moved the High Court at Chandigarh which refused to entertain the plea. Then he approached the Supreme Court. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra watched the video presented by the petitioner. Justice Chandrachud remarked: Is this the way he conducts the elections? This is a mockery of democracy. This is a murder of democracy. This man should be prosecuted.

Castigating Masih, the CJI said “Tell him that the Supreme Court is watching him. We will not allow democracy to be murdered like this. The great stabilising force in the country is the purity of the election process."

To say that the mayoral election process was shocking is an understatement of the fact. The world has seen the murder of democratic process, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not said a word. One cannot expect any other minister or anyone from the BJP’s machinery to comment on the subversion of the election process.

Can anyone believe that a man who repeatedly proclaims his love for the Constitution of India behaves as though he were not aware of the sidestepping of the democratic election process in Chandigarh in which the election agents were not even allowed to be present during counting?

In contrast, Modi does not miss any opportunity to criticise Indira Gandhi for declaring the infamous Emergency. He also stresses the importance of educating today’s youth about Indira's dictatorial regime.

Modi is on record saying that ‘We the people’ is a call, trust and an oath. This spirit of the constitution is the spirit of India, that has been the mother of democracy in the world”, he said. Modi, on his trips abroad, also takes pride in describing India as the mother of democracy but he does not take cognisance of the murder of democracy.

The CJI has made a big statement and now the nation awaits his final verdict after all facts about the Chandigarh case are heard from all sides.

Obviously, Anil Masih is not alone. Either he was directed to behave the way he did or he thought that he would get away with this blue murder. BJP president J P Nadda posted on X: "Congratulations to @BJP4Chandigarh Unit for winning the Mayor election. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji, UTs have witnessed record development. That the INDI Alliance fought their first electoral battle and still lost to BJP shows that neither their arithmetic is working nor their chemistry." Need we say more?

AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said “The manner in which dishonesty has been done in broad daylight in the Chandigarh Mayor elections is extremely worrying. If these people can stoop so low in a mayor's election, then they can go to any extent in the country's elections. This is quite worrying."

This is not the first time that questions have been raised about the way the BJP or Modi treat democracy. Targeting the opposition with corruption charges and using the investigation agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate so blatantly is as clear as the daylight. And then, the respect and positions that these accused get if they join the BJP or its alliance is nothing but mockery of democracy and the legal process.

Suffice to point out a case study material: PM Modi had described the NCP as the most corrupt and then didn’t say a word after the party leader Ajit Pawar joined its alliance government in Maharashtra. Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis himself said in December 2014 that Ajit Pawar would be ‘Chakki Peesing, Peesing and Peesing’ in jail because of the corruption cases against the NCP leader. Now nobody in the BJP – neither Modi nor Fadnavis - talks about Ajit Pawar’s cases.

The nation has been witnessing the BJP’s all out efforts to capture power in various States by any means. That is the democratic style the party has adopted. The double engine doctrine that the PM preaches and practices is another example of his undemocratic behaviour. The Centre obviously favours only the States where either the BJP or their alliances are in power. This is very much clear from the way Modi himself speaks of the launch of projects in double engine states.

One can understand usage of such expressions during the election campaigns. But even that is not in conformity with the federal structure of the Constitution since the Prime Minister as the holder of a Constitutional position is not expected to be unduly favouring some states and totally ignoring the interests of non-BJP run states.

Crushing the opposition’s voice is also highly undemocratic Many of BJP (then Jana Sangh) leaders were jailed during the Emergency. Today’s double engine BJP does a double talk on democracy and freedom of expression by one sided action against corruption. The toppling of Nitish Kumar’s alliance with RJD and then the formation of government by him with the BJP’s support will also go down in the country’s history as one of the greatest mockeries of democracy. Of course, one can blame Paltu Ram Nitish but the BJP’s role should not be ignored.

It is really strange that The Prime Minister expresses happiness that as the Mother of Democracy, the country is strengthening the ideals of the constitution and pro-people policies are empowering the poor and women of the country. Then he talks of Beti Bachao…

Strange because he has not decisively acted against culprits in the Manipur atrocities against women (about which, too, the CJI Chandrachud expressed his disgust). Modi is also mum over the way the party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is being shielded even after the Delhi police filing a thousand-page chargesheet against the former wrestling federation head for molesting women wrestlers.

For the opposition, the Supreme Court’s stinging comment on Chandigarh mayoral poll is a wake up call. The INDIA bloc has been in a sleep mode after the big announcement in Bengaluru. AAP will definitely feel emboldened by the SC’s firm stand. What will the Congress do? All of them have been talking about murder of democracy and imposition of the emergency by the backdoor but doing precious little to collectively counter the BJP narrative.

Former J&K Governor Satya al Malik said in an interview to a youtuber that he is disappointed at the way the opposition has developed inertia despite the opportunities available to corner the BJP leadership.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi should have taken the INDIA bloc into confidence before launching the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. It is not late even now. He should be addressing public meetings along with the alliance partners in whichever State that he goes to. There is an opportunity in every crisis and Rahul should remember this.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)