Outlook India: New Delhi: Friday, December 08, 2017.
A latest
report by The Indian Express has questioned the Election Commission of India’s
(ECI) decision to delay Gujarat assembly elections as documents accessed by the
newspaper through the Right to Information Act (RTI) show that EC did not delay
polls in Jammu Kashmir under similar conditions in 2014.
The report is
likely to create a political storm as Congress had already alleged that EC had
deferred Gujarat polls under pressure from the Central government.
Congress had
also alleged that it was to pave way for the BJP government to announce soaps
in Gujarat ahead of the assembly polls to alleviate anti-incumbency feeling in
the state.
On October
12, when EC announced dates for Himachal Pradesh assembly election, it was also
supposed to announce polls in Gujarat. The Commission had then cited a request
from Gujarat government to delay elections as it was busy in the relief and
rehabilitation work in the wake of floods in July in the state. The EC said
that the State administration had informed the Commission that it had to
relocate 35 affected villages. Delaying Gujarat elections, Chief Election
Commissioner A.K. Joti had then reasoned at the press conference that
imposition of the model code with immediate effect would hinder all government
works and thus affect the relief work.
However,
according to The Indian Express, RTI documents question the CEC’s claim of
model code affecting relief work. The documents show that EC had relaxed model
code for Jammu and Kashmir after the state was hit by floods barely three
months ahead of Assembly elections in November 2014.
In fact, on
November 5, 2014, the EC wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, J&K Chief
Secretary and the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, informing them that it had
relaxed model code provisions for providing relief and rehabilitation to
flood-affected victims.
In this
letter, the EC instructed that “all relief and rehabilitation measures declared
in the flood-affected areas as per the approved schemes of the central/ state
governments may be carried out without prior approval of the Commission.”
The newspaper
further says the EC did not provide a copy of the letter from Gujarat
government requesting delay in elections although it acknowledged receipt of
two letters from the state’s chief secretary on September 27 and October 2. The
EC also said that it had not issued any reply to the Gujarat Chief Secretary in
response to the two letters.
A.J. Shah,
Gujarat’s Relief Commissioner, had told NDTV no letter went from his department
to the Election Commission mentioning flood-relief work. “No letter went from
my department to the Election Commission mentioning flood relief work,” he was
quoted saying. Any such request to the EC would have to be routed through Shah,
who is the nodal officer.
The delayed
poll date announcement did help the ruling BJP in Gujarat as a slew of
financial sops were announced and big-ticket projects were launched across the
state without fear of model code. On October 22 ten days after EC decided not
to enforce model code with immediate effect and 10 days before it finally
enforced it Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the much celebrated RoRo
ferry service calling it a landmark moment in Gujarat’s development journey.
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