Questions of integrity

BJP should not have attacked Election Commission

Nobody who has argued that a government by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi would be respectful of India's institutions will have found support for their views in the recent exchanges between the BJP's leaders and the Election Commission of India. Writing on his personal website recently, the BJP's Arun Jaitley said: "I cannot conceal my disappointment with the Election Commission. Men in constitutional offices need to be bolder. Timid men can dwarf high offices." The problem, he said, was that the Election Commission was being "selective": "Rahul Gandhi can have a roadshow in Varanasi but Narendra Modi cannot have a rally." The returning officer of Varanasi, Pranjal Yadav - a local magistrate - had denied permission to Mr Modi for a rally in certain areas. Other BJP functions were given permission. But the BJP was offended that roadshows by Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal - and even the Samajwadi Party - were allowed to go ahead. The Election Commission had said it saw no reason to countermand Mr Yadav's decision. In other words, Mr Jaitley dedicated a blog post to blaming the Election Commission for not going out of its way to overrule a decision taken by an officer on the ground, even though there was no new information. Regardless of the nature and justification of the BJP's objections, however, it seems clear that the BJP has crossed a line in how it objected to the Election Commission's decision. True, it has made some amends through some more reassuring statements subsequently. But questions remain.

Most worryingly, Mr Modi himself has taken on the Election Commission. "It is unfortunate," he wrote on Twitter, "that the EC is not concerned about the institution's neutrality." This tops a sustained attack on the Election Commission's credibility. The BJP's prime ministerial candidate even dared the Election Commission to arrest him: "You have failed to stop rigging… Why are you not acting? What is your intention? If you feel what I am saying now is wrong, you are free to lodge a case against me." The BJP had already indicated that it felt that the first information report against Mr Modi for supposedly campaigning too close to a voting booth was a waste of time.

The BJP is not yet in power, and already reasonable questions might be asked about its commitment to institutional integrity. Concerns have been raised about the chief election commissioner's antecedents, for example. This does not bode well for the government that the BJP expects to run. Worse still, it has worrying implications for counting day, May 16. What if the BJP's results are not as good as the party has been hoping for? It is not beyond the realms of possibility that opinion polls are wrong. If so, will the BJP look for a scapegoat and find a convenient one in the Election Commission or the manner in which it conducted the elections? It must resist that temptation at all costs, if the situation should arise. And Mr Modi and the other leaders of his party should recognise the damage they are doing in attempting to bully an independent institution. The Election Commission's judgements are not above criticism. But that criticism should be more carefully aired, if institutional integrity is to matter at all.