Pliable EC serves as gateway to power consolidation, says DMK's NR Elango

NEW DELHI: DMK Rajya Sabha member N R Elango on Monday demanded greater scrutiny of the Election Commission's functioning, saying a "pliable" poll body "serves as a gateway to power consolidation striking democracies apart".

Participating in the discussion on "Glorious Journey of 75 years of the Constitution of India", he cited "integrity of the electoral system" as one of the critical challenges that the country faces.

Elango said the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023 "fundamentally alters the judgement of the Supreme Court replacing the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister".

"A pliable Election Commission serves as a gateway to power consolidation striking democracies apart. The Commission's recent reluctance to act against model code violation and investigate forced withdrawal of nominations and the working of EVMs have to be put under greater scrutiny," he asserted.

The Upper House member from Tamil Nadu also asked the Union government "to rethink and withdraw" the bill on 'One Nation One Election', claiming it poses a "great threat to democracy".

He said the federal structure of India's Constitution "faces unprecedented strain particularly on the fiscal relations", while drawing attention to the approach to water sharing between states.

He said the discussion on the Constitution should be beyond politics and not be taken as a fight between the opposition and the ruling dispensation.

"It is we versus the future," he said, adding the pressing question is "whether we the 'people of India 2024' will preserve and pass on to the future generation the same Constitution with its basic structure intact that the people of India bestowed upon us in 1950." Participating in the discussion, Praful Patel (NCP) said India became a great democracy thanks to the Constitution framed by the founding fathers of the nation that enabled all its citizens to live freely with full rights.

A diverse country like India has been kept united by the power of the Constitution, he said.

Patel took a dig at the Congress, which has been demanding caste census, saying the party did not do anything for the backward classes and when the Mandal Commission recommendation for reservation for OBCs was tabled, the government led by Rajiv Gandhi did not take it up. It was accepted only after VP Singh became the prime minister.

He accused the opposition party of never taking women's reservation seriously. But the NDA government has delivered, he said while also reminding the House that before the abrogation of Article 370 there was no reservation for SC and ST in Kashmir.

S Niranjan Reddy (YSRCP) expressed concern over how expensive elections have become and also drew the attention of the House to the cost of health and education facilities which are now becoming a "poverty enabler" for many people in the country.