Tamil Nadu governor K. Rosaiah has overstepped his constitutional functions in advising the Election Commission of India on when to conduct the polls to two constituencies in the state after the elections there were countermanded just before the general polling date of May 16. It is intriguing what prompted a governor, who is retiring in a couple of months’ time after a long stint marked by amiable relations with the government of the day, to speak up on an issue that is best left to the EC. Abstruse Rajya Sabha voting arithmetic may be advanced by the Opposition as a line of argument for the need to conduct the election soon. In rescinding the polls in Thanjavur and Aravankruichi for the naked play of money power, the EC may not have been reacting adversely to the governor’s advice, but merely following its conclusions on a study of conditions on the ground.
An additionally empowered EC has, over the last couple of decades, been a fair agency to conduct and monitor polls. The EC is unlikely to find friends both among winners and losers. However, its independence is a must for the survival of democracy at a time when the powers of governments seem overwhelming and the presence of ambitious and greedy political parties renders free and fair polls a difficult proposition because of the cash-for-votes phenomenon. This is not new in Tamil Nadu where the history of bribing voters goes back to the bypolls held in Thirumangalam in 2009, or even further back in time to Sathankulam in 2003. Record seizures on the eve of the polls in 2016 indicate the extent of the problem, which can only be solved by greater zeal on the part of EC to curb this buying of the popular vote. The governor has no role in this.
