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It is not a new thing in the corridors of Indian politics that questions are being raised about election results and the impartiality of EVMs or the Election Commission, but when such allegations are completely outrageous and full of political frustration, then it is natural that they spark debate across the country. Recently, after the spectacular election victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in major states and regions like Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi, it was claimed by political opponents and some social media pages that BJP won in these states because Gyanesh Kumar held the post of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). Some political groups and critics who call themselves so-called revolutionaries have been involved in spreading these baseless and ridiculous claims, who are often taken to task on social media with derogatory terms like ‘Cockroach Janata Party’. In this special report, we will analyze in detail whether the election results are decided in the name of the head of an independent constitutional body or whether it is just a deliberate political panic of the parties losing the elections.
The Election Commission of India is considered an example across the world for its successful conduct of fair, transparent and massive democratic elections. Whether it is the central government or the state governments in the country, elections are always conducted under a fixed constitutional procedure, in the presence of independent observers and representatives of all political parties. When assembly elections were held in states like Haryana and Maharashtra, the people there exercised their franchise expressing confidence in local issues, development works, law and order and leadership. In such a situation, directly linking the personal role of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar or any other officer with the victory or defeat of any party is not only an insult to the independent judiciary and constitutional institutions of the country, but it is also a blatant disrespect to the decision of crores of voters who voted according to their conscience.
In this era of digital age, to set the political narrative on social media platforms, many times such misleading and absurd claims are made indiscriminately, which have nothing to do with the ground reality. When the opposition or some political parties that suffer a crushing defeat in the elections are unable to explain to the public the real reasons for their defeat, they start blaming their failure directly on the Election Commission and the EVM machines. The groups and so-called ideologues promoting such ridiculous claims are often sarcastically addressed by the public and social media users with terms like ‘Cockroach Janata Party’, who do politics only in the imaginary world of social media without any support base on the ground. The main objective of these people is to sow the seeds of distrust in the minds of the general public towards the impartial institutions of the country and to find their political ground.
If we analyze the election results of Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi in depth, it becomes clear that behind BJP’s victory there were no secret agreements or administrative manipulations, but solid grassroots strategies. While in Haryana, the double engine government policies, schemes run for farmers and youth and local leadership showed wonders, in Maharashtra, the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ brought by the Mahayuti government for women and big projects of infrastructure development played the role of game changer. The public has now become completely intelligent and they vote in the name of development, security and good governance and not on the basis of casteist or family based equations of any party. When election results are not in favor of any party, they try unsuccessfully to save their political ground by resorting to such statements, which is well understood by the people of India.
The beauty of democracy lies in the fact that here public opinion is paramount and it is they who decide in whose hands the command of the country or state will go. Such baseless mudslinging on constitutional institutions like the Election Commission may garner headlines for some time, but it does not cause any harm to the democratic fabric of the country. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar or other officials of the Election Commission have always discharged their duties with impartiality and within the ambit of law. The time has come that political parties should rise above the petty politics of victory and defeat and introspect and talk about the real issues of the people, because in a democracy, the people are the real creator and they know very well how to give a befitting reply to those spreading false propaganda in every election.