Democracy on a Short Leash: How the BJP Keeps Power in the Family

 https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/fix-the-flaws-on-rahul-gandhis-stolen-elections-allegation-and-the-election-commission-of-india/article69910219.ece


The Hindu’s August 9th editorial nods politely to Rahul Gandhi’s “voter list fraud” allegations, but it tiptoes around the real culprit — the rotting foundation of India’s democratic architecture. This isn’t just about flawed lists; it’s about a ruling party that has weaponised appointments, bent laws, and turned neutral constitutional offices into extensions of its own party office.

Let’s start with the Election Commissioners. In a fair system, the man should command the confidence of the whole political spectrum. But this government decided such lofty ideals were for sissies. When the Supreme Court suggested a balanced selection committee, the BJP tossed the idea into the dustbin and wrote a new law to keep total control. Result? A Commission that looks like an old boys’ club of retired babus from the Amit Shah finishing school.

Gyanesh Kumar, the CEC, is an Amit Shah alumnus from both the Home and Cooperatives ministries. His seat on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is not exactly a masterclass in neutrality. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, the token minority face, was Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand under BJP rule. Vivek Joshi, the other Election Commissioner, fits the same mould. These are not independent referees; they’re cheerleaders with a whistle.

This habit of keeping “our people” in place doesn’t stop at Nirvachan Sadan. Take Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Home Secretary, five years in the job with four extensions — practically a tenant in Amit Shah’s ministry — before being gifted the governorship of Manipur. Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, smashed longevity records with four extensions, and is now roosting in NITI Aayog. His predecessor, PK Sinha, got three. Shaktikanta Das danced from demonetisation days into the RBI Governor’s chair (with one full extension), and then into the PM’s Principal Secretary’s office.

The armed forces haven’t been spared either. Late General Bipin Rawat’s extension / elevation as Chief of Defence Staff broke norms, and after his tragic death, the government struggled for over six months to find a successor, an awkward silence that spoke volumes.

The governors, meanwhile, have become the party’s advance infantry. In BJP states, they are invisible. In opposition states, they are front-page regulars: Jagdeep Dhankhar in Bengal, R.N. Ravi in Tamil Nadu, Arif Mohammad Khan in Kerala — all acting like schoolmasters dealing with truant children. Delhi saw the law rewritten to turn the Lt Governor into the elected CM’s boss. Najeeb Jung made AAP’s life miserable; in Kashmir, Manoj Sinha performs the same role with Omar Abdullah.

The crossover between bureaucracy and party politics has now reached the point of absurdity. A.K. Sharma, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer and long-time Modi lieutenant, takes voluntary retirement, joins the BJP within days, and becomes an MLC in Uttar Pradesh. No wonder the V-Dem Institute has politely reclassified India as an “electoral autocracy,” with its Liberal Democracy Index plunging from 0.57 in 2013 to 0.34 by 2020.

Once upon a time, there were CECs with teeth. T.N. Seshan struck fear into politicians by enforcing the Model Code like a hanging judge. Even his quieter successor, M.S. Gill, banned Bal Thackeray from voting for six years for communal hate speech — though he later admitted he feared the man. Compare that to today’s Election Commission, which might form a “committee to look into the matter” and let the election slip by.

This, is the My Man, My Orders syndrome, where-ever, whenever, however possible. Everywhere you look, from governors to generals, from secretaries to ECs, the same faces circulate, extended, recycled, and rewarded.

Checks and balances are for not just for textbooks. In a functioning system, the man at the top matters— so does the path s/he took to get there. Right now, that path runs through the BJP’s private corridors, and Indian democracy is left gasping for air.

 


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