Election Commission meeting with agencies (Image credit X Election Commission)
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, March 10: Resignation of the Election Commissioner Arun Goel hit the international headlines. The spokesperson of the Election Commission by the international news agency being unaware of the reasons of the resignation of Goel.
Reports suggest that the Prime Minister-led panel will meet next week to discuss and possibly clear appointments of new election commissioners. It has been widely speculated that the Election Commission is likely to announce the poll dates for the Lok Sabha elections next week, possibly on March 13.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s spree to inaugurate projects and lay foundation stones for new works are scheduled till March 12. Modi returned to Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, last evening to hold a trident to send the shutter boxes clicking in a possible understanding that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will pump up the Gyanvapi issue to gain polarization votes.
The political commentators in the national capital have noted that the resignation of Geol has sent the Election Commission to the pre-TN Seshan days when the election body used to consist of just one member. The Election Commission already had a vacancy for months, and the Modi government didn’t fulfil the post despite the approaching Lok Sabha elections.
With an amended law on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners, the incumbent government has an unchecked power on appointments as a minister adds to the strength in addition to the prime minister while leader of the main Opposition party nowadays skips such meetings in protests. Earlier, the Chief Justice of India also used to be a member of the selection panel.
The head of the communication panel of the Congress, Jairam Ramesh, counted three possible reasons for Goel’s resignation – personal, possibility of contesting elections on the lines of Abhijeet Ganguly, former Kolkata High Court Judge, and differences with the Modi government.
Resignation of the former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa had also triggered an intense speculation on reasons for his exit from the election body. He afterwards had joined the Asian Development Board. The appointment of Goel as an election commissioner was legally challenged before the Supreme Court.
The Congress and constituents of the Opposition have consistently been raising questions on the efficacy of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Ramesh stated in a post on the social media platform X that his party had been seeking time from the Election Commission for a meeting to press for the demand for 100 per cent VVPAT (paper trails of the votes cast) in vain. Ramesh now on record describes EVM as “electronic voting manipulation”. There are indications that the resignation of Goel may bring the spotlight back on EVMs ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, with the Opposition raising demands for doubling checks through 100 per cent VVPAT (voter verified paper trails).
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