Public perception is often more important than the reality.
Lately, the opposition parties have come out with the controversies pertaining to the functioning of the Election Commission. They may not realise -- they are in effect harming the institutions of India.
They are also harming the reputation of India as the largest
democracy. Differences of opinion in a
multi-member quasi-judicial body is a normal thing.
Why the opposition parties are confused about it is puzzle
for me.
But importantly, we have to take certain points highlighted
by Honourable Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha -- Shri Rahul Gandhi ji. He
says ever since Narendra Modi is in power - the perception about
anti-incumbency has vanished.
How wrong!
The 1967 Madras Legislative Assembly election marked the historic defeat of the Indian National Congress in Tamil Nadu (then Madras State). The Congress has not come to power with its old grace since then.
In
West Bengal, Congress lost power in 1977 and has not come back. So the argument
of anti-incumbency falls defeated.
In the north east Gegong Apang used to lead Congress party
to repeated electoral glories in Arunachal Pradesh for many years. In Assam
Tarun Gogoi won three times between 2001 and 2016.
In Tripura, the CPI-M was in power between 1988 to 2018. The important point is 'elections are won and elections are lost' - as no less than Rajiv Gandhi had himself said about electoral polity.
So why is Rahul
Gandhi running away from it. Since 2014
-the Congress lost many elections. Similarly, BJP lost some and won several.
If we could manage so much about EVM or Vote Chori - the
BJP's strength in 2024 would not have been 240 -- a significant drop from 303
of 2019.
The article in an English newspaper everyone is trying to hype is actually incomplete.
It talks about differences in opinion among the three election commissioners. But the article is incomplete - as it does not tell what happened after that.
In the Election Commission - Gyanesh Kumar shares
'same power' in vote with two other election commissioners. All votes - under
the rule are same - and the chief election commissioner does not have a casting
vote as happens in some organisations.
M Chuba Ao
As a BJP karyakarta; I am hardly in a position to advice Congress and other opposition parties.
But let me still pursue the debate.
As everyone knows - real strength of
a political party lies in the organisational strengths and booth workers. We
have lakhs of sincere and committed BJP karyakartas. We also have backing at
times from some friendly organisations. The RSS cadres for months have worked hard
in different stages in West Bengal, Haryana, UP and Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi might not have seen all that. But AICC president Malikarjun Kharge ji certainly has seen the rise of Congress with the commitment of Seva Dal. Instead of wasting time on non-issues for cheap headlines; the Congress will do well to revive its Seva Dal.
In north east too,
the Seva Dal was very strong. We had a young friend working so hard in Nagaland
- Atovi Sumi.
There are millions like that. I knew some of them in Assam and also in West Bengal.
The downfall of Congress is linked to the downfall of Seva Dal.
No political party should actually ignore the organisation base and
the supporting organisations.
Finally, let me go back to the present controversy.
After the media report came out on the 'differences' of opinion between Election Commissioners; the poll panel has issued a detailed statement.
Neither of the two EC Sukhbir Singh Sandhu nor Vivek Joshi had said that they do not agree to the press statement. So, there is no controversy.
It is all a case of building a hype so that there is some
chaos in the country. This is a dangerous trend and our voters will certainly
teach necessary lessons to the political parties.
Sensationalism is never a good weapon in politics.
In contrast, the hard work and a clarity in ideology are the best things the political parties and the politicians should do. When I joined BJP in early nineties; our party was nowhere in Nagaland.
But we worked hard. In 2003, BJP won seven seats in Nagaland. We were crucial partners led by NPF in toppling the Congress dispensation.
Today we have 12 MLAs. Similarly, we worked hard in Assam, West Bengal and other states. Look at the BJP's growth graph; it is all gradual – step by step.
We were hardly a force in Assam till 2016. But we never gave up.
Ends
Nitsh Kumar and three opposition stars
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