New Delhi: Expressing disappointment that the Election Commission of India (ECI) did not respond to his letter saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have violated election campaign rules in a recent speech, former IAS officer E.A.S. Sarma asked the commission if Modi was “not answerable to the commission or the public at large”.Sarma made a complaint to the ECI on Friday (March 22) to bring its attention to a speech Modi made in Tamil Nadu earlier that week.He cited Modi as reportedly saying during this event that Hindus believe in nari shakti and matru shakti, that the INDIA opposition bloc made statements about destroying shakti and that these were insults to Hinduism.“In its rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, the ‘INDI Alliance’ openly announced that it wants to destroy the shakti that the Hindu religion has faith in. Everyone in Tamil Nadu knows what shakti means in the Hindu religion,” he is heard saying in a video of the speech.Modi also said that several temples devoted to goddesses in Tamil Nadu were the ‘shakti of this place’ and said that in Hinduism, the term refers to matru shakti and nari shakti.“The people of the ‘INDI Alliance’ repeatedly and deliberately insult the Hindu religion,” the prime minister also said.Sarma said that these statements violated the model code of conduct and urged the ECI to take action against Modi if the report he cited was found true.“Invoking the religious sentiments by a political leader during elections brazenly violates the model code of conduct … If what has been reported is factually correct, the commission should act on this urgently and initiate deterrent, exemplary proceedings against the person making such a statement,” Sarma had said in his March 22 letter.Not having received a response yet, Sarma asked the commission on Monday (March 25) if it had chosen to act on his complaint and if it was “afraid to act independently” for any reason.“Considering that each one of you is presently occupying the office of the commission as a result of selection predominantly made by the ruling political executive, does the commission as a collective body feel obligated not to cause any embarrassment to the head of the political executive?”, he also asked the three-member poll body in a reference to the new law on how election commissioners are appointed.He added the commission must address his questions publicly and hoped it would “dispel any … perception” that it was unwilling to be apolitical and independent.His letter from Monday is reproduced in full at the end of this article.The ECI enforces the model code of conduct, which applies from when elections are announced and until results are declared. It seeks to regulate actions by governments, political parties and politicians to help keep elections free and fair.The model code is voluntary, but the ECI issues notices to those who violate it and sometimes enforces punitive action as per its special powers. Some actions the model code prohibits also happen to be banned by criminal law or other legislation.One of its provisions says that “there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes”.§E A S SarmaFormer Secretary to the Government of IndiaToShri Rajiv KumarChief Election CommissionerShri Gyanesh KumarElection CommissionerDr Sukhbir Singh SandhuElection CommissionerDear Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, S/Shri Gyanesh Kumar/ Rajiv Kumar,I requested the Election Commission of India (ECI), vide my letter of March 22nd, 2024 (https://countercurrents.org/2024/03/shri-modis-statement-invoking-religious-sentiments-in-tamil-nadu-violates-the-mcc/) to examine and act firmly on the statement reported to have been made by Shri Modi, the Prime Minister in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu recently, appealing to the religious sentiments of the voters in prima facie violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).I have tried to ascertain whether the Commission has acted at all on my complaint and whether any order has been passed on it but, to my anguish and disappointment, I have not come across any evidence of it. It looks as though the Commission has chosen not to act on my complaint for reasons best known to it.May I remind the Commission that as a citizen I am entitled to know the outcome of my complaint under Article 19 of the Constitution? Is not the Commission aware of its obligation to disclose the action taken on the complaint under Section 4 of the RTI Act?As a concerned citizen and a voter having a stake in the ensuing elections, I have the following questions for each one of the three Election Commissioners to consider and provide satisfactory answers for the public to see at the Commission’s website and judge for themselves the impartiality and effectiveness of the Commission as an authority set up under Article 324 of the Constitution mandated to conduct elections in a free and fair manner:1. Does the Commission consider a political leader appealing to the religious sentiments of the voters to vote for his/her party not a violation of the MCC?2. Does the Commission think that a complaint made by an ordinary citizen-voter like me need not be acted upon, and that the concerns of ordinary voters could be readily ignored?3. Does the Commission consider that Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister is beyond the ambit of the MCC and, therefore, he is not answerable to the Commission or the public at large?4. Is there one set of rules in the electoral process for Shri Modi and another set of rules for all others?5. Has the Commission chosen to act on my complaint cited or decided to ignore it altogether?6. Whether the Commission has ascertained the facts relating to the complaint from independent sources and passed a speaking order on my complaint? If so, can the Commission make a public disclosure of it?7. Have there been any differences in thinking among the three individual Commissioners on the complaint in question and the reasons for the Commission not making a public disclosure of the dissenting views?8. Considering that each one of you is presently occupying the office of the Commission as a result of selection predominantly made by the ruling political executive, does the Commission as a collective body feel obligated not to cause any embarrassment to the head of the political executive?9. Is the Commission, for some reason, afraid to act independently on my complaint to enforce the MCC?10. Considering that the expenses incurred by the office of the Commission are met from the public exchequer, should not the Commission feel accountable to the public at large?As pointed out by me time and again, the public at large repose trust in the Commission as an independent Constitutional authority and expect it to function in an entirely apolitical manner, to be able to conduct elections in a free and fair manner. If the Commission displays any bias in favour of those influential in the ruling political executive, or any fear to act against them, the trust that the public repose in it is sure to get eroded, raising concerns about the Commission’s efficacy to function as a Constitutional authority.I request the Commission members to meet specially to discuss the above questions and provide satisfactory answers to the public at large, failing which, I am afraid, that one would be constrained to infer that the Commission has no intention whatsoever to elevate itself to fulfill the mandate under Article 324 and act as an apolitical, independent body.I sincerely hope that the Commission would do everything to dispel any such perception.Regards,Yours sincerely,E A S SarmaVisakhapatnam25th March 2024
