New Delhi: Over a hundred signatories, including former civil servants, unaffiliated with any political party, have expressed their commitment to upholding the ideals of the Indian Constitution. As the final phase of the 2024 general elections approaches, they highlighted the vital role of India’s working poor, farmers, women, and youth in demonstrating their faith in democracy.“Elections are a particularly testing time for institutions that are constitutionally vested with the responsibility of ensuring the integrity and fairness of elections. These include the higher judiciary, the election commission, chief electoral officers in every state and returning officers in every district,” the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) said in an open statement.“To retain the faith of the ordinary citizen in these constitutional institutions vested with the onerous responsibility of the free and fair conduct of elections, it is necessary that these institutions must not only be fair but also appear to be fair. They must reassure the citizens of the fairness and integrity of the process through their consistently transparent and accountable functioning, and by continuously sharing information with the electorate,” the CCG said.“On behalf of the citizens of India, we seek in humility to remind each of the authorities and institutions charged with the integrity of the process of democratic government formation of their paramount duty to abide and uphold the Constitution of India. We would like to remind them of the oath they have taken in this regard at the time of their assumption of office,” it added.The full statement, along with the names of the signatories, is reproduced below.§CCG OPEN STATEMENT ON 2024 LOK SABHA ELECTIONSMay 25, 2024We are a group of former civil servants who have served the Central and State governments in various capacities. We have no affiliation with any political party but are strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India.June 4, 2024 will be the final chapter of the eighteenth general elections to the Parliament of the world’s most populous country; the largest democratic contest that the world has ever witnessed. During this massive exercise, more than anyone else, it is India’s working poor, its farmers, its women and its youth who have affirmed their abiding faith in India’s democracy by queueing up in large numbers even in the searing heat of summer.Elections are a particularly testing time for institutions that are constitutionally vested with the responsibility of ensuring the integrity and fairness of elections. These include the higher judiciary, the election commission, chief electoral officers in every state and returning officers in every district.To retain the faith of the ordinary citizen in these constitutional institutions vested with the onerous responsibility of the free and fair conduct of elections, it is necessary that these institutions must not only be fair but also appear to be fair. They must reassure the citizens of the fairness and integrity of the process through their consistently transparent and accountable functioning, and by continuously sharing information with the electorate.During the 2024 general elections, concerns have been raised at many points about the fairness of the elections. These relate to fears that the EVM and VVPAT machines can be tampered with, instances of single persons unlawfully voting on behalf of many voters (some videos of this are in circulation), of many people, especially of vulnerable groups, finding their names missing from the voters’ lists, of the inexplicable refusal of the Election Commission of India to disclose the exact numbers of votes cast in each constituency, and of little visible action against hate speech targeting both minorities and the opposition parties by senior leaders of the ruling party. It would have been fitting for the Election Commission to publicly explain actions taken, and not taken, by the Commission to address these problems and allay the fears of the electorate. They should still do this without further delay and in a transparent manner.It pains us to say that no Election Commission in the past has been as reluctant as the present one to discharge its duties, despite violations being repeatedly brought to its attention by responsible organisations and respected members of society. We hope they will not continue to show this disregard in the time that is remaining.In the run-up to the counting, immense care needs to be taken for the safe custody of the EVM machines in ways that involve all the competing candidates and parties. Returning officers need to commit themselves to announcing the results of the counting of votes in every case without any delay.In the event of a hung parliament, onerous responsibilities will be placed upon the shoulders of the President of India. We are sure that she will follow the established democratic precedent of first inviting the pre-poll alliance that garnered the largest number of seats. Also, that she would endeavour to preempt the possibilities of horse-trading.On behalf of the citizens of India, we seek in humility to remind each of the authorities and institutions charged with the integrity of the process of democratic government formation of their paramount duty to abide and uphold the Constitution of India. We would like to remind them of the oath they have taken in this regard at the time of their assumption of office.We bring forth the luminous pledge that India’s first citizen, the President of India, takes to “ preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law ” and to devote herself “ to the service and the well-being of the people of India ”. We are sure that this will be her guiding light. SATYAMEVA JAYATE Constitutional Conduct Group (102 signatories, as below) Anita AgnihotriIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoIAnand ArniRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIAruna BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoISandeep BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraVappala BalachandranIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIGopalan BalagopalIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West BengalChandrashekar BalakrishnanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Coal, GoISushant BaligaEngineering Services (Retd.)Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoIRana BanerjiRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoISharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya PradeshAurobindo BeheraIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of OdishaNutan Guha BiswasIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of DelhiMeeran C BorwankarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoIRavi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoISundar BurraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraR. ChandramohanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of DelhiRachel ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra PradeshRanjan ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Meghalaya & former Expert Member, National Green TribunalKalyani ChaudhuriIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalGurjit Singh CheemaIAS (Retd.)Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of PunjabF.T.R. ColasoIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & KashmirAnna DaniIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraVibha Puri DasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoIP.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoIPradeep K. DebIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoIM.G. DevasahayamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of HaryanaRenu Sahni DharIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal PradeshSushil DubeyIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to SwedenA.S. DulatIPS (Retd.)Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoIK.P. FabianIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to ItalyPrabhu GhateIAS (Retd.)Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoISuresh K. GoelIFS (Retd.)Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoIS.K. GuhaIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoIH.S. GujralIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of PunjabMeena GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoIRavi Vira GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of IndiaWajahat HabibullahIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information CommissionerSajjad HassanIAS (Retd.)Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of ManipurNaini JeyaseelanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoINajeeb JungIAS (Retd.)Former Lieutenant Governor, DelhiSanjay KaulIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of KarnatakaGita KripalaniIRS (Retd.)Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoIBrijesh KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoIIsh KumarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights CommissionSudhir KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Central Administrative TribunalSubodh LalIPoS (Resigned)Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoISandip MadanIAS (Resigned)Former Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Public Service CommissionHarsh ManderIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya PradeshAmitabh MathurIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoILalit MathurIAS (Retd.)Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoIAditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of RajasthanShivshankar MenonIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security AdviserSonalini MirchandaniIFS (Resigned)GoIMalay MishraIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to HungaryAvinash MohananeyIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of SikkimSatya Narayan MohantyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights CommissionSudhansu MohantyIDAS (Retd.)Former Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence, GoIAnup MukerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of BiharDeb MukharjiIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to NepalShiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United KingdomGautam MukhopadhayaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to MyanmarSobha NambisanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of KarnatakaRamesh NarayanaswamiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of DelhiSurendra NathIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya PradeshP. Joy OommenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of ChhattisgarhAmitabha PandeIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoIMaxwell PereiraIPS (Retd.)Former Joint Commissioner of Police, DelhiAlok PertiIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoIG.K. PillaiIAS (Retd.)Former Home Secretary, GoIR. PoornalingamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoIRajesh PrasadIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to the NetherlandsR.M. PremkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraT.R. RaghunandanIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoIN.K. RaghupathyIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoIV. RamaniIAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of MaharashtraM. RameshkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Maharashtra Administrative TribunalK. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoIM.Y. RaoIAS (Retd.)Satwant ReddyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoIVijaya Latha ReddyIFS (Retd.)Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoIJulio RibeiroIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of PunjabAruna RoyIAS (Resigned)Deepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal PradeshS. SatyabhamaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoIN.C. SaxenaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoIArdhendu SenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalAbhijit SenguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoIAftab SethIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to JapanAshok Kumar SharmaIFoS (Retd.)Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of GujaratAshok Kumar SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and EstoniaNavrekha SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to IndonesiaRaju SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar PradeshAvay ShuklaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal PradeshSujatha SinghIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary, GoITara Ajai SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of KarnatakaTirlochan SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoIA.K. SrivastavaIAS (Retd.)Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative TribunalPrakriti SrivastavaIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of KeralaAnup ThakurIAS (Retd.)Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal CommissionP.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights CommissionAshok VajpeyiIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Lalit Kala AkademiRudi WarjriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica