The government’s decision to appoint Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) with unseemly haste has raised more than a few eyebrows. While Kumar was set to become the acting CEC upon the retirement of Rajiv Kumar next week, the government saw fit to formalise his position in advance.
Why the rush? The answer may lie in the controversial law that facilitated this appointment, one that is currently under challenge in the Supreme Court. Until recently, the appointment of the CEC was entirely the prerogative of the government. Many national elections were conducted under a single-member Election Commission, and it was only when T.N. Seshan proved too independent for comfort that the government felt the need to introduce additional Election Commissioners.
The idea was simple: dilute the authority of an uncompromising CEC by surrounding him with colleagues who could be more amenable to political influence. Unfortunately for the establishment, Seshan refused to play along and remained as combative as ever. The present controversy stems from a Supreme Court directive that sought to insulate the appointment process from excessive government influence.
The court had recommended a selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India. This arrangement would have at least introduced a semblance of balance. However, the government had other ideas. It passed a law replacing the Chief Justice with a Union minister, effectively ensuring that the Prime Minister’s choice would always prevail. In a three-member panel where two are government appointees, the third — the Leader of Opposition — is little more than an ornamental dissenter. That is precisely what happened in this case.
Rahul Gandhi did not question Gyanesh Kumar’s eligibility; rather, he objected to the process itself, pointing out that the legality of the new selection mechanism was still being examined by the Supreme Court. The court is set to hear the case in a matter of days. Would it have been too much for the government to wait for the verdict before making an appointment? Clearly, the government was unwilling to take that chance.
By moving ahead with the selection, it has ensured that Gyanesh Kumar’s appointment becomes a fait accompli. His credentials are not in dispute. He is known to be close to the government, particularly Home Minister Amit Shah, having played a key role in the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. But history offers an interesting footnote: TN Seshan was also a bureaucrat close to the government of the day before he turned into an electoral watchdog with a mind of his own. Whether Gyanesh Kumar will follow the same trajectory or prove to be a more pliant official remains to be seen.
