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Better later than sooner

AS ANYONE WHO goes through the detailed 40-page note issued by the Election Commission will realise, its decision to rule out an early poll in Gujarat could not have been easy to arrive at. But, viewed in terms of the larger issues involved and considering the entirety of the circumstances in that troubled State, the decision was essentially the correct one to make. The Commission's conclusion that free and fair elections could not be conducted in Gujarat before November-December (as opposed to one or two months before that) stemmed mainly from two reasons. First, the communal carnage that shook Gujarat over a period of three months earlier this year had rendered the electoral rolls grossly defective. The large-scale displacement of people and their inability to return to their original homes where they were registered as electors necessitated a "special revision" of electoral rolls in 20 riot-affected districts. Second, the law and order situation in the State is far from normal and the wounds of the communal divide following the riots are still raw. An election at this juncture, when many people in the State are gripped by a fear psychosis would, as the Commission observed, only "shatter the fragile peace". In the course of pointing this out, the E.C.'s observations read like a damning indictment of the Gujarat administration — for its complicity in the riots, for its neglect of effective relief and rehabilitation measures and for the false picture of normalcy it portrays.

In arriving at its decision, the Commission has resisted considerable pressure from the ruling BJP, which had calculated that it could use the inflamed and communally polarised post-riot situation to reap a rich electoral harvest. But its real challenge perhaps lay in squaring practical wisdom (which firmly suggested that elections are better a little later than sooner) with the Constitutional requirement under Article 174 (1), which suggests that normally a Legislative Assembly should meet at least every six months. Interestingly, the E.C. has accepted the applicability of the six month rule to all situations — in fact, it specifically contradicts the Opposition parties' oft-repeated claim that the scope of Article 174 (1) applies only to existing Assemblies and has no application to those which have been dissolved (such as that of Gujarat). What the E.C. has done, however, is to conclude that Article 174 (1) cannot be looked at in isolation and must be read along with the other provisions of the Constitution, particularly Article 324 which vests the Election Commission with the complete power over the superintendence and conduct of (free and fair) elections. In short, the E.C.'s position is that if an extraordinary circumstance (example: Gujarat) exists which prevents the holding of free and fair elections, then Article 324 (which reflects "the interests of democracy and the purity of elections") must prevail over Article 174 (1).

However, issues which relate to the bare letter of the Constitution are not the only important matters in this context. The decision of the E.C. must also be assessed in terms of larger issues — by asking, among other things, whether it is wise to plunge a traumatised and unstable Gujarat into an election at this juncture and whether such an election will be genuinely free and fair. Another way of looking at the E.C.'s decision is to ask what is lost if Gujarat goes to the polls at the end of this year as opposed to, say, a couple of months before this. Not a lot. On the other hand, there is plenty to be gained. It will give the E.C. enough time to conduct a special revision of the electoral roll and also enough time to reissue the large numbers of voting identity cards lost during the riots. Just as importantly, it will give Gujarat a little extra time to limp along on its slow and painful journey back to a measure of normalcy.

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