Ex-Civil Servants Highlight Importance of Fair Elections, Institutional Integrity Ahead of Last Phase

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 ELECTIONS

May 25, 2024

We 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)

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.