Backbencher’s Blog May 8, 2014
Election Commission Wantonly Violates
Right to Equality of NAMO.
Ram Kumar Ohri, IPS(Retd)
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It is a pity that no political analyst, no media mandarin, nor the Bhartiya Janta Party, has shown the courage to haul our partisan Election Commission before the Supreme Court for deliberate denial of the Right to Equality to Shri Narendra Modi, despite his being a Prime Ministerial candidate. By denying the right to hold a meeting in his own constituency, i.e., Varanasi, the Election Commission and the Returning Officer of Varanasi has violated Shri Modi’s right to equality. How can the Returning Officer of Varanasi, a stooge of Akhilesh Yadav, and protégé of the CEC, treat different candidates of different political parties in an unequal manner ?
The Right to Equality before law flows from Article 14 of the Constitution and its violation consitutues too serious a matter to be ignored by the Indian public, especially by the self-styled intellectuals masquerading as secular chatterati.
Additionally the Right to Social Equality and Equal Access to Public Areas has been elaborately stated in Article 15 of the Constitution. In such circumstances, how could the Returning Officer and the CEC deny refuse to give the necessary permission to only one candidate, i.e., Shri Modi, to hold a meeting in his constituency ?
The most sordid aspect of the unparalalled political malfeasance is that it has been done by a constitutional authority, namely the Election Commission of India.
With my limited knowledge of the constitutional law but long years of experience gathered in service I feel that it is a fit case for being taken to the Supreme Court. It is a simple commonsense that when Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and some other aspirants for the Varanasi Parliamentary seat were allowed to hold meetings in the temple town of Kashi, the country’s Prime Ministerial candidate has been subjected to discrimination on frivolous grounds.
Time has come to challenge the misconduct of the Returning Officer as well as all members of the Election Commission in Supreme Court and seek orders for their removal from their offices, at least till the general elections 2014 are over. The apex court should ask the central government to appoint another set of impartial members to man the Election Commission.
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Modi fever rises, administration panics
Addictions counsellor,photographer,writer
There is tension and uncertainty in Varanasi, and we seething against injustice. The Returning Officer Pranjal Yadav has banned Narendra Modi’s rallies scheduled for 8thMay[1]. In addition, he has disallowed Modi from participating in the evening Ganga aarti, and from meeting a group of 150 prominent citizens. The move is shocking and unprecedented. As party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “It must be for the first time in Indian election that a candidate is being denied permission to hold rally in his own constituency.” The BJP is challenging the order and sitting on a dharna to protest against the blatant bias.
The ruling administration’s discomfort with Modi is understandable. Wherever we go, there is discontent with the current state of affairs. People want change and are running out of patience. As a consequence, there is a great deal of hope riding on Modi. At the very least, there is much curiosity about him.
The common man in the urban areas is more aware than the elite think. Tiwari, who owns a paan shop near Sankatmochan temple, says he likes the fact that Modi speaks about being, “Indian first”. He believes that Modi will work for all communities and once he is in power, even detractors will become his fans. Rameshi, our driver, self-appointed guide and political commentator, shares his views daily, with a mouth full of paan. He explains that while corruption and inflation are important issues, national security is an issue too. If Modi comes to power, he says Pakistan would not dare to brazenly attack our soldiers and China would not take our land.
The people in the rural areas tend to focus more on regional issues in general. They want development, jobs and electricity. The women in Rohaniya lament that the children, who they have educated after so much toil, are sitting at home without jobs. Their villages do not have electricity for more than 6 to 7 hours daily. Bharti is a teacher who works with the blind. She has a degree in education and was trained in Mumbai, but says there are hardly any opportunities for people like her. Talking to them, has reinforced my view that most of our people desperately want means for improving their lives and avenues of employment. They are not seeking dole.
