Election Commission of India's Impartiality Questioned Amid Reports of Internal Differences

Elections in India are a vibrant and competitive democratic process, where political parties exercise their full power. The public decides the mandate by casting their votes. The Election Commission of India plays the role of an impartial referee in the entire process. The main responsibility of the Election Commission is to frame the rules, enforce them without any bias and provide a level playing field to all parties. However, recently the focus has shifted from the political players in the fray to an impartial referee, i.e., the Election Commission. Reports of internal differences among the Election Commissioners have emerged after an English newspaper report, which has sparked a new debate in the country. The entire controversy, the functioning of the ECI and the legal aspects associated with it, are well understood. A recent English newspaper report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had repeatedly raised objections to several administrative and policy decisions before the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. According to both, in the last 10 months, 14 such important communications were issued without their consent or written objections.