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Farcical exercise

Whatever could go wrong went wrong in the elections to the Chennai Corporation Council. Between them, a toothless State Election Commission (SEC) and a non-intervening police force failed pathetically to prevent tens of thousands of voters from becoming victims of intimidation and electoral fraud. The plain truth is that cadres of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and two of its allies, the Congress and the Pattali Makkal Katchi, raided polling booths and stuffed ballot boxes in several wards; and in retaliation, cadres of the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ransacked some booths and tore up ballots. Much of this happened in the public glare, soon after the polling began. The manipulation reached such levels that the two Left parties, key allies of the DMK, registered their outrage, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) condemning the ruling party for "unleashing violence" and demanding a re-poll in all the wards affected by the violence. Bogus voting with official connivance is not uncommon towards the end of polling in local body elections. In 2001, when the AIADMK was in power, the Chennai Corporation election was vitiated by fraud and violence, with the agents of the ruling party attempting even to rig the counting of votes. Hearing writ petitions seeking a total re-poll in Chennai, the Madras High Court has extracted an assurance from the SEC that it will take a comprehensive re-look at the number of polling booths affected by violence and rigging and accordingly order fresh polling. Initially, the SEC ordered a token re-poll in 17 of 3,295 booths.

Even the sharpest critics of the ways of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will, after this experience, appreciate its inestimable democratic value. Imagine what might happen to Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in several parts of the country without the firm, at times imperious, hand of the ECI — backed of course by fail-safe electronic voting machines and Central paramilitary forces. The SECs appointed by State governments are inherently susceptible to ruling party influences and pressures. Through constant monitoring of the poll process, right from the stage of campaigning, the ECI ensures that political parties conform to the model code of conduct. In the Madurai Central Assembly by-election on October 11, which the DMK won in a canter, without much of a sweat, the central electoral authority ensured instant compliance with its order transferring the Madurai Police Commissioner and other senior officers after raising doubts about their "ability to ensure a free and fair poll." The depressing thought that arises from the aggregated experience of the Chennai Corporation Council elections of 2001 and 2006 is that in the absence of an umpire insulated from political pressures and empowered to act independently and effectively, local body polls might never be free and fair.

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