Earlier to T.N.Seshan’s arrival at the ECI his predecessors did not seem to have a proper understanding of the scope of the ECI’s autonomy. The governments, rather the political power-centers, had become addicted to run the elections as per their whims. Therefore, the political power-groups prevailed upon the government at the centre to ‘clip (T.N.Seshan’s ) wings’. And within a short period of the Supreme Court’s autonomy judgment on 19th August 1993 the Sarcar hit back at the ECI .
On 1st October 1993 an Ordinance was passed appointing additional two election commissioners at the ECI – G.V.G Krishnamurty and Dr.M.S.Gill ! The ordinance that enabled the appointment of the two election commissioners was called “The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Condition of Service) Ordinance. These appointments were justified by the government on the ground of “to assist” T.N.Seshan in his work! Whereas T.N.Sheshan himself felt that his workload at the ECI “took about 10 minutes in the morning and three minutes in the afternoon.” And the rest of any working day he was free of any demand from the ECI’s office, he rather spent time ‘solving The Times of India crossword.’
T.N.Seshan Fights it Out
This new situation lead to T.N.Seshan going to the Supreme Court to seek the equivalence of the CEC and the Election Commissioners. On 15th November 1993 in its stay order on the ordinance the two judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a relief to T.N.Seshan which stated:
“Until further orders, to ensure smooth and effective working of the commission and also to avoid confusion both in administration as well as the electoral process, we direct that the Chief Election Commissioner shall remain in complete overall control of the commission’s work. He may ascertain the views of other commissioners or such of them as he may choose, on the issues that may come up before the commission from time to time. However, he will not be bound by their views. It is also made clear that the Chief Election Commissioner alone will be entitled to issue instructions to the commission’s staff as well as to the outside agencies and that no other commissioner will issue such instructions.”
However, till the final decision, which came only in 1995, he continued to provide the additional commissioners necessary official facilities and involvement in the decision making process at ECI. But the several unsavory incidents narrated in the book reflect very badly on the behavior people appointed to an autonomous body like the ECI. The deliberations in the court, summarized by T.N.Seshan in some details, make very interesting reading. It becomes quite obvious that the ECI had become a proxy for the politicians who wanted to keep the manipulating power in the election processes.
360 Degree Election Reforms
Despite pin-pricks from the additional commissioners, executive obstructions from the government, and legal challenges from politicians and political parties, T.N.Seshan continued his 360 degree election reforms. He cleaned up the laid-back and casual attitude of the staff within the ECI and set standards for immediate actions. He created an aura of autonomy and self-restrained functioning within the ECI.
He inculcated the discipline among the executive staff on deputation for election work, from DMs, Police force to the last official at the booth level. The power of ECI to discipline the erring government officer on election duties, which was established by the Supreme Court order of 19th August 1993, was set in motion by penalizing those who treated the ECI orders casually.
Ground Rules Established
On the ground several steps taken by T.N.Seshan laid the foundation for the conduct of fair and transparent elections for establishing a vibrant democracy. Booth Level detailed functioning was listed out and operationalised. The candidates and the political parties were compelled to submit within prescribed time limit account for the item-wise expenditure incurred on each candidate. Failing which both were made liable to penalties. To weed out use of black money he made the executive to enhance the limits of election expenditure.
He prohibited and even penalized the politicians/political parties who defaced the environment with posters, buntings etc during the election time. He even strictly enforced the time-limits for the use of loud speakers and the campaign. He ensured that the voters’ lists were properly updated and the copies were made available to the parties concerned. He introduced the video graphing of the election campaigns of each candidate to ensure that no illegal activities were conducted. For effective use of the police force he stretched the conduct of election to suit the type of weather, location and the past records of notoriety of a given location.
EPIC and A Strong Foundation
His pet project was the issue of EPIC – Election Photo Identity Card. This was the time when except for the Pass Port Indians did not have any individual Identity Cards. The cost-effective technology was not available and it was abhorred by the politicians and the parties as they feared a tight ECI control over the booths during the conduct of election. Entire abuse thus far at the booth level, such as booth capturing, voter impersonation etc would be impossible with EPIC! Later on EPIC became a game-changer in the election process. With the introduction of AADHAR now every Indian has at least two valuable personal identity cards.
In the annals of Indian democratic process T.N.Seshan’s contributions have become strong foundation. He single-handedly bulldozed every impediment that came his way, be it executive processes or legal hurdles, he faced them head on with full courage, his administrative acumen and the experiences with the political class.
T.N.Seshan got recognized the world over for his thorough transformation of the ECI functioning and was invited for lectures within and outside India.
Very Frank, Illuminating Introspection by a Patriot
T.N.Seshan’s biography is unique in many ways. It not only provides a deep exposure to the functioning of and transformation of our democratic systems, but very interestingly it provides very illuminating self-analysis. The last three chapters- 21. The Private Person – Public Persona Conundrum, 22. The Final Exam And A Kind Recognition and 23. I Take a Bow are really unique chapters in this book. If he was unsparing of others for their short comings, he is equally unsparing of himself while looking back on his own performances. A few illustrations are provided below:
“I often say that Palakkad Brahmins come in four types: cooks, crooks, musicians or bureaucrats, and that I was all four of them.”
“Before giving me the job of cabinet secretary, Rajiv Gandhi had said, ‘Mr.Seshan, my ministers are all afraid of you. Will you promise to be softer?’ I had said, ‘ No, Sir, I promise that I will not change. And if it doesn’t suit you, don’t give me the job.;
“Once I wrote a balance sheet about myself. I put to myself the question of single characteristic in me that I would like to change. The answer was my impatient temperament. What was fundamental to me was character, honesty and integrity. My father was totally self-made. He turned out be a successful lawyer. He had inherited values from his father, and I had inherited them from him: integrity, efficiency and the shortness of temper (that is not fair).”
“Being a dictator goes against my highest motivations. My inner strength arises from spirituality, I have my personal dharma to fulfill, and I had the dharma of my duty. Maintaining the rule of law was part and parcel of that dharma. Would I go against the very source of my strength?”
“I was not looking for a job, but was looking for work.”
“As I look back on my life and career, all that I can think and say is, Life has been great—stormy, but great.’
“I look on in wait for titans, in the hope that the youth will march with them to make this nation rise to its ancient greatness. It is still not happening the way it should, but it will, and of that I have no doubt.”
Prediction of post 1996 Political Scenario?!
The following quote sounds like T.N.Seshan had some premonition of things going to happen:
“My greatest agony was whatever changes I had made in the electoral process could be undone once I left the office of the CEC. Whenever I had tried to get the government to make systemic changes, I had met a stone wall. I almost thought this was done by the PM and his party deliberately. An indifferent successor could, in collusion with non-benign PM, take elections back to not only the joke they were, but even worse than they had been.”
At this juncture one has to recollect the entire scenario of our elections between 1996-1999, the formation of and the fall of Vajpayee government, and the various efforts to formulate multi-party fronts like NDA and UPA.
A Captivating biography- A Concurrent History
T.N.Seshan was a very vibrant and dynamic personality. And his biography not only reflects these qualities but also his intellectual sharpness. This biography is not only about his life, but is equally a recorded concurrent history of a turbulent period of 1991-1996 which transformed the economic structure from planned economy to one of private sector driven one, and challenged the core political values of our democracy. T.N.Seshan has had a very close position in these transformational period of our country.
Reviewer’s Post Script
I believe in the dictum that - a book review should be brief, but at the same time do justice to the book and the writer; and should only be that long that it should not challenge the readers’ patience!.
I tender unconditional apology to the readers for violating this dictum in writing a three episode review of this book.
But, how can any honest reviewer cut-short a Review of book by a rare personality as dynamic and colorful as T.N.Seshan was?
CONLCUDED
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