Ahmedabad, Oct 27 (IANS) Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday accused the Congress of attempting to influence the Election Commission through appointments to public offices during its tenure in power, while defending the poll body’s functioning amid the Opposition’s criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing the BJP’s ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ rally in Ahmedabad, attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, Nadda cited several former election officials who, he alleged, had subsequently received positions in government or public institutions under Congress administrations.
He referred to former Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan, who contested against BJP veteran L.K. Advani from Gandhinagar on a Congress ticket, and former Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and later served as Union Sports Minister.
Nadda also cited former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s alleged allotment of six acres of land to Naveen Chawla for an educational trust.
He referred to the appointments of former Election Commissioner Sukumar Sen as vice-chancellor of Burdwan University, K.V.K. Sundaram as an adviser to the Union Home Minister, and Nagendra Singh as India’s representative to the United Nations General Assembly.
He further cited V.S. Ramadevi’s appointments as Governor of Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, arguing that “the Congress had attempted to bring the poll body under its influence through such appointments”.
Defending the BJP-led government’s changes to the appointment process, Nadda said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, in accordance with a Supreme Court judgment, included the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in the process of selecting the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.”
The Union minister accused the Congress of questioning constitutional institutions whenever their decisions went against it.
“The party’s criticism of the Election Commission is part of a broader pattern of challenging institutions, including the judiciary and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG),” he said.
Referring to the Congress-led government’s handling of the 2G spectrum and coal allocation controversies, Nadda alleged that the party had threatened the CAG and its officials over their reports.
He also recalled former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s reported description of the Planning Commission as a “group of buffoons”, noting that Manmohan Singh was its chairman at the time.
Nadda accused the Congress of undermining constitutional authority through the establishment of the National Advisory Council (NAC), which he said had been placed on a footing comparable to the Prime Minister’s Office.
He also referred to Rahul Gandhi publicly tearing up an ordinance brought by the Manmohan Singh government.
The minister cited the dismissal of elected state governments under Article 356 of the Constitution as another example of what he described as the Congress’s record on democratic institutions.
“Congress governments had dismissed elected governments on 100 occasions, with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi responsible for 50 of those instances,” he said.
Nadda also invoked the Emergency, alleging that around 1.3 lakh people had been imprisoned under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act and the Defence of India Rules without trial for prolonged periods.
He questioned the Congress’s present claims to defend democracy in light of that period.
The BJP leader said, “The Congress should reflect on its electoral performance instead of blaming the Election Commission and electronic voting machines for defeats.”
He argued that elections were decided by voters and not by rallies or protests, and asserted that the BJP would seek another mandate under PM Modi in 2029.
The rally was part of the BJP’s nationwide campaign against what it describes as attempts by the Congress and the INDIA bloc to undermine democratic institutions.
–IANS
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