ECI order to YSRCP chief over ‘President for Life’, once again raises question mark over internal party democracy and elections

@the_news_21

New Delhi: The recent September 21 order of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy over his alleged appointment as ‘Permanent President for life’, may have largely gone unnoticed by the general public. But it surely has set the cat amongst the pigeons as it were when it comes to other political parties in the country on the issue of internal party democracy and internal party elections to elect their office bearers.

Coming down heavily on the YSRCP, the Commission in its order stated that it “categorically rejects, any attempt or even a hint of any organisational post being of permanent nature being inherently anti-democracy. Any action which denies the periodicity of elections, is in complete violation of the extant instructions of the Commission. If not categorically contradicted, it has the potential to create a confusion in other political formations of such a move (which is widely reported in the press) being condoned by the Election Commission of India and in turn can assume contagious proportions.”

However, the stern stance taken by the poll body over the issue of internal democracy within the political parties has forced many political parties to conduct a semblance of an internal election.

The Congress is already witnessing a contest between its Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for the post of the Congress president, elections to which are long overdue.

However, the ECIs stern stance has raised question marks over the recent change of guard in Maharashtra and Mumbai units of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the reshuffle of office bearers in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

As the BJP transitioned itself into the party in power in Maharashtra and its incumbent Mumbai and Maharashtra unit presidents having been inducted into the state cabinet, the party made fresh appointments to these posts.

The former Maharashtra BJP unit president Chandrakant Patil was inducted into the state cabinet. So was former Mumbai BJP unit president Mangal Prabhat Lodha who was also inducted in the state cabinet. Former minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Ashish Shelar were appointed as State and Mumbai unit chiefs respectively.

Taking note of the vertical split in the Shiv Sena, the NCP too dissolved its frontal organisations. The issue of the split and rival factions staking claim over which of the two factions is the real Shiv Sena might well be decided by the Supreme Court of India on September 27.

Although the apex court has stopped the ECI from disclosing its verdict in this clash of factions, it has not deterred the poll body from taking action against errant political parties which mostly appear to mushroom during the poll season. Of late the ECI has begun cracking its whip on the Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs) which either were “inactive: or were found to be “non-existent”.

It may be recalled that on September 14, the ECI had cracked its whip on 339 RUPPs in the country. The poll body had deleted 86 “non-existent” RUPPs from the list of political parties and also denied them the benefits under the Symbols Order of 1968. Furthermore, the ECI also had declared 253 RUPPs as “inactive” and similarly barred them from availing any benefits of the Symbols Order of 1968.

In the case of the YSRCP, the ECI had sent letters to the party on July 19 and reminders on August 1, August 5 and on August 18. The ECI added that the delay on the part of the party “adds credibility to the said allegations”.

The YSRCP finally responded to the ECI on August 23 informing the poll body of the “unanimous” election of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy as the President of the Party. However, the ECI added that the party’s reply did not categorically admit or deny the specific allegations.

The ECI order notes that the matter was reported in the media and that the party had launched its own internal enquiry. The poll body has directed the YSRCP to conclude its internal probe at the earliest and make categorical public announcements contradicting the media reports.

The ECI order in the YSRCP case has once again brought the issue of internal party democracy as exemplified by internal elections to party posts. With the ECI taking a stern view of political parties like YSRCP allegedly deciding party posts for life, it remains to be seen whether political parties fall in line and conduct serious internal party elections.