J&K CM Omar, PDP leader Mehbooba question ECI functioning, warn of erosion in public trust in democracy

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday raised concerns over functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI), questioning the electoral process and warning that continued doubts over voter rolls could affect public confidence in democracy.

“There had been persistent complaints about the manner in which the Election Commission had functioned. Before SIR became an issue for the rest of the country, for us delimitation was an issue. We believe that the process was opaque and flawed and the entire process was designed to benefit one political party and its friends,” Omar told reporters in response to questions on differences in EC.

He said the developments indicated that “something is wrong” and the statement issued by EC is even more damning

He called for corrective measures and said public confidence was central to the functioning of democracy and urged the Election Commission and the Government of India to consider steps to restore trust.

“If people's trust in elections is lost, then what is left in democracy. The foundation of democracy is elections and if people's trust in elections is lost, then why should people participate in elections? The members of the Election Commission and the government of India should think about this,” Omar said.

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that the electoral controversy amounted to an attack on the people, Omar said he agreed with the argument.

He questioned the removal of eligible voters from electoral rolls and referred to cases where people whose names had been removed from voter lists were allegedly denied passports.

“If you are stopping someone from voting, where it is their right to vote, and they want to vote,” Omar said, adding that such developments raised constitutional concerns. “What Rahul said is absolutely right,” he said adding, “We will have to see what steps will be taken”.

The PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti also criticised the Election Commission, saying the issue raised broader questions about the state of democracy in India.

“I feel that both the sibling states -- our country India and Pakistan -- are trying to undo each other, competing with each other. Who can harm their own country the most,” she said.

Referring to India, the PDP chief said the country is seen as the largest democracy in the world and noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken of India as the “mother of democracy” while abroad.

“But today, they are trying to subvert the very fundamental of Indian democracy, which is the electoral process by fudging the electoral rolls which the two election commissioners have pointed out,” she said.

According to the PDP chief, if the deletion and addition of electoral rolls continues at the behest of BJP, then there are dangers that at some point of time, “India, which is the largest democracy in the world, is going to resemble a banana republic.”

She described the reported objections by the two election commissioners as a “silver lining”, saying “We still have people like two election commissioners, who have the courage and integrity to question the people in power. I don’t want to take their name at this point of time. I don’t know what trouble they are going to go through… they may have to face ED and Income Tax raids”.

“But if we continue like this, I mean, there will be a time when we are going to resemble a banana republic and there will be no democracy,” she added.