The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been found wanting on so many occasions this time. Despite so many complaints against politicians, in particular ruling party leaders indulging in communally charged campaigns, the ECI mostly remained silent. Therefore the recent letters from the ECI to the presidents of the BJP and the Congress, asking them to instruct their “star campaigners” against undertaking provocative canvassing has come too late in the campaign cycle. This letter should have been written at the start of the campaign. This is a typical Hindi movie scene where the cops arrive after the crime is over.
Five phases of polling are over and the campaign for the sixth phase ended on Thursday (a day after the letters were sent). Hopefully, the parties will advise their leaders to heed the ECI’s message and change the words, tone, and tenor of their speeches henceforth, but the very delay in sending the letters may have taken out whatever little sting they have. The election witnessed a very communally charged campaign. It was a sad plight to witness even the PM of the country indulging in blatant communal campaigning. The ECI should be ashamed of itself for failing to act quickly in this regard. Its failures emboldened the politicians leading to such vicious communal campaigns.