Election Commission in Tatters

The Election Commission of India (ECI), the one institution that in recent years has more or less managed to maintain its integrity in overseeing an important aspect of the functioning of Indian democracy, finds itself greatly weakened on the eve of the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha.

The suo motu recommendation by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami to the president to remove fellow Election Commissioner (EC) Navin Chawla from his position has left the ECI unprepared to organise the coming elections in a manner that would convince the electorate about their transparency and absence of bias.