Ashok Lavasa: Ex-EC urges poll panel to regain public trust amid calls for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation | Today’s news
Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa said the Election Commission’s mired in controversies was unprecedented. Advising the poll panel to regain public trust, Lavasa drew a cricketing analogy to warn that the team’s victory would be called into question “if people feel that the umpire was not neutral”.
The remarks come amid united protests by the opposition INDIA bloc over the past few days against alleged “chori votes” and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
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The protests came after an Indian Express report said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times in the last 10 months against decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge, even as the nationwide rollout of SIR was under the supervision of the entire commission.
“I feel this is very unfortunate and dangerous for democracy because in an electoral democracy you need an arbiter,” Lavasa said in a virtual speech at a civic rally in Kolkata on October 13.
“If people feel that the referee is not neutral”
“If people feel that the referee is not neutral, they will question even the victory of the winning team,” said the former election commissioner.
“The EC should regain its credibility and the trust of the people. The Election Commission of India, whose position is very high and perhaps the highest among all public institutions, today is mired in controversies and people are taking to the streets to protest,” he said.
Under fire over the red flags raised by two of its commissioners regarding the SIR process, the EC states that differing opinions and observations are a normal part of dealings in any institution and all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established legal procedures.
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In a statement, the inquiry commission also said that not only the three commissioners, but every EC official is fully empowered to give suggestions to the commission to improve the electoral system.
Pointing to the SIR voter roll controversy, Lavasa said the people of the country have never been more worried about saving their voting rights than they have been in the last 16 months. “The EC’s decision to conduct SIR surprised everyone,” he said.
Who is Ashok Lavasa?
Ashok Lavasa is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who served as the Election Commissioner of India from January 2018 to August 2020.
Lavasa is best known for dissenting during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against the Election Commission’s rulings on alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah.
Lavasa, born on 21 October 1957, a 1980 batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, retired as the Finance Minister of India on 31 October 2017. During his long active service of 37 years, he held various key positions in the Haryana State Government and the Central Government.
Lavasa has served in key positions as Principal Secretary and Financial Commissioner (Renewable Energy, Energy), Principal Coordinator (Industry), Resident Commissioner Haryana, Managing Director, Federation of Sugar Hills State Cooperatives Haryana (HSFCOSHL), Director Haryana State Industrial Development Cooperation (HSIDC), Union Finance Secretary, Joint Secretary, Environment Change, Forests and Climate Ministry Secretary, Home Ministry and several other important posts.
The disagreement and resignation in 2019 that followed
During his tenure in the Electoral Commission Elections to the legislatures of nearly 28 states. Apart from the Lok Sabha elections, 2019 was also held during his tenure as the Election Commissioner.
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“If people feel that the referee is not neutral, they also question the victory of the winning team.”
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Lavasa was at the center of controversy when he disagreed with the decisions giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah in complaints of alleged violation of the model code of conduct during the election campaign. Lavas’ dissent raised questions about how the Election Commission handles complaints against senior political figures.
Lavasa stepped down as Election Commissioner in August 2020 after being appointed Vice President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he oversaw private sector operations and public-private partnerships. His ADB tenure lasted from 2020 to 2023.
