Cong vs EC: How many enemies can one party create?

The Congress loves to shoot itself in the foot. In an age where perception management is so crucial to the building of public image, it just refuses to learn any lessons from experience. Blame it on good old arrogance or plain inability to comprehend the world around it or the rotting think-tank of the party. Why else would it be so intent on stepping on the Election Commission’s toes in the midst of an assembly elections? The party has set off a move to give statutory backing to the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct. It means any executive order issued by the commission to rein in parties running wild with promises and freebies during election season would now be open to legal scrutiny. If the initiative becomes law, any violation of the code would be tried in court and not decided by the commission. It would make the EC, an institution which commands tremendous respect for its efficiency and neutrality, virtually toothless.[caption id=“attachment_220466” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Unhappy with Congress party. PTI”]  [/caption] According to a report in The Indian Express, secret agenda notes circulated for the 22 February meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) suggest that the Union law secretary would make a presentation on giving statutory shape to the EC’s executive instructions. What got the Congress’s goat? Well, a few weeks ago Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid was pulled up by the commission for promising sub-quotas for Muslims at a rally in Uttar Pradesh in violation of the code of conduct. When the EC objected, Khurshid defied it. Then, in an unprecedented action, the EC sought “immediate” action from President Pratibha Patil against Khurshid. The latter virtually apologised by regretting his action. Senior Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma then made a similar promise a week later and drew the EC’s ire. Replying to the commission’s notice, he said it was ‘a slip of tongue’. The Congress, obviously, has taken offence and wants to strike back by de-fanging the commission. The party is still under the misconception that it has some divine right which places it above all institutional control and is not bound by the rules of fair play that apply to other political parties. Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi is, predictably, irked. “If what you have told me is correct, it is a highly misconceived move, aimed at curbing the powers of the EC. The code has stood the test for the last over 20 years and everybody is all praise for the manner in which elections are conducted in the country,” he told The Indian Express. What does the Congress want to achieve? It is not clear. Bringing cases of code violation under legal scrutiny is not going serve any particular purpose, political or otherwise. It will only create a situation where all parties violate the poll code with impunity and then leave it to a hierarchy of courts to decide on the legality of their actions. The Congress does not even stand to make any immediate gain. The party cannot do without making wrong moves. First, it had a run-in with the army chief, then it left most of the states up in arms by the ill-conceived NCTC and, now comes the attack on the Election Commission. For a party that has spent half its tenure fighting serious charges of corruption, the Congress should be lying low and not attracting negative attention by attacking institutions. But it has stopped learning any lessons from its earlier embarrassments. The brain pool guiding the party surely is need of an overhaul. It is stuck in the 1970s and 1980s mindset and has stopped looking at the world with fresh eyes. It fails to realise that the Congress has stopped being the political superpower of the country long ago and the political space has too many equal, if not bigger, players giving it competition for power. Of course, there is the hyperactive media now which catches it easily when someone is on the wrong foot. But the first requirement is, the party must realise it is doing something that is utterly unacceptable from an outsider’s perspective. For that it should stop thinking that it is God’s gift to the nation.