Frenemies: Is the BJP wrong in calling the EC biased?

In the last leg of the elections, BJP and Narendra Modi has declared a new adversary - the Election Commission of India. While you might have expected all the parties to rally behind them - given the EC has managed to tick off everyone from the Congress to the TMC - a war has broken out over who is a bigger believer in the EC. In a Newshour debate hosted by Arnab Goswami on Times Now, several parties fought with each other, contesting the idea that the Election Commission is non-partisan in nature. BJP Meenakshi Lekhi chose to point out the differences in the way in which EC handled two cases. One was Narendra Modi flaunting a party symbol - the cutout of the lotus - in a press conference while polling was still on in Gujarat. The other was Rahul Gandhis presence inside the polling booth and in one instance, spotted talking to a voter. [caption id=“attachment_1516685” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modi has also said that the Election Commission was biased in its actions. PTI image[/caption] “In the first case, an FIR was lodged within two hours of the press conference when Mr Modi had not flouted any law. But there was no action against Rahul Gandhi. As a resident of a democracy, don’t I have the right to question the action and if I do, I am being criticised for trying to intimidate the media?” she asked emphatically. However, EC guidelines, as found on its website, says that a candidate is allowed to be inside the polling booth as long as he doesn’t try to influence the voters in any way. On CNN-IBN, Congress minister Shashi Tharoor had pointed out that Gandhi was merely present in the booth, which was well within the law. “There is no evidence that he was trying to influence voters,” he had said. However, Lekhi was in no mood to buy such explanations. She came close to accusing Rahul of rigging and then quickly changed her stand to say that there were reports of rigging in Uttar Pradesh. Former police officer Kiran Bedi, however, quite dramatically, took the EC to task for denying Narendra Modi the last chance to campaign in Varanasi. “Even the IB said there was no threat perception. So on what basis did the EC refuse Modi right to hold the rally?” she said. Then of course she suggested that Varanasi was denied its opportunity to understand Modi’s ‘vision of it’. “What you have done is irrevocable and unforgivable. How can you deny a candidate his last chance to campaign in his constituency. You denied him the opportunity to reveal his vision for Varanasi,” she said, visibly upset. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, instead pulled Modi up for daring to challenge the EC’s authority. “He had tweeted saying I am warning the EC. Who is Modi to challenge the EC?” he asked. JD(U) leader Pavan Verma, however, made an interesting point. “When EC gave a clean chit to Amit Shah, then the BJP was very happy with it. When they agree with you, they are good. When they don’t they are bad?” he asked.