India's Electoral Conduct Code, 1990

Rushda Majeed Innovations for Successful Societies

IMPLEMENTING STANDARDS WITHOUT THE FORCE OF LAW: INDIA’S ELECTORAL CONDUCT CODE, 1990 - 2001

SYNOPSIS T.N. Seshan took over as head of the Election Commission of India in 1990, when negative campaigning was on the increase. Candidates appealed to voters on caste and communal lines, sometimes provoking violence. A voluntary Model Code of Conduct, designed to help moderate the excesses of political parties during elections, had lain dormant since its creation 30 years earlier. During the next 11 years, Seshan and his successor, M.S. Gill, worked to elevate the code’s norms and to elicit compliance. Although some campaign excesses persisted, by 2010 the code had become an effective tool for shaping electoral tactics and the behavior of political parties in India. This case offers insights into how to build acceptance of standards that have no force of law.

Rushda Majeed drafted this case on the basis of interviews conducted in New Delhi in November 2010.

INTRODUCTION Congress, dominated the political scene. The Seated in his New Delhi office in 2010, Election Commission of India (ECI), set up in M.S. Gill advised, “Remember that the 1950 to supervise and control elections, politicians are in mortal combat for the power of concerned itself mainly with ballot design, India and the country needs a very firm, steady management of poll workers and the conduct of and unified command from the election vote counts. commission.” Gill, who served as India’s chief In 1960, an official in the state of Kerala election commissioner from 1996 to 2001, knew drafted a Model Code of Conduct for the the challenges of conducting free and fair Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates, to elections in the world’s most populous set rules for candidates during a close electoral democracy, where loyalties often were measured race. Among other aims, the code, in its final in terms of religion, language, caste or region. form, restricted the use of inflammatory Election-linked violence was a constant risk. language that could divide India’s diverse In the 30 years after India’s partition and electorate on the basis of caste, religion or independence in 1947, one political party, the region. It warned against “corrupt practices” Indian National Congress, popularly known as such as coercing or bribing voters. The code

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contained guidelines for holding meetings and service hierarchy. Shortly after that, he served processions, and it outlined how candidates and on the Planning Commission of India, an political parties should behave on Election Day. agency responsible for India’s five-year economic It also included a section to prevent incumbent plans, before taking the reins at the ECI. candidates from misusing the powers of their Gill took over as chief election offices during elections. The code gave the state commissioner in 1996, after Seshan had election commission a tool to help reduce the completed his term. The 60-year old Gill had risk of violence and to level the playing field, already been a commission member for 2 1/2 although compliance was voluntary. years. An accomplished civil servant, he had With the agreement of political parties, risen through the ranks in the western states of which largely viewed the code as a paper tiger, Punjab and Haryana. With degrees in the ECI in 1962 adopted the Kerala document agriculture and developmental studies, Gill had for national use, made a few changes, and gone on to serve in the central ministries of circulated it during every election from that year chemicals and fertilizers and agriculture and onward. The commission further revised the cooperatives before becoming an election code in later years, making major changes in commissioner in 1993. 1974 and 1979. Political parties and candidates Both men believed that the code of conduct at first largely ignored the code, aware that the could be developed into an effective tool for document had no statutory backing. However, dealing with fierce electoral competition in the code’s provisions gained importance as the multicultural and multireligious India. The period of relative political calm faded in the late question was: How? 1970s and 1980s. More intense party competition and coalition politics ushered in a THE CHALLENGE new and abrasive phase in the country’s political From the outset Seshan knew that the ECI life. Political parties appealed to ethnic, had to reduce inflammatory rhetoric and ensure religious and caste differences to assemble voting that incumbents did not misuse their powers. blocs. Violence often followed, as regional, The president had appointed him soon after the religious and caste-based parties challenged 1989 elections, when two long-simmering and Congress’ dominance. divisive issues resurfaced and threatened Two experienced civil servants, first Seshan violence. and later his successor Gill, faced these Caste-based discrimination had long challenges between 1990 and 2001 during their afflicted politics in India. In 1979, the successive terms as head of the ECI. government had appointed the Mandal In December 1990, President R. Commission to study the problem. Named after Venkataraman appointed Seshan, 58 years old at the parliamentarian who headed it, the the time, as chief of the ECI. A career civil commission had proposed a sharp increase in the servant, Seshan had held high-level positions in number of government jobs and public Tamil Nadu state before going abroad to earn university positions reserved for disadvantaged his master’s degree in public administration from citizens classified as “other backward classes.” In Harvard University in 1968. Upon his return, 1989, when the newly elected government, Seshan was assigned to senior-level positions at seeking to consolidate alliances with caste-based the ministries of defense and internal security. political parties, tried to enforce the affirmative- In 1989, Seshan became cabinet secretary, a post action recommendations, violence erupted as that was considered the pinnacle of the civil students and political groups protested.

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A second source of tension, centered on the have to act even more quickly than first status of the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century imagined. The 1989 elections to the Lok Sabha, mosque in the town of Ayodhya in north India, the legislature, had brought a loose coalition of intensified at the same time. Many Hindus opposition parties to power, ousting Rajiv believed that the mosque stood on the birthplace Gandhi, the Congress party candidate. of a prominent Hindu god and wanted to build a However, the coalition soon unraveled. A new temple, or mandir, on the site. For Muslims, election would have to take place in 1991, only however, the mosque was equally important, as 16 months after the opposition government had it was one of the oldest and largest in the formed. Seshan and the commission had little country. The “mandir issue” had been tied up in time to develop and implement a strategy for the courts since 1950, when, in 1984, right-wing dampening division. religious organizations, along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a rising power in national FRAMING A RESPONSE politics, started a movement to reclaim the site. The election commission had few tools at In 1989, the BJP, making the mandir issue an its disposal to dampen violence in future important part of its election campaigning, won elections. Seshan, and later Gill, recognized that 85 seats compared with just two in the 1984 reviving the code as an effective policy tool elections. In September 1990, prominent BJP would require the ECI to build broad support leaders launched religious processions across for the code and its goals, and to induce many Indian states to whip up support for politicians and parties to abide by the code’s leveling the mosque. Rioting broke out in the recommended campaign practices. Compliance wake of the processions, leading to the collapse monitoring would be crucial, and the of the central government and the National commission would need significant numbers of Front and Samajwadi Janata Party coalitions in election-time personnel to identify and deal with the space of just four months. violations. As the political environment deteriorated, Before 1990, the commission had taken few Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar Singh steps to monitor violations or win compliance. appointed a committee to consider electoral Because the code was a voluntary document, reforms. The Goswami Committee on Electoral agreed to and accepted by political parties and Reform, set up in January 1990 under Law based on the parties’ good will, the commission Minister Dinesh Goswami, issued its findings had left it to the parties to regulate the behavior five months later. Among other of their candidates within the parameters set by recommendations, the report endorsed 1) the the code. Without fear of opprobrium or disqualification of candidates who campaigned sanctions, candidates flouted the code’s on caste or religious lines, or instigated standards. Indeed, S. K. Mendiratta, who joined communal animosities during elections, and 2) the commission in 1964 and was its legal adviser the investigation, special trial or prosecution of in 2010, described the code as having been candidates who intimidated or coerced voters. “more of a sermon on paper” before Seshan’s In addition, the report recommended that the arrival. “We were not watching its actual election commission should void results and implementation,” he said. arrange fresh elections in cases where During their respective terms in office, both misconduct reported by electoral officers turned Seshan and Gill knew that the commission and out to be true. the code had to acquire legitimacy in the eyes of In short order, the ECI learned it would both the electorate and politicians. Building

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credibility would require cultivating a core of elections, and to ensure greater fairness.” support, starting either with the public, the political parties, or both. Seshan chose to woo GETTING DOWN TO WORK the voters and to use their support to prod Although Seshan and Gill headed the ECI politicians into line, a strategy that proved at different times, they addressed similar effective but alienated many of those in the challenges in building support for the political sphere. When Gill became ECI chief, commission and the election code, recruiting he shifted to a cooperative approach designed to and managing personnel, and deploying create and sustain a working relationship observers to monitor compliance. between the parties and the commission. The commission needed adequate staffing Building support and relationships in order to assure fair and peaceful elections. Not long after Seshan took office at the Seshan reached to the Representation of the ECI in 1990, he found that the commission People acts of 1950 and 1951, which allowed the would have to plan for national elections in mid- commission to recruit significant numbers of 1991 while dampening the risk of violence in an personnel from the state and central electorate divided on the twin issues of governments during elections. Citing the affirmative action and the Babri Masjid commission’s powers under the constitution and controversy. Recognizing that he needed to the acts, he insisted that the central government exert the commission’s independence and create grant him additional civil servants for the 1991 a level playing field for all political parties, elections. He continued to mobilize millions of Seshan took his case to the public. personnel for subsequent elections, many of Seshan was well aware of the importance of whom he put to work in far-flung areas of the the media. As secretary of the Ministry of country. Environment from 1985 to 1988, Seshan had Seshan decided to appoint special election held press conferences regularly and briefed observers to look out for incendiary campaign journalists on development projects that were in speeches, voter intimidation, vote-stealing and the pipeline. In one instance, on the other tactics often associated with electoral recommendation of expert committees, he had violence. These observers also were needed to opposed two important hydroelectric dam keep a close watch on electoral officers recruited projects that had government support.1 Seshan from elsewhere in the government, to make sure found allies in the media as he laid out the the officers applied electoral rules evenly and environmental impact of the projects. Though justly. the projects ultimately moved ahead, Seshan, As more workers fell under the with the public watching closely, was able to commission’s temporary jurisdiction, wrest major concessions from the government. management became an issue. Gill said that Sankarshan Thakur, a prominent journalist and when he took over in 1996, he recognized the roving editor for The Telegraph, said, “A lot of need for more operational rules, with checks and people forget about his contribution as secretary balances. “I had a clear view that men pass on, of environment. He brought attention to an but systems remain,” Gill said. “In my six years, office that had languished as an appendix to the I tried to stabilize and strengthen systems, and party in power.” set directions. ... A whole series of instructions With this experience behind him, Seshan were issued, and put in regular commission set about burnishing the image of the election circulars, for more effective management of commission and building public support. Early

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in his tenure, he implemented popular measures transparency in the commission’s functioning. that drew public notice. For example, he banned Gill used several tactics to win the election graffiti, campaign loudspeakers and cooperation of political leaders. First, he invited posters on private property. Candidates, eager all 50 recognized political parties to a series of to outdo their rivals, had made these common meetings with the commission. “In my view, campaign practices in the past. often expressed, the recognized political parties Seshan ensured that his initiatives were well and the Election Commission are linked by an publicized. He was outspoken in the media, umbilical cord,” Gill said. “Neither can exist projecting a tough image toward politicians. He without the other. Therefore, I started regular spoke often at public events, and comments such half-yearly meetings with the parties for a as “I eat politicians for breakfast” brought him comprehensive dialogue on an agenda issued in widespread recognition and support.2 While the advance, and included items put in by parties.” strategy endeared Seshan with the populace, it In the meetings, he asked politicians to air their also made him “the man most Indian politicians grievances and shared news about the loved to hate.”3 In a 1995 Times of India public commission's work. Second, he asked electoral poll, 94% of the respondents were in favor of officers to meet with political parties in their Seshan’s interpretation of the code of conduct constituencies and go through all aspects of the and supported his orders to disqualify candidates election, including the stipulations of the code. engaging in disruptive practices.4 Political parties responded well to Gill’s Using the commission’s increased clout, conciliatory approach. They adopted the code Seshan insisted that candidates and parties voluntarily in the years that followed, and many follow the code to the letter. He threatened to started appointing their own staff members to postpone or even cancel elections if candidates ensure compliance. For instance, in 2010, the broke the commission’s rules. Resentful of Bharatiya Janata Party employed legal experts to Seshan’s tough line but mindful of his popularity issue guidelines on the code and advise its among the populace, politicians began to craft candidates. their campaign speeches and slogans with Third, Gill sought to rebuild alliances with greater care and less theater. Newspapers, another constituency that had a potentially including international ones, documented the significant impact on the commission’s work: the change in their behavior. A 1996 article in The judiciary. Seshan, when challenged in court, had Independent, a leading British newspaper, noted grappled with the judiciary over the chief that Seshan “stopped politicians from making election commissioner’s powers. Gill said he speeches which might stir up hatred between had a different view: “When I took over, I was Hindus and Muslims and within Hinduism’s very clear that constitutions work only so long as hierarchy of castes.”5 all high constitutional authorities stay within When Gill took over as chief commissioner their given constitutional parameters. I think we in 1996, the strong public support cultivated by very quickly came to a clear understanding, with his predecessor gave him the clout to approach respect on either side, and the courts supported political leaders in a more cordial manner that me. ... After all, we were only human beings, and stressed mutual goals. He aimed to build the political parties were giants, with power and understanding of the code and its requirements, muscle. It made a lot of difference when these and to emphasize the importance of responsible people challenged me and the courts supported campaigning for parties and candidates as well as me.” for the voters. He also wanted to promote

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Recruiting and managing personnel jurisdiction over civil servants. The case dragged Early in his tenure at the ECI, Seshan on for seven years as it made its way to the started recruiting larger numbers of election Supreme Court. Seshan, in the meantime, workers from central and state governments continued to take action against corrupt or under the Representation of the People acts to derelict officials until his term ended in 1996. monitor candidates and perform other election The Supreme Court finally dismissed the case in duties. Seshan had not anticipated that a tragic 2000, after Gill negotiated a settlement in favor political event would further his reform efforts of the commission. during this time. While campaigning during the When Gill became the chief election 1991 elections, Rajiv Gandhi, leader of the commissioner in 1996, he expanded and Congress party and a former prime minister, was tightened many of Seshan’s policies. He was assassinated. Gandhi's slaying shocked the especially judicious in vetting chief electoral country and raised new worries about political officers, who were the highest-ranking electoral violence. Seshan delayed the election by a officials within states. “The chief electoral month and succeeded in pushing through many officers of the states were chosen by the of his personnel requests. commission with great care, to ensure neutrality But recruiting greater numbers of civil and firmness,” he said. “After all, their careers servants was just the first step. Now Seshan are in the states, where they have to coexist with confronted the knottier problem of keeping high political figures.” track of his workers and what they were doing Soon after becoming chief election on an immense electoral stage. In the 1991 commissioner, Gill set a firm benchmark aimed elections, for instance, the commission deployed at eliminating potential favoritism by senior 600,000 voting booths and some 3.5 million officials who may have developed political ties in personnel to manage an electorate of nearly half their locales. He made sure that chief electoral a billion people. officers and returning officers responsible for Seshan insisted on keeping election officers overseeing elections in constituencies were not strictly under the control of the commission, on posted in their home states. Nor were they the belief that personnel actions and decisions assigned to states where they had worked four affected the commission’s credibility and years or longer. These policies became standard effectiveness. He argued that, during elections, procedure under subsequent commissioners. civil servants who were assigned to work with Baijayant Panda, a member of Parliament the commission were under ECI jurisdiction, as from the Biju Janata Dal, a regional political laid out in the Representation of the People acts. party founded in the 1990s, said, “It [the system] He asked these civil servants to report directly to basically depends upon ensuring that the people him, insisting that the ECI alone would who run operations at the ground level are discipline, suspend or transfer transgressors. outsiders. So, for example, they take civil The central or state governments could not servants from Orissa and put them in Himachal remove or transfer civil servants elsewhere after Pradesh, and they take civil servants from Tamil they were put on election duty. Seshan claimed Nadu and put them in Orissa. The basic that these steps were critical in maintaining reliance is on a principle that they have outsiders independence of the ECI and ensuring free and that make the final call. And the assumption is fair elections. that since they have no connections to local The ruling parties disagreed. In a 1993 politicians, they will be fair. By and large, they court petition, they challenged the commission’s are.”

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Compliance: Deploying observers the model code’s first provision by including Early in his term, Seshan made it clear that activities that “cause tension between different the code of conduct was intended to maintain castes or communities, religious or linguistic”7 and uphold the democratic tradition of could be prosecuted under the Representation of campaigning on substantive issues rather than the People acts and the Indian Penal Code and appeals to religious, linguistic, caste or regional could be liable for fines or imprisonment. The preferences. He appealed to political candidates ECI’s monitors collected evidence that to adhere to the code and limit their campaign prosecutors could use to prove such criminal statements to the policies, programs and past charges in court. Even though candidates knew records of opponents. that such a case could languish for years in the Seshan appointed special electoral officers Indian judicial system, most complied with the to monitor compliance. With greater numbers code of conduct and ECI regulations. of electoral workers at his disposal, he appointed In August 1996, Seshan and Gill, who was senior civil-service officials to inspect publicity an ECI commissioner at the time, successfully materials, monitor candidates’ speeches and oversaw an amendment to the Representation of report on other campaign and election-related the People acts of 1950 and 1951. The problems. He also organized teams equipped provision formalized the commission’s authority with video cameras to support every observer in to appoint observers and maintain disciplinary monitoring political rallies and other public control over them. While the code of conduct events. For instance, with about 2,000 observers itself was not backed by statute, the amendment keeping a close eye on political developments in was crucial to increasing the authority of the 1991 elections,6 Seshan had greater observers. It gave observers the power to direct credibility when he called on candidates to other polling personnel, to stop the counting of adhere to the code and limit their campaigning votes at any time, and to withhold results if to governance issues. anyone tampered with or stole ballot boxes. As During the elections held under Seshan's statutory appointees, the observers reported direction, at the commission’s headquarters in directly to the ECI. Candidates and political New Delhi, a small committee of deputy parties could direct their complaints to these election commissioners and officers met daily to observers. review complaints of violations of the code from Gill extended the practice of appointing observers and suggest next steps. Observers, observers when he became chief election tracking violations of the code during election commissioner, sending senior civil servants as campaigns, reported violations directly to the observers to every constituency. During the commission. Seshan reviewed all complaints 1998 parliamentary elections, for instance, three carefully, sometimes dispatching commission observers were deployed in each of 543 staff to investigate violations or settle disputes. parliamentary constituencies. Gill said, If the commission determined that a candidate “Starting from Seshan, we began to take senior violated the code, it issued an advisory that officers of the government of India as election asked the candidate to stop the action or observers. I systemized and strengthened the behavior that was the cause of complaint. work of election observers with detailed Although the code of conduct itself was not commission directions and training.” legally enforceable, many of its prohibitions reflected Indian election and criminal laws. For OVERCOMING OBSTACLES example, a candidate whose campaign violated Bent on rebuilding the legitimacy of the

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commission and the code of conduct, Seshan he retired in December 1996. sometimes exceeded his authority. He Another obstacle dealt more directly with threatened, for example, to postpone or cancel the code of conduct. Beginning in 1994, elections if candidates violated the code. politicians from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Although he had public support, politicians and Punjab and Haryana filed court challenges party stalwarts began referring to him as a “bull against the commission over the date the code who carried around his own china shop” or, would take effect in an election season. The more often, “The Alsatian.” “Indian politicians, date was especially important because it marked so the joke goes, fear only God and T.N. the official start of the code’s rules; until that Seshan,” said a 1996 article in The Independent.8 time, candidates and parties were relatively free It was not long before politicians openly of campaign restrictions. The commission held challenged Seshan’s authority on the code and that the code came into effect when the ECI other electoral decisions. Political parties, announced an election, which might be as long including the ruling Congress and the BJP and as six months in advance (rather than when the Janata Dal opposition, failed in 1991 and 1992 governor, in keeping with election protocol, sent to get Parliament to remove Seshan by the formal notice several weeks later). impeachment. Politicians from the Congress The dispute simmered for years, even then tried another tactic: diluting his power. though Gill tried to negotiate a settlement Although Seshan was the only election through the political parties when he became commissioner at the time, India’s constitution chief election commissioner in December 1996. allowed for more than one. Seshan’s opponents Finally, in April 2001, with the issue still bogged in Parliament pushed through a constitutional down in the Supreme Court, Gill and senior amendment in October 1993 that added two politicians reached an agreement. The code additional commissioners, each with the same would become effective after the commission authority as the chief commissioner. One of the publicly announced an election. In normal two new commissioners was Gill. Seshan and circumstances, however, the ECI would make Gill’s relationship thus began on a difficult note. the announcement no more than three weeks Seshan, true to form, fought back. He went before the governor’s formal notice. to the Supreme Court, arguing that Parliament Mendiratta, the commission’s legal counsel did not have the authority to put the two new in 2010, said the hard-won settlement actually election commissioners on equal footing with bolstered the legitimacy of the code. “We the chief commissioner. The court initially took presented the agreement to the Supreme Court, Seshan’s side and issued an interim order stating which agreed that the settlement was that his office had the final authority in deciding reasonable,” Mendiratta said. “This is how some commission matters. judicial stamp of approval was placed on the Two years later, in February 1996, a five- code.” judge panel of the Supreme Court overturned the order, ruling unanimously that the three ASSESSING RESULTS commissioners had equal votes. The decision In January 2010, marking the ECI’s 60th meant that the two commissioners acting anniversary, President Pratibha D. Patil together could overturn any move by the chief congratulated the election commission on its election commissioner. To no one’s surprise, the successes. She noted that the commission had ruling displeased Seshan, who continued to clash made substantial progress in implementing the with the other two election commissioners until code of conduct and had earned a reputation for

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strict and impartial monitoring. She also praised reported on such events, in effect putting the the political parties: “Their remarkable candidates’ reputations on the line. contribution to the Indian electoral system is By 2010, politicians accepted the voluntary their decision to voluntarily adopt and abide by code as a legitimate part of elections. Some the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, a political parties went a step further. Baijayant unique document which has evolved to serve Panda of the Biju Janata Dal party said, “Our indeed as a moral conduct of elections.”9 party headquarters gave instruction to every Seshan’s contribution to the process was candidate that we will hang you out to dry if you significant. His adroit use of his civil service are in violation [of the code]. The party gave background and his forceful manner helped push written guidelines, sort of do’s and don’ts, to the code into the public and political every candidate.” consciousness. He built a power base of public Challenges remained in 2010. Although support and worked hard to consolidate that the code succeeded in correcting some political support through public appearances, speeches misbehavior, creative candidates found ways and media interviews. His efforts elevated the around its requirements. Journalist Thakur said ECI’s profile and opened the door for the he knew of candidates who avoided ECI censure commission to become a force in Indian politics. by having supporters from fringe political parties Gill’s role in the successful implementation do the dirty work on their behalf. of the code may have been less flamboyant but In addition, the ECI still found it difficult was equally significant. Building on Seshan's to sever the links between its electoral officers work, he tried to institutionalize the code while and politicians, even though the commission keeping its voluntary nature intact. Focused on kept performance records and tried to send winning compliance through conciliation rather officers to states far from their own. The than force, he built alliances with politicians, electoral officers, after all, had to return to their engaging them in serious discussions about the posts in state governments after each election, code. He took pains to settle code-related where their careers often depended on the disputes fairly while staying firm on the politicians for whom they worked. commission’s constitutional authority. The commissioners who followed after Gill REFLECTIONS reinforced the electoral process by keeping the In an interview published in 1997, a year code of conduct alive and warning candidates after he left his post as chief election about unacceptable campaign behavior during commissioner, T.N. Seshan said, “I would say I national and state elections. Mendiratta said have achieved good success. For we have ECI warnings gained importance among top appointed observers, we have ensured that the politicians: “When we issued a notice to a chief electoral officers are not pulled around or candidate on violating [the code], it got transferred by the state governments. I don’t publicity. It was a big setback for the leader.” think the country ever saw the code of conduct During the decade following Seshan and so well imposed as it was in the last two or three Gill’s tenures, non-governmental organizations years.”10 and media adopted more vigilant electoral roles. The credibility that Seshan and his NGOs monitored cases against high-profile successor, M.S. Gill, built from 1990 to 2001 political leaders of Congress and the Bharatiya enabled the Election Commission of India to Janata Party for using inappropriate language play a significant role in defusing a divisive and during election speeches. Media channels volatile political environment. “It has been

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difficult to bypass the standards set by Seshan,” The political parties, on their part, listened to said journalist Sankarshan Thakur. “Where we the commission and cooperated with us. This is have come after Seshan is his personal legacy, the greatness of the Indian constitutional system and India has also moved on. We have become and the general positive attitude of the parties.” less tribal in the way elections are conducted. India’s case had a few signature elements There is a flurry a month before elections, that that helped make the code of conduct work. the Model Code of Conduct is coming. Leaders Political parties voluntarily signed on to it. An are worried about the Model Code of Conduct. independent institution had the will to fully and It informs their activity in a way it did not consistently monitor compliance. The fear of earlier.” censure and unfavorable public opinion Gill, who adopted a conciliatory strategy influenced political behavior. that contrasted with Seshan’s aggressive style, Gill noted that the road to success was acknowledged the role of political parties in bumpy. “It was not easy to stand up and be a improving the system. “The commission set a referee,” he said. “It was not easy to sleep at tradition of fairness, firmness and dialogue with night. You’ve got to have inner stability when the political parties for improvement in the you push the big players. After all, you are just a system,” he said. “In my time, we were willing retired civil servant.” to listen to their criticism, as no one is infallible.

1 Evangelista, Oscar L. “The Biography of Tirunellai N. Seshan.” The 1996 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. Accessed 6 December 2010. http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographySeshanTir.htm. 2 McGirk, Tim. “India’s Scourge of money, muscles and ministers.” The Independent. 28 April 1996. 3 “Seshan - Redeemer and Saviour of Indian Democracy.” New Straits Times. 19 January 2003. 4 Evangelista. 5 McGirk. 6 “Election India.” Election Commission of India Library. Accessed 7 February 2011. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/Library&Publications/ECI_NL_FEBJUN_2004.pdf. 7 “Model Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates.” Election Commission of India. Accessed 25 January 2011. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/faq/faq_mcc.pdf. 8 McGirk. 9 “Address of Hon’ble President of India.” Election Commission of India Library. Accessed 25 January 2011. http://eci.gov.in/eci_main/dj/Speeches.pdf. 10 Mazoomdar, Jay. “It’s when the disease is at its worst that you want the strongest.” The Sunday Observer. 17 May 1997.

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