The violent fight between activists of the youth wing of Congress party – KSU and the SFI in Thiruvananthapuram must not be viewed simply as another fight among competing political parties. Reports speak of the hurling of stones, bottles, and burning torches as a march against the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner, became violent and required the intervention of tear gas and batons from police. Many students and policemen were allegedly hurt.
But the more worrying tale is that which lies behind the violence , India’s election institutions are being fought upon politically.
Congress has accused the Election Commission of becoming partisan and has called for Kumar’s resignation, and leading party officials have also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the charge of interference in politics. However, these are still allegations, and not proven facts. The BJP has vehemently refuted the charges and has contended that Congress is trying to attack the constitutional institution of the Election Commission for its own political gains.
However, governments can’t just dismiss all such concerns as politically motivated criticism and accusations. Rather, when there are questions regarding the electoral rolls, voting process or the independence of any constitutional body, what they need to do is be transparent.
In the same way, the opposition cannot argue that they are the defenders of democracy when their politics becomes an act of violent mobs on the streets. The throwing of stones and setting fire to objects cannot help to improve the system of election accountability.
The current BJP government also has an even greater challenge since the bodies within the Union’s constitutional scheme are not only required to work independent of each other but should also have the trust of people. On the other hand, Congress and other opposition parties have the obligation to keep the protests peaceful and based on evidence.
The violence in Kerala is thus not just a fight on the university campuses but is rather a sign that if the political institutions lack the trust of the people and the parties substitute solutions with confrontations, then the differences in the democratic setup can turn into violent clashes.
