Static model

The Model Code of Conduct, which contains a long list of dos and don’ts for governments, parties and candidates, is essentially meant to ensure a level playing field during the course of an election. One section of it titled ‘Party in Power’ has prescriptions to prevent those who enjoy official positions from using it for unfair electoral advantage. This has gone a long way in curbing flagrant excesses, witnessed in the past. Given that even the smallest push may give a decisive edge to a party in a first-past-the-post system, this code has been repeatedly tested. This was only to be expected. What was not — and certainly not envisaged at the time when such a code was mooted — was that it would become an impediment to the ordinary business of governance itself.

Yet, this is precisely what is happening. And in the process, the Election Commission, whose mandate is to ensure the free and fair conduct of polls, has been called upon to decide on matters which are not only beyond its constitutional brief, but also well beyond its competence. (The restrictions it has imposed on manifestos are a case in point.) A code of conduct should not be allowed to bring administration to a halt. Or create a culture in which the bureaucracy is afraid of taking decisions for fear of violating the code. It is no secret that even routine decisions are routinely forwarded to the EC for clearance. So much so, the EC’s opinion or direction is sought about matters that should never have come up before it. The Aam Aadmi Party, for instance, had sought its intervention in stalling the government’s plan to increase prices for gas produced from the KG Basin, something that the EC has regretfully agreed to by ordering the hike be deferred until after the election. The Reserve Bank of India has sought, as a matter of abundant caution, the Commission’s views on granting new banking licences to private sector players. Decisions that should be taken as a matter of course should not be postponed because of the fear of censure, real or imagined.

The country, and the economy, cannot afford such delay. Governance must continue whether or not elections are taking place. It is also singularly narrow to view the government as consisting solely of those elected. There has to be a measure of trust reposed on the bureaucracy, which is charged with serving the people and not just their elected representatives. The EC does apply its mind when reacting to complaints and requests for permission. But the question in most cases is whether it does need to apply its mind at all.

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