Скачать или смотреть ‘EC is BJP Puppet, in Response to Bihar Electoral Roll Revision, Opposition Should Boycott Polls’

In response to SIR & compromised EC, opposition should boycott elections: Debasish Roy Chowdhury, author 'To Kill a Democracy: India's Passage to Despotism' to Karan Thapar for The Wire.

..........................................


The author and columnist Debasish Roy Chowdhury says that in response to the belief that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is designed to disenfranchise voters and also in response to the belief that the Election Commission is compromised and has become the puppet of the BJP, the opposition parties should boycott elections. He asks: “Is there any point in playing at all if the game is rigged? … By continuing to contest elections they claim are stolen, the opposition parties are actually legitimizing the same theft of mandate they charge the government and the EC with perpetrating.” His conclusion is straightforward and stark: “boycotting elections is the only logical recourse.”



At the moment, when opposition parties are participating in what they believe are rigged elections held under a compromised Election Commission, they are guilty of what Debasish Roy Chowdhury calls “moral confusion”. He says: “What exactly is the message for voters here? ‘The elections are rigged, but come vote for us anyway’?”



Debasish Roy Chowdhury also says that the present strategy the opposition has adopted of endless meetings with the Election Commission and writing long letters to them is “muddled”. He says: “If the EC is indeed the BJP’s puppet and is helping it steal elections, what purpose do these meetings serve?”



When asked if boycotting elections would be tantamount to the opposition accepting defeat and handing victory on a platter to Narendra Modi and the BJP, Debasish Roy Chowdhury replied by saying that India is far too well-established as a democracy for an election the opposition boycotts to be considered credible. In other words, an opposition boycott would undermine the election and also awaken the Indian people to the fact that the process is rigged and that they themselves need to ensure this is corrected and reversed.



Debasish Roy Chowdhury takes heart from the fact that Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal has recently said that boycotting the Bihar elections is an option his party could consider. His advice is do not delay taking that decision. Take it promptly and decisively.



I will stop there. I will leave you to see the interview and hear Debasish Roy Chowdhury’s arguements for yourself.



Here is the link to the interview:

Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month.    / @thewirenews