Boycott poll, lose symbol: Election Commission

NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (PTI) — In a major ruling, the Election Commission has held that boycott of elections by a political party could lead to its de-recognition and withdrawal of its reserved symbol.

"The Commission’s responsibility is to help in every possible manner those political organisations which strive to strengthen democracy, and it cannot have any sympathy for those organisation which boycott, or become party to calls of boycott of elections," Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill and Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh said in an order.

The Commission gave its ruling while withdrawing recognition to Nagaland People’s Council (NPC) for boycotting the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Nagaland in February this year.

The perusal of records of the Commission show that NPC, recognised as a state party in Nagaland and allotted the reserved symbol ‘Cock’, does not fulfil the conditions for recognition as laid down in the 1968 Symbols Order, it said. Rejecting the plea of NPC’s counsel and party functionaries, who made their submissions on September 1, the Commission pointed out that the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann), which had boycotted elections in 1992, were duly de-recognised by it under the Symbols Order after reviewing their poll performance.

Noting that it never gave any indication or encouragement to those trying for postponement of polls, the Commission said it was "not concerned with any other authority giving any assurance or indication about deferment of elections, which the Constitution did not permit".

Mr Gill and Mr Lyngdoh said: "If the present party or any one else in the state of Nagaland had any grievance or apprehension about the conditions not being conducive to conducting free and fair elections in Nagaland, it could have approached the Commission for strengthening the law and order machinery by such re-inforcement as would have made the conditions conducive for free and fair elections...."

"If a party chooses to boycott the elections and not to participate in the democratic process, the Commission cannot encourage any such move or course of action of that party," the ruling added.

Any sympathetic consideration or concession shown towards such a party by the Commission would send "wrong signals" to the Indian polity and may frustrate the Commission’s efforts to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in the country, Mr Gill and Mr Lyngdoh held.

NPC President Shurhozelia and other office-bearers and party’s counsel Vijay Hansaria contended that "Naga Ho Ho", an apex body and a respectable non-government organisation in Nagaland, gave a call on December 18, last year to defer polls taking into consideration the activities of underground elements in the state.

While discussions were going on, notifications for holding the elections were issued by the Commission on January 28, he said, adding the party had no time to negotiate with the underground elements and also Naga Ho Ho and other NGOs to withdraw their call for poll boycott.

The NPC and Mr Hansaria contended that it was a "sacrifice" made by the party in the interest of peace in the state and said the Commission should not withdraw the party’s recognition as that would amount to "double punishment".

Maintaining that the power of the Commission to de-recognise a recognised party had been upheld by the Supreme Court in a 1996 case. The Commission said if the polls were not conducted, it could have led to "breakdown" of the constitutional machinery in the state. In its order, the Commission said: "If any political party or organisation boycotts elections, it has to suffer the consequences which legally flow."Such political party cannot validly complain before the Commission that its poll performance should not be considered, for purposes of its recognition, or continued recognition, under the Symbols Order, at an election which it by its own volition boycotted," it said

.It also gave the example of J and K People’s Conference losing its recognition because it did not participate in the 1996 elections in the border state.Noting that in rare instances parties actually carried out the threat of boycotting the electoral process, the Commission said "political parties, particularly, recognised parties, should always act so as to carry forward the democratic process rather than negate the same".

Asserting that it had consistently and firmly tried to curb the tendency of poll boycott, it said "the major problems in the political domain in the country have to be resolved in the political arena itself. It has to be resolved democratically through the electoral process".With this ruling, the NPC has become a registered unrecognised party till its performance is again reviewed by the Commission at the next general election as and when held.