Ex-CEC ruthlessly pushed for reforms

Chennai, November 11

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Tough and a stickler to the rulebook, TN Seshan fearlessly took on both inert officials and slack political parties to ensure fair and free elections in the country during his trail-blazing six-year stint between 1990 and 1996 as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

Born Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan on December 15, 1932, in Thirunellai, Palakkad district of Kerala, he ruthlessly enforced the model code of conduct much to the chagrin of political parties.

Till he took over, political parties ferrying people to polling stations was considered quite “normal”, and it was during Seshan’s stint as CEC that it became impossible with the model code being made sacrosanct. Also, he ensured that bogus voting was curbed to a large extent.

Such reforms were unheard of till he took over as the 10th CEC in 1990. In his zealous mission to cleanse the electoral system, he earned the wrath of politicians, including late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, who had hit out at him for being “arrogant”. He had won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1996 for exemplary work in public service.

Among other aspects, it recalled Seshan dispatching central police forces to suppress local goons and prevent theft of ballot boxes. “He took stern measures to prevent vote buying. He banned ostentatious campaign displays and noisy rallies and required candidates to clean up walls and buildings defaced with their slogans. He enforced spending limits and required contestants to submit full accounts of their expenses for scrutiny by independent government inspectors. He exposed politicians who made illicit use of public resources for electioneering and prohibited election-eve bonanzas for government workers. He banned the sale of liquor and seized unlicensed firearms at election time. He prohibited election propaganda based on religion,” the citation read.

A 1955-batch IAS officer, though he had held various key posts in the government, including that of defence secretary and the coveted position of Cabinet secretary, he became a household name in the country only after he took over as the CEC.

A no-nonsense attitude was his hallmark.

He was bold enough to cancel elections in Punjab in 1991 to see to it that the poll process was not vitiated by violence. In 1993, the government made the EC a three-member body and appointed two more commissioners and it was then perceived as an attempt to rein in the unpredictable Seshan.

Post-retirement, he unsuccessfully contested against KR Narayanan in the 1997 presidential elections. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, he fought against BJP stalwart LK Advani from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and lost. His wife Jayalakshmi died last year. — PTI

Condolences pour in

Unlike today, there was a time when our Election Commissioners were impartial, respected, brave and feared. Shri TN Seshan was one of them. — Rahul Gandhi, congress 

Seshan made EC a tough and independent institution. This is in stark contrast to what we have today. — Sitaram Yechury, CPM General Secretary

Known for electoral reforms, as a CEC he set a precedent for his successors. India will always remember him as a great administrator.  —Devendra Fadnavis, maha caretaker CM