Unka Sankalp, Vipareet Bharat”
“Sab ka Naash, Sab ka Vinaash”

A MAJORITY of exit polls for Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly Elections have predicted a BJP victory in both states. Before 2014, exit polls, used to be, at the best of times, only broad approximations. At the worst of times, the results declared on the counting day used to be totally different from those predicted by exit polls.
After 2014, there seems to be a pattern laid down by the changing paradigm of our democracy. The pattern constitutes “customised,” “made to order” exit polls conducted by either the godi media or by godi survey agencies, which are a part of government-corporates-media and Election Commission nexus.
One may not rubbish these exit polls as inconsequential attempts by the ruling nexus to create short-term confusion, having no bearing on the end results. However, as some political commentators point out, such polls do affect the morale of counting agents of Opposition parties, reducing their full involvement in the counting process.
In the Maharashtra assembly polls in 2019, BJP won only about 50% of the total seats predicted by their exit polls. In the Lok Sabha polls of 2024, an overwhelming majority of exit polls predicted that BJP would win at least 350, if not 400, seats. When the actual results were declared, BJP won only 240 seats, far short of the majority mark of 272 seats.

FALSE ALARMS
THE exit polls in the recently held Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections are bound to be a “false alarm” raised at the instance of the BJP led nexus, unless, the nexus sabotages the counting process by manipulating EVMs and stonewalling complaints of a rigged election. That brings us to the dubious role allegedly played by the Election Commission after the appointment of Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner. Like the proverbial three monkeys, the Election Commission under Rajiv Kumar seems to have chosen to “see nothing, hear nothing & speak nothing.”
Stonewalling of all complaints about hate speeches against Muslim community by BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several issues raised by the Vote For Democracy and the Association for Democratic Reforms have sparked widespread frustration among concerned citizens. The disillusionment and frustration with the present Election Commission is increasing by the day.
The “Vote For Democracy,” a group of highly qualified intellectuals and social activists working in Pune from 2023 came out with the detailed report in July-August of this year, about improprieties and illegalities committed by the Election Commission and the election officials down the line during the elections for Lok Sabha in 2024. Its most important findings are that the final figures of voter turnout increased by about 5 crore. The increased turnout figures benefitted the BJP in 80 constituencies. In a majority of constituencies, the number of votes counted was much higher than the number of votes polled. The hike in turnout was given only in percentages not in actual numbers. There was a delay of 11 days in releasing the final turnout figures.

MANIPULATION OF VOTES
THERE were subsequent corrections in uploaded data. Many candidates were refused 17C forms on the day of polling. Most important of all, there was manipulation of votes in 80 constituencies to benefit BJP. The increase in the number of votes in these constituencies was more than the winning margin of the BJP candidates. If this data in 80 constituencies was not manipulated, the NDA might have lost these constituencies and might not have been able to form the government.
The Election Commission remained totally silent on the issues raised by Vote For Democracy or by Association for Democratic Reforms.
In the Haryana assembly elections, EVMs in many constituencies showed that the battery of the EVM was used only 1% and that 99% of the power of EVM was still available. In all such EVMs, the BJP candidates won over their Congress rivals. Complaints by the Congress about these EVMs were reportedly rubbished by the Election Commission.
Negative perceptions regarding the accountability and transparency of the Election Commission and the sanctity of election process are on the increase. The final process of counting votes and declaring results in the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections should not add to voters’ frustration.
Markandeya Katju, an oft quoted former Supreme Court judge and former chairman of the Press Council of India, in an interview to Kapil Sibal, warned that Indian democracy can be put back on track only by a revolution, like in Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.
Some say India cannot go the Bangladesh way. They say that is impossible. WE, THE PEOPLE must remember that impossible remains so only until the “possible” happens.
WE, THE PEOPLE should try and put our democracy back on track without going the Bangladesh or Sri Lanka way.