The face of democracy seems to be changing fast. The independence of the Election Commission of India made people justifiably proud, since free and fair elections would not have been possible without it. Recently, though, the ECI has been accused of complying with the government’s wishes in more than one occasion, and the weakening of its independence was being seen as part of the erosion in most institutions associated with the just and safe democratic functioning of the country. Now with the passing of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners (appointment, conditions of service and term of office) bill, 2023, the EC’s independence is quite blatantly at risk. The formulation of the bill was blatant too. In March this year, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the selection committee for the appointment of the EC’s panel would comprise the prime minister, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the chief justice of India. The ruling mentioned that a brute majority arrived at through the democratic process must conform to constitutional safeguards and the demands of constitutional morality. The new bill, however, smoothly replaced the CJI in the selection committee with a cabinet minister of the prime minister’s choosing.

Parliament has the right to make laws, and constitutional morality is an abstract concept. Perhaps it is part of the new design of governance that more than a hundred Opposition members of parliament have been suspended. Is debate being made abstract too? Overriding the Supreme Court ruling and suspending Opposition MPs are the latest indications of the direction towards which Narendra Modi’s government is driving the country. The Supreme Court had warned against a ‘pliable’ EC, which would feel beholden to the government and facilitate its perpetuation in power. That is precisely how things seem to be working out. The Constituent Assembly’s direction for a law to determine the system of appointment for the EC panel could not have meant that the executive alone should decide. That was what the Supreme Court said in its March ruling; such a system would obviously have defeated the point of democratic elections and the scope for people’s choice. By choosing to be the only decision-maker, Mr Modi’s government seems to be trying to close all loopholes. But the voters are people. Not all loopholes can be closed.