Importance of Civility in Indian Elections

Source-This post on Importance of Civility in Indian Elections has been created based on the article “How to make elections civil again” published in “Hindustan times” on 18 May 2024.

UPSC Syllabus–GS Paper-2– Powers, Functions and Responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

Context-The article states that the Election Commission (ECI) should make rules to stop political parties and candidates from bringing up old statements or incidents during election campaigns. This would ensure that debates stay focused on current and important topics.

It states that analyzing the statements made before Independence, such as those by Subhas Bose, Savarkar, and the Hindu Mahasabha, doesn’t matter much now. Importance of Civility in Indian Elections

What are the dangers of bringing up past issues in the current political discourses by the politician?

1) Politicians often bring up forgotten or abandoned issues, especially during elections. This diverts attention from relevant contemporary issues.

2) Bringing up historical issues can lead to never-ending arguments, diverting attention from current issues.

2) As per Max Weber, real and tangible issues should determine one’s political choices.  Sensationalizing the past can cause passion to take over reason. This leads to unreasonable politics.

3) Criticizing deceased politicians goes against the legal principle of abatement after death.

What should be the way forward?

1) The ECI could devise a customized Statute of Limitations, with clearly defined exceptions like the 1975 Emergency. This would promote the “politics of responsibility” and reason, keeping elections civil by focusing on issues impacting people’s everyday lives.

Read more- Model Code of Conduct

2) One proposed timeframe could be 70 years, preventing mention of events predating that period. These events may include the non-alignment and Panchsheel doctrine.

Question for practice

What are the dangers of dwelling on the past by political parties?