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The Rediff Interview/ Dr M S Gill

'Elections in J&K are as important as defending the LoC'

Chief Election Commissioner Dr M S Gill believes he has the biggest task of the century on his hands in the forthcoming general elections. In an interview with Onkar Singh, he said he would 'thank god' if everything went well.

You have termed holding elections in India as the biggest and the most difficult task of this century. Why?

I say this is the most challenging task because we have more then 600 million voters. Which is more than the population of America and Europe taken together. This gives you an idea how enormous the task is. There would be more than half a million polling stations and more then 4.5 million officials manning these polling booths. Add to this another half a million security personnel and you have 5 million people involved. Now tell me, is it not a big task?

Also, we have to ensure that everything works smoothly -- polling stations open in time, close in time and there is no breach of peace. I would give the credit to god if we achieve this task.

The first phase of polling begins on September 5, but the counting of votes starts only on October 6. Why such a long gap between polling and counting?

Well, this has been the trend in the last couple of elections. When I was a collector, the election process used to be completed in two days. We could achieve it then in such a short period because the state police used to do its work and ensure free and fair polls. Now, every state administration wants central forces. It's like they have lost faith in the local police.

I would not say who is responsible. Obviously, those who have been ruling have done something to bring the situation to this. Since Central forces have to be moved from one state to the other, it takes time. And that's why there is a long gap between polling and counting. The last election was held in four stages. This time, because of Kargil, we would have to extend the process to five.

You have just returned from a trip to J&K. What is the situation out there like?

I spent four days in the state and visited Kupwara, Baramulla, Srinagar and some other places. I could not go to Kargil because of bad weather. We have decided to hold elections in the state in three stages -- two seats at a time. I met a whole lot of people and administrative officials and they are geared up for the elections.

Let me say one thing -- our armed forces are not defending a line in Kargil. They are defending a line of thinking -- the Indian democracy. The kind of democracy that is implemented by the Election Commission. The elections that we are now going to hold in the state are as important as defending the Line of Control. If elections in the Valley proceed smoothly, then the world opinion will be in your favour.

So you want to say our line of thinking is different from that of Pakistan?

Of course. On the other side lips are sealed. There you cannot even talk openly. Here in India we have political parties and independent candidates contesting as freely as they should do in a democracy.

You have been harping on one theme for last couple of years, that political parties should field candidates with clean image. Why?

I am sure you would like to have a Parliament where all 542 elected members have a clean track record. We have over 1 billion people in India and I think all political parties should be able to find 542 clean candidates each. The same goes for the assembly elections too.

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