How Modi’s BJP rewrote rules to erode Indian election commission’s independence
Narendra Modi‘s crackdown on civil liberties in India is gnawing away at one of the country’s last independent institutions – the Election Commission.
Once regarded as an aggressively fair umpire of India’s maddeningly complex and multitudinous elections, the agency is now seen by critics as favouring Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The regression has come about because of policy and personnel changes that Modi’s government has affected over the years.
In a belated bid to ringfence the commission’s independence, the Supreme Court, ruling on a public interest petition in March last year, modified the process by which its three commissioners are appointed, including the chief.
