There is little EC can do to rein in Ramdev who has stirred up a political storm with Dalit remark

The Election Commission has been finding it difficult to take direct action against Ramdev as he is not covered under the model code of conduct or election rules.

Updated on: Apr 27, 2014, 02:04:41 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi/Lucknow/Vadodara

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An FIR was lodged against yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday for making “vulgar comments” a day earlier against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Ramdev had said in Lucknow: "He (Rahul Gandhi) goes to Dalits' houses for honeymoon and picnics… Had he married a Dalit girl, his luck could have clicked and he would have become the PM."

Yoga-guru-Ramdev-addresses-a-press-conference-in-Lucknow-HT-photo-Deepak-Gupta

In Vadodara on Saturday, the yoga guru expressed regret to the Dalit community but claimed his remarks were "misrepresented". He said: "The statement I made has been misrepresented. The term ‘honeymoon period is over’ is commonly used in the political language. I tried to use it in that sense." But he insisted that the Congress vice president visited homes of the poor for "publicity stunt, picnic or tourism".

Read:Ramdev says 'honeymoon' remark on Rahul 'misinterpreted', apologises

But the incident has brought into focus another related issue: That the Election Commission has been finding it difficult to take direct action against Ramdev as he is not covered under the model code of conduct.

The Congress has repeatedly complained to the EC against Ramdev, accusing him of using foul language against the Gandhi family. Congress general secretary Ajay Maken had met the election commissioners on Thursday and sought action against him in this regard.

CPM leader Brinda Karat also took on Ramdev for his comments, saying the self-declared "baba" had made uncivilised statements demeaning and insulting Dalit women. "He should be prosecuted under the SC/ST Act. The EC should also take suo motu notice of his outrageous comments and take appropriate action," she added.

But even after repeated complaints, including those made by Dalit organisations since Friday, the commission has not been able to rein in Ramdev.

The reason is the poll panel's limited sphere of authority. The model code and election rules cover only political parties, its activists and allied institutes. Ramdev is neither associated with any party, nor is a poll candidate. And this has proved to be an escape route for him.

Read:Rahul leads bachelor’s life out of compulsion, says Ramdev

Read: Why is Modi mum on Ramdev's gutter language: Congress

"Whatever we can, we have done," an EC official said. The commission had last week directed all chief electoral officers to take an undertaking from the organisers of yoga camps that the events wouldn’t be used for political purpose, the direction stated.

But even the government has not helped, former chief election commissioners say. "Most of the reforms suggested by the commission have been pending for 15 years now," said former CEC TS Krishnamurthy.

Former CEC SY Quraishi admitted that the commission had been slow in initiating action against hate-mongers in this poll season. "Delayed action by EC may not be good for a healthy democracy," he said at the launch of his book, ‘Undocumented Wonder’.

(With agency inputs)

Read:Cong complains to EC against use of religious platform to seek votes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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