Ashok Lavasa: Ex-EC urges poll panel to regain public trust amid calls for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa has said the poll panel being mired in controversies was unprecedented. Lavasa advised the poll panel regain public trust, drawing a cricket analogy to warn that a team's victory would be questioned "if people feel the umpire was not neutral".

The remarks come amid a united protests by opposition INDIA bloc over the past few days against alleged ‘vote chori’ and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The protsts came after an Indian Express report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge, even as the national rollout of the SIR was under the supervision of the full commission.

“I feel this is very unfortunate and dangerous for democracy, because you need an umpire in an electoral democracy,” Lavasa said addressing a citizens' convention in Kolkata virtually on 13 October.

'If people feel that the umpire is not neutral'

"If people feel that the umpire is not neutral, they will question the winning team's victory as well," the former election commissioner said.

"The EC should regain its credibility and people's trust. The Election Commission of India, whose position is very high and possibly the highest among all public institutions, is today mired in controversies and people are taking to the streets to protest," he said.

Under fire over the red flags raised by two of its commissioners over the SIR process, the EC has asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.

In a statement, the poll panel also said that not only the three commissioners, but every officer of the EC is fully authorised to give suggestions to the commission to improve the electoral system.

Pointing to the controversy over the SIR of electoral rolls, Lavasa said the people of the country have never been so worried about saving their voting rights as they have been in the last 16 months. "The EC's decision to conduct the SIR took everyone by surprise," he asserted.

Who is Ashok Lavasa?

Ashok Lavasa is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who served as an Election Commissioner of India from January 2018 to August 2020.

Lavasa is best known for recording a dissent during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections over the Election Commission’s decisions on alleged Model Code of Conduct violations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah.

Born on 21 October, 1957, Lavasa a 1980 batch IAS officer from Haryana cadre, who superannuated on 31 October, 2017 as Finance Secretary of India. During 37 years of his long active service he held various crucial positions in state government of Haryana and in the Central Government.

Lavasa served in key positions as Principal Secretary and Financial Commissioner (Renewable Energy Sources, Power), Chief Coordinator (Industries), Resident Commissioner of Haryana, Managing Director of Haryana State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Hills (HSFCOSHL), Director of Haryana State Industrial Development Cooperation (HSIDC), Union Finance Secretary, Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary, Union Civil Aviation Secretary, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Joint Secretary in the M/o Home Affairs and several other important positions.

The 2019 dissent and resignation that followed

During his tenure Elections to Legislative Assemblies of almost 28 states were held. Besides Lok Sabha Elections 2019 were also held during his tenure as Election Commissioner.

“If people feel that the umpire is not neutral, they will question the winning team's victory as well.”

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Lavasa was in the middle of a row when he dissented from decisions giving PM Modi and Amit Shah a clean chit in complaints alleging violations of the Model Code of Conduct during poll campaign. Lavasa's dissent drew attention to questions about the Election Commission's handling of complaints against senior political leaders.

Lavasa resigned as Election Commissioner in August 2020 after being appointed vice-president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he oversaw private-sector operations and public-private partnerships. His ADB tenure ran from 2020 to 2023.

About the Author

Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.<br><br> Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.<br><br> Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.<br><br> Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.<br><br> Jeelani is a Bachelor's in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.