Integrity: T N Seshan
“I eat politicians for breakfast,” a man who was India’s Chief Election Commissioner said that when certain politicians sought to put him in a straitjacket. T N Seshan [1932-2019] was one of the most honest persons who held a high position in India’s polity. He was the tenth Chief Election Commissioner and held the office from 1990 to 1996. He became best-known for his electoral reforms. Until he assumed that office, hardly anyone knew about the post because it always behaved like a rubber stamp of the ruling party. At present, it has become worse than a rubber stamp . Politicians generally assume they are like kings. Many of them were not happy with Seshan’s electoral reforms which put serious curbs on their malpractices. So they employed various strategies to restrain Seshan’s powers as the Chief Election Commissioner. Until 1993, the Election Commission functioned under Seshan’s singular authority. P V Narasimha Rao’s government appointed two additional Election Commission...
