In the past one decade the Election Commission has mastered the art of controlling booth capturing. In the past few years it has become extremely difficult to capture booths. However, in the 2014 elections in some States, particularly West Bengal and parts of UP, a silent booth capturing has been witnessed. A silent booth capturing is a process where central security forces deployed for election duty are not adequately deployed. 

The central forces are used for non-essential purposes and polling booths continue to be manned by State police and the Home Guards. This is done at the behest of the District Administration. The staff members  conducting the polls belong to the State Government. Once a coercive envoirment is created  around the polling station by the ruling party the polling agents of the Opposition are scared away. It is then a free for all in favour of the ruling party.

A large part of the energies of the Election Commission are being spent in being an ombudsman in the matter of dissecting political speeches. These political speeches at times do cross the laxman rekha. In such cases the person concerned has to be censured. Regrettably most of the air time on Television and Print media reports are being spent in disecting these controversial speeches.

They are at best a side show. The core of the Election is a free and fair polling which is being denied through the silent booth capturing. It would be desirable that the Election Commission concentrate its energies in checking this silent booth capturing since that is its principal Job.

(Author is leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha. The views expressed by the author in this article are his own and do not reflect the views of Mediabharti.com- Editor)