There should be no worry about ‘fairness’ of our elections: Jaishankar rejects UN official’s remark

There “should not be any worry” about the “fairness” of elections in India as people here will ensure that the polls are “free and fair,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

Jaishankar’s comment came in response to a query regarding a statement made last week by Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Antonio Guterres, the United Nations’ Secretary-General.

“I don’t need the UN to tell me that our elections should be free and fair. I have the people of India. They will ensure that the elections are free and fair. So, don’t worry about it,” the minister said, rebuffing Dujarric’s remarks.

The ex-foreign secretary, who joined the ruling BJP in 2019 and was appointed as the External Affairs Minister, was speaking to the media in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, where he campaigned for his ministerial colleague Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the BJP’s candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the voting for which will be conducted in seven phases beginning April 1, the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc has consistently alleged that there is no ‘level playing field’ for the opposition. They cite two specific instances – the recent arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is among the I.N.D.I.A constituents; and the freezing of bank accounts of the Congress, the country’s oldest political party and the leader of the opposition alliance. They have also raised suspicion time and again, that that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be manipulated, a charge that the Election Commission (ECI) has repeatedly denied.

“What we very much hope that in India, as in any country that is having elections, that everyone’s rights are protected, including political and civil rights, and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair,” Dujarric, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, had said when asked about the ‘political unrest’ in India ahead of the national polls.

The United States and Germany too, have spoken about Kejriwal’s arrest, prompting New Delhi to summon American and German diplomats. The Delhi CM was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 for his alleged role as the ‘kingpin’ in the national capital’s excise policy scam. Kejriwal is the first person in India to be arrested as an incumbent chief minister.