Himalayan News Service

Patna, February 25:

As politicians in Bihar await the outcome of the state assembly polls, one man has already won a victory of sorts by ensuring that the balloting was largely free and fair. KJ Rao, 59, consultant to the Election Commission, is being seen as the person who made sure that the polls were mostly free of violence and that political parties abided by the code of conduct for elections.

Rao has been in Bihar over the past month to supervise arrangements for the elections and to strictly enforce the code of conduct. Officials said his tough directives to the state administration made these polls different. Elections in Bihar are usually associated with large-scale violence and rigging. In the last assembly polls in 2000, 48 people were killed and 150 people were injured. But this time, 17 people were killed and 60 injured.

Rao’s actions in Bihar led people to compare him with former chief election commissioner TN Seshan, known for his no-nonsense ways. “Exactly a decade ago, in the 1995 assembly polls, Seshan made a difference in ensuring free and fair polls. Rao has done the same this time,” said Kameshwar Singh, a contractor. Rao is widely seen as the person who compelled political parties, particularly the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad not to violate the code of conduct. He made surprise visits to small towns and rural areas to probe complaints of electoral malpractices.

“Never before were such a large number of police complaints lodged against candidates for violation of the code of conduct. Cases were even lodged against RJD chief Lalu Prasad and (Lok Janshakti Party chief) Ram Vilas Paswan,” said a senior election official. Rao said he was satisfied the polls were largely free and fair due to “perfect planning” by the Election Commission. “I was only part of the commission and we all worked hard to ensure free and fair polls,” Rao said. He said conducting polls in Bihar was a challenge but the current elections had passed off with few complaints of irregularities.