TMC MP Saket Gokhale demands Bharat Ratna for TN Seshan

Chief Election Commissioner TN Seshan, saying he upheld the independence and dignity of the Election Commission. Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha through a Zero Hour mention, the TMC leader said Seshan was the 10th chief election commissioner and he redefined the way the Election Commission of India (ECI) functioned.
«Seshan was a fiercely independent election commissioner. His famous quote 'I eat politicians for breakfast' showed that he worked without fear or favour and upheld the independence and dignity of the Election Commission,» he said.
Giving reasons for his demand for Bharat Ratna for Seshan, Gokhale said that his strong image gave independence to the ECI.
«Today the election commissioners are appointed directly by the government with a majority vote of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and Home Minister (Amit) Shah on the selection panel. Neither the Chief Justice of India, which is the judiciary, nor the Leader of the Opposition, which is the legislature, have any say in the appointments,» he said.
The TMC leader said «the ECI has now become a government-appointed body».

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Seshan would not have approved of this, he claimed.
Gokhale went on to state that Seshan strictly enforced the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and made it a powerful tool for free and fair elections.
He alleged that Prime Minister Modi «shredded» the MCC «when he went around the country making some extremely communal and polarising speeches» during the Lok Sabha elections last year.
Media owners capitulated to Prime Minister Modi, who gave 80 interviews during the course of the elections while no other opposition leader got that kind of coverage, the TMC leader said.
«The ECI has constantly refused to act on the Model Code