Why India has 3 Election Commissioners: Rajiv Gandhi's Move to Control ECI
A political storm has erupted after allegations of internal dissent among India's three Election Commissioners, with the Opposition claiming a crisis of institutional integrity. This has raised questions about why India maintains a three-member Election Commission structure.
From independence until the late 1980s, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) alone headed the Election Commission, overseeing India's elections. The system changed after Rajiv Gandhi's government, which secured over 400 Lok Sabha seats in 1984, clashed with CEC Peri Sastri over election-related matters. Sastri, sworn in on 1 January 1986, upheld the constitutional autonomy of the ECI and resisted government interference.
The conflict between the Prime Minister's office and the independent-minded Sastri led to the restructuring of the Election Commission into a multi-member body, fundamentally altering its governance structure.
