Calling for strong action against persons interrupting electoral processes, former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy said on Thursday that the Election Commission (EC) should temporarily disqualify the person, be it a voter or a candidate.

Referring to an incident in Anantapur on Thursday morning, where a person broke the electronic voting machine (EVM) at the polling station, Mr. Krishnamurthy told reporters here, “We should just keep quiet on this? Just file an FIR? That is not enough!”

Quick action

Had he been the Chief Election Commissioner, he said he would have disqualified the person who broke the EVM. He added that there were very serious violations like this incident, where effective action must be taken quickly so that people know such misconduct would not be tolerated.

Earlier, while speaking at a discussion, ‘Elections 2019: Challenges and Role of the Media’, organised by the Press Institute of India here, Mr. Krishnamurthy acknowledged the contribution of the media in the past and also observed that the media has to be accountable in its reportage.

Naresh Gupta, former Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer, highlighted the menace of paid news and surrogate advertisement in the media which was quite difficult to check. Referring to the Election Commission’s ban on the release of a movie inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Gupta said the Commission should enquire into the issue before banning its release, else its actions would be contested in the court of law.

Senior journalist S. Murari contended that the functions of the EC were increasingly being questioned and that the Commission had compromised its independence.

T. Ramakrishnan, Associate Editor, The Hindu, moderated the discussion. Press Institute of India’s director Sashi Nair also spoke.