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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000910 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: BHARAT BALLOT 09: ELECTION BODY GETS NEW 
COMMISSIONER 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 238 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Former Power Ministry Secretary V.S. 
Sampath on April 21 assumed charge as one of three 
commissioners on India's Election Commission, following the 
retirement of Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami. 
Sampath is the junior member of India's three-member Election 
Commission (EC), the constitutional body that conducts and 
supervises elections in the country.  He joins current 
commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and Navin Chawla who was elevated 
to Chief Election Commissioner.  Sampath's appointment comes 
months after Gopalaswami's controversial recommendation to 
the Supreme Court for the removal of his colleague Chawla for 
making judgments favoring the Congress Party.  Many hope 
Sampath's appointment will help put to rest infighting and 
restore stability in the EC, particularly because it is in 
the middle of managing a complex nationwide parliamentary 
election.  END SUMMARY. 
 
The Great Hope to "restore credibility" in the Commission 
--- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) According to political contacts, Sampath is the 
consensus choice of the incumbent Congress-led United 
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.  He is a senior Indian 
Administrative Service (IAS) officer, highly regarded by his 
colleagues.  Originally from Andhra Pradesh, he is said to 
maintain close ties with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. 
Reddy.  Many believe that Reddy fast-tracked Sampath's 
nomination through the UPA bureaucracy and see in it a sign 
of the Andhra Chief Minister's growing influence in the 
party.  One of the most attractive attributes of the Sampath 
choice for the UPA no doubt is his age.  At 59 years, he will 
serve until retirement at age 65 in 2015 and will likely be 
Chief Election Commissioner if parliamentary elections are 
held on their five-year schedule in 2014. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In his previous position as Power Secretary, 
Sampath built a reputation for "honesty and decisive 
decision-making."  Aditi Phadnis of the Business Standard 
told us that Sampath is perceived to be 
"pro-Congress," but his integrity is such that the opposition 
Bharatiya Janata Party would have difficulty questioning his 
impartiality as an Election Commissioner.  Phadnis further 
indicated that his appointment would help to restore 
credibility in India's highest ranking elections body, 
following years of bickering and infighting between former 
Chief Elections Commissioner (CEC) Gopalaswami and current 
CEC Chawla. 
 
The EC:  India's highest elections body 
--- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Election Commission (EC) is an autonomous, 
three-member constitutional body responsible for delivering 
free and fair elections in India.  It was established under 
Article 324 of the Indian Constitution.  The EC presently 
consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election 
Commissioners appointed by the incumbent government.  Taking 
its directions from the President, the EC is insulated from 
GOI executive orders.  It is responsible for planning and 
executing the whole gamut of complex operations that go into 
the conduct of elections.  The entire state and national 
government machinery, including para-military forces and 
police, falls under the EC's control during elections. 
 
A History of Infighting 
--- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) There have been continuing reports of infighting 
and differences among election commissioners since Chawla's 
appointment in 2005.  Chawla has been a political target of 
the BJP for over three decades. As a young private secretary 
during Indira Gandhi's 1975-77 State of Emergency, Chawla 
oversaw the arrests of political opposition, many of whom are 
 
NEW DELHI 00000910  002 OF 002 
 
 
BJP leaders today.  When he was appointed to the EC in 2005, 
the BJP started to build the case against Chawla, citing his 
close and continuing ties with the Congress' Nehru-Gandhi 
family (ref). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The controversy heated up in January, when former 
CEC Gopalaswami called for Chawla's removal from the EC, 
accusing him of trying to influence the timing of Karnataka 
state elections in favor of the Congress Party.  The Congress 
and Left parties questioned the legality and timing of the 
recommendation -- two months before the general elections and 
78-days before the CEC's retirement from government service. 
The CEC's charges did not cause lasting damage to the 
Congress Party.  However, the controversy (and the negative 
press it has generated) cast a dark shadow on EC.  It brought 
home the flaws in the system for appointing election 
commissioners.  Under the Indian constitution, election 
commissioners are appointed by the incumbent government, a 
contrast to other constitutional appointments such as the 
Central Information Commission and the Central Vigilance 
Commission, which must be selected by a bi-partisan panel 
comprised of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition 
and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.  Many have argued that 
biased EC selection process could threaten the credibility of 
the Commission and the elections it oversees. 
 
Bio Notes 
--- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath is a senior officer of 
the Indian Administrative Services (IAS).  Prior to his 
appointment to the Election Commission, Sampath served as the 
Indian Power Secretary.  Born January 16, 1950 in Vellore, 
Tamil Nadu, he joined the IAS in 1973 in the Andhra Pradesh 
cadre. Sampath has held several senior positions, including: 
Secretary of Chemical and Fertilizers (2008-09); and 
Principal Secretary of Finance with the State Government of 
Andhra Pradesh.  Sampath holds a MA in English Literature. 
He completed a five-week course on Personnel and General 
Administration from University of Illinois in 1992. 
 
BURLEIGH