New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Monday mourned the demise of former Chief Election Commissioner Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan, calling him an icon.
Seshan, an officer of 1955 batch of Indian Administrative Service’s Tamil Nadu cadre served as the CEC between 12 December 1990 and 11 December 1996.
Seshan, who had also been the Cabinet Secretary, passed away at his residence in Chennai on Sunday following cardiac arrest. He was 87.
"He set a high benchmark for the office and became a legend in his lifetime and will always be a source of inspiration to us and all CECs and ECs to come," an official statement issued by the EC here said.
Seshan redefined the very grammar of the electoral process, it added.
"Holding the constitutional post of CEC, he enhanced the stature of the office by coming heavily on electoral malpractices and dealing sternly even ruthlessly with violence and muscle power which were at all-time high when he took over.
He redeemed the autonomy and authority that the Constitution has bestowed upon ECI under Art. 324 of the Constitution.
Refusing to act as merely as manager of monitoring of electoral process, he started proactively purging the elections of their evils like money, liquor, muscle power, booth capturing etc. From a career bureaucrat he repositioned himself as ‘Chief Election Commissioner of India’ who reminded people of the power of vote," it further added.
He will remain an icon for the Election Commission and the nation forever," according to the statement.
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