India, Oct. 11 -- In January 2009, the then Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami sought the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla from the Commission, accusing him of favouritism towards the Congress.

To gain a proper perspective on current events, it is sometimes necessary to look back and unravel the events of the past. The present controversy surrounding the Election Commission of India-portrayed by major news outlets and political parties as an apocalyptic catastrophe and an assault on our electoral democracy-compels me to revisit an earlier controversy, one that arguably did great damage to the Commission's credibility as a neutral and impartial institution.

In January 2009, the then Chief Election Commissioner, N. G...