00:00we are in the year 2025 and today india's election commission is facing one of the biggest
00:06questions of our time people are asking is the commission still truly independent or has it
00:13become just another puppet in the hands of those in power after every election allegations arise
00:19that the commission bows down to the government losing its neutrality and failing to protect the
00:25very roots of democracy citizens are now demanding answers that has the guardian of the democracy
00:30fallen asleep and whenever such doubts arise whenever people look for hope one name shines
00:37through the fog so today we will be talking about one such name that once redefined the
00:42election commission itself he was a none other than the chief election commissioner t n session let's go
00:50back to the 1990s it was a time when booth capturing was normal when goons with guns stood outside
00:56polling stations when liquor and money openly decided votes when the administration danced to the tunes of
01:03politicians and the election commission was just a silent spectator but then a storm arrived an honest
01:11fearless iron-willed man who declared that elections will never be the same again and that man was none
01:18other than t n session he gave the commission a power that shook governments to their core big leaders
01:24trembled at the mention of his name no minister no chief minister not even the prime minister could bend him
01:31he proved that the election commission was not the servant of power it was a true guardian of democracy
01:39born in kerala station first joined the madras police service in 1953 but uniform and muscle did not
01:45suit him by 1955 he had cleared the civil services exam and became an ias officer he worked with prime
01:53ministers from nehru to narsimha rao and in 1989 he grabbed the highest bureaucratic position the cabinet
02:00secretary yet his real legacy began only in 1990 when he became the chief election commissioner after the
02:08time and what a legacy it was before session bogus voting was everywhere to end this he
02:15introduced the voter id card a revolutionary step that made fraud far more difficult he also deployed
02:22paramilitary forces during elections to stop violence and intimidation but he did not stop there
02:28he made distributing liquor or asking for votes in the name of caste and religion a punishable crime
02:34he strictly kept election spending and if any candidate broke the rule their election was cancelled
02:41during his tenure he reviewed accounts of nearly 4 000 candidates and cancelled the nominations of
02:46staggering 14 000 for false declaration in bihar 1992 when violence and corruption peak session did
02:54the unthinkable he postponed the entire election he sent central forces reshuffled officials and only then
03:03allowed the process to continue no election commissioner before him had dared such a move that was the day
03:10when people began calling the election commission as the shield of democracy his independence was so
03:16strong that in 1993 when the government resisted granting powers to the commission he ordered that
03:23no elections will be held until powers are restored the situation grew so intense that pranab
03:29mukharji had to resign from the government because session refused to allow a rajasaba election in bengal
03:37politicians hated him and even called him an alsatian dog but that couldn't defeat him after retirement
03:44session tried politics himself fought against kr narayanan in 1997 presidential elections and later
03:52contested against lk advani from gandhi nagar in 1999 and ironically he was defeated in the very
03:58system he reformed later he faded from public life and in 2019 he passed away yet his name lives on
04:06because tn session was not just a chief election commissioner he was the man who lifted commission
04:13from a weak department to an unshakable pillar of democracy he rejected power refused to bow before
04:20ministers and reminded everyone that real strength of democracy is not leaders not governments but the
04:27people and their vote and now when the election commission's credibility is under attack again
04:34people are now remembering him and today's citizens once again asked tough questions like has the
04:40commission once again become the slave of those who are in power or has the shield of democracy grown
04:46weaker or has the trust built by station's sweat and courage been broken once more because session
04:53proved one thing that when one honest man stands with courage the entire system can change and today as
05:01shadows of doubt grow deeper the nation remembers the man who showed us that democracy blends only when
05:09its guardian stopped standing firm and that man was mr tn session
