By Krishna Jha
These days, Delhi and other parts of the country are gripped by irresistible flames of massive resistance. Built up on the streets of various towns and cities, the saga is still being written, soaked in blood and commitment. The unity and struggle have again become symbol of commitment. An indication that Indian democracy is resilient enough to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s attempt to subvert it.
This resilience is visible not just in unity shown by all the opposition parties but also in the coming together of people from all walks of life, young and old, men and women, people from the Left and other political ideologies, members of all religions and all communities in this common struggle to save democracy. They are united by the conviction that India’s democracy is in danger and must be defended. The realization has followed over a decade of sustained attacks on India’s electoral system and its constitutional structure by the BJP government and its parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The mass protests indicate that our people have realized their oneness against one deterrent, that challenges our secular culture. Majoritarianism has never been among the basics for us. It has only been a deterrent that challenges the basic principles that define our lives. Moment has come when people are engulfed by massive political resentment. The forces that were diverse earlier and fighting for separate aims, are now one and rebelling for the same cause – to save democracy. The resentment is not only about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), about lack of regularities, about electoral rolls, and about the polling data, but also about the unconstitutional conduct of the Election Commission of India and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar himself.
The ECI is a constitutional body. Until over a decade back ever since the Independence, our country had been known for maintaining the purity of people’s choice. Back then, peoples’ representative used to get elected to command the state apparatus, thus enjoying the confidence of Indian voters. But in the last one decade or so the electoral system has been so subverted that there has been a complete loss of faith among people.
At the root of the present crisis is the nationwide SIR, an exercise in which the ECI re-examines electoral rolls and requires voters whose entries are flagged to establish their eligibility to remain on the rolls. The SIR has removed more than 13 crore names from draft voter rolls across 30 States and Union Territories. As reported by Indian Express in September last, the two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had placed 14 questions objecting on several issues about the operation of the SIR and the functioning of the ECI. Decisions and instruction were brought without letting them know in the context of deletion and restoration of names and changes in voters’ registration as well as in electoral data base.
Masses have realized that if allowed to continue, the SIR exercise and the way the ECI is functioning will destroy the fundamentals of electoral democracy in India. Even the way the election commissioners are appointed has put a big question mark on the election system in India. The three-member selection committee that choses election commissioners is dominated by the Prime Minister and a Union Cabinet Minister. This points to a disturbing possibility of collusion between the ruling party and an institution that should be independent of it. As a matter of principle, there must be a distinction between the Executive and the ECI. Instead, the composition of the committee is such that the two members of the Executive are bound to overrule the lone third member, the Leader of Opposition. No wonder, the ECI’s actions and the BJP’s public defense of the Election Commissioners make any possible firewall appear non-existent.
All this has deeply shaken citizens’ faith in the electoral process, its voter rolls, and, to a great extent, the outcomes of recent elections. There is also a widespread fear that most of those whose names are removed from the list of voters would never be able to make it again and that even if some names are restored, the majority, though without their fault, may remain excluded forever.
As the election system faces the deepest credibility crisis in its history, people from all walks of life, mostly the youth, have come out in protest, calling for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation, thus reflecting the depth of their distrust.
The latest season of protest, showing the popular resentment, started on October 31 this year when the INDIA bloc held what it called “public impeachment” of the Chief Election Commissioner. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge moved the “motion” to impeach Gyanesh Kumar, while former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the proceedings. Modelled on actual functioning of the Parliament, there were mock presentations demanding that Gyanesh Kumar should be “removed” forthwith from the office and “be tried for treason”. The seating arrangement on the lawns of the Congress president and placement of Meira Kumar’s seat on a stage were done in such a way as to make the atmosphere look like the Central Hall of the old Parliament building where the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha used to sit together in the past.
This was followed by INDIA bloc’s massive “Vote Bachao, DeshBachao” rally at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1 to protest electoral roll irregularities and demand the resignation and impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar. The protest was one of the largest shows of strength in years, for which the opposition alliance brought together supporters from across the country.
These protests show a vibrant democracy in action, with citizens from all shades of life marching in the streets, hands in hands, with the single resolve — to protect Indian democracy and its institutions which are sought to be subverted by the BJP government and the RSS. (IPA Service)
