The SIR launched by the Election Commission of India in June 2025 ahead of the Bihar elections now stands completely exposed as an instrument of mass disenfranchisement and multi-layered electoral fraud. The way the ECI inflicted this surgical strike on the fundamental constitutional promise of universal adult franchise and free and fair elections, the fulcrum of India's electoral democracy, has also robbed the ECI of its own credibility. The explosive investigative report published in the Indian Express regarding the murky functioning of the ECI and the so-called clarifications offered by the ECI have only confirmed the shocking rot in this constitutional body. The process has also cast a dark shadow on the Supreme Court of India which has so far refused to intervene and given the ECI a free hand. India now faces the gravest constitutional crisis since the 1975 proclamation of the State of Emergency.
The rot started with the 2023 Act of appointment of Election Commissioners that struck at the heart of the idea of a neutral Election Commission. The freedom given to the government of the day to choose a subservient Election Commission and the lifelong judicial immunity granted to the Election Commissioners cemented an evil nexus between the government and the ECI whereby the ECI sheds every semblance of neutrality, transparency and accountability to favour the BJP and the latter defends the CEC to the hilt. With the ECI note now admitting to the fact that the CEC had been acting unilaterally with the ECI not even holding meetings with any formal record of agenda and minutes, the decisions taken in the name of the SIR have no sanctity. Naturally, elections held on the basis of a doctored electoral roll by an EC functioning in an arbitrary and opaque manner also lose credibility and legitimacy.
The role of the Supreme Court has also been shockingly irresponsible with the court showing no concern for the voting right of adversely affected electors. When millions of voters held eligible by judicial officers were referred to tribunals in West Bengal, and it became clear that the tribunals would take years to decide on the appeals, instead of upholding the voting right of the voters during the pendency of the appeals, the Supreme Court downplayed the denial of vote as only a temporary loss of right. Ahead of the forthcoming bypolls to Nandigram and Rezinagar constituencies, the SC has again trivialised the denial of vote to more than 18,000 voters whose appeals are pending before the tribunals as though the right to vote in bypolls is dispensable.
In the light of the Indian Express revelations and the effective admission of guilt by the Election Commission through its own 26 September press note, Gyanesh Kumar has clearly lost every right to continue as CEC. The demand for his removal from office and prosecution for the crime of undermining the Constitution and electoral system of India is now naturally being raised from all corners of the country. Equally urgent is the demand for scrapping the SIR and undoing the damage. The voting right of every wrongfully excluded voter will have to be restored unconditionally and without any delay. The rights of Electoral Registration Officers must also be restored and the centralisation injected into the process of preparation of electoral rolls through the digital route must be undone.
Democracy demands fresh elections in all states and constituencies where the polls have been subverted by SIR and dubious changes in the electoral roll since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The 2023 Act Election Commissioners Appointment Act including the provision of immunity for Election Commissioners must also be repealed. In consonance with the Supreme Court verdict about the Election Commission, there must be constitutional guarantee for the autonomy, neutrality and accountability of the Election Commission of India. There is no corruption bigger than the electoral fraud. The loss of fear of losing an election and insulation from every grievance, anger and protest of the people has made the BJP governments all the more arrogant and dictatorial. India must rise in unison to end the subversion of democracy by the Modi-Shah-Gyanesh Kumar nexus.
