The logical discrepancies evident in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters’ list rolled out across the country by the Election Commission (EC) appear to offer the Opposition parties a rallying point, going by the response of various players in that space. True, it may help the Opposition harvest some political dividend but it should recognise the fact that the agitation they plan to launch must help undo the damage the EC has done to the electoral system in the country and doing justice to its victims. It must develop the agitation into a democratic exercise in which even those in the ruling alliance feel like participating.
The INDIA bloc has already demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar for the series of missteps the EC has made while rolling out the SIR. It has called a meeting of its partners on September 30 to decide its future course of action. The alliance, more than three years old, has not yet shown signs of becoming a stable platform with a common minimum programme; instead, it continues to be a a part-time mechanism that comes to life when the occasion demands. The 2024 Lok Sabha election was the only instance in its existence when it showed some kind of cohesion. And the experiment paid off, too. Apart from that, the partners have no qualms about fighting one another, even at the cost of losing and allowing their political opponents to win.
The parties, however, appear to have realised the danger that awaits the country if the CEC is allowed to continue with the work in the way he has been doing. CPM general secretary M.A. Baby has taken the initiative to bring all those parties that are opposed to the BJP and the NDA, including the Biju Janata Dal of Odisha, the Tamil Vetri Kazhagam of Tamil Nadu and the YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh. The CPM leader has also spoken to his party’s bête noire in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and her party, forgetting the dangerous pitfalls his party could encounter in the state politics because of this bonhomie. Political realities appear to have dawned on Ms Banerjee, too, following her electoral setback and the subsequent split in the party, which has resulted in a softer approach towards the INDIA alliance.
Attempts are also on to rope in the AAP, the estranged partner of the INDIA bloc, into the platform.
It may be true that the EC, by admitting its wrongdoings, has given the given the Opposition a legitimate issue over which to agitate but the larger issue is the erosion of the EC as an institution. It has unjustifiably put 13 crore Indians on notice with respect to their voting rights; it conducted elections based on the faulty electoral rolls; it introduced extra-legal measures linking SIR to the enrolment of new voters; it bypassed basic democratic procedures in its own functioning. The actions of the present commission have undone the credibility it has built over the decades.
The larger Opposition must go to the people explaining to them the need to resist the plans and processes to undermine democracy in the country. It is not just an INDIA-plus that must fight the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the EC; the Opposition must aim at forming a national movement that can reverse the unjust actions and send a message that such attempts will not be tolerated in the future as well.
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