The campaign against Gyanesh Kumar is not about politics. It is about who can vote and decide the fate of India. For the first time in several decades, a brave, astute and patriotic CEC is trying to cleanse the electoral rolls of illegal infiltrators; and the left-liberal-Islamist ecosystem which depends upon their votes is screaming murder. Do not be hoodwinked. Stand for Indian democracy. – Virendra Parekh
Gyanesh Kumar is the man the anti-Modi ecosystem loves to hate. Opposition parties, foreign-sponsored organisations and parts of media and judiciary have launched a vicious, coordinated, multi-pronged assault on this chief election commissioner (CEC) and the Election Commission of India. They have accused him of favouritism, highhandedness and destruction of the integrity of the election process. They have not mentioned his vital role as a bureaucrat in abolishing Article 370 and in formation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Nyas in Ayodhya. That would be too embarrassing. But they are demanding his suspension, arrest and prosecution for treason. They want immediate stoppage of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, restoration of deleted names and fresh elections in Bihar and West Bengal.
All in the name of saving democracy. To prevent vote theft. To get justice to the millions of citizens whose names are maliciously deleted from the voter rolls.
Well, nothing can be more dishonest, deceptive, hypocritical and (I use the word advisedly) dangerous than the vicious campaign against Gyanesh Kumar and SIR.
A sinister movement is afoot to destroy democracy in the name of protecting it. It has to be countered by all right-thinking patriots of whatever hues.
At the outset, it is necessary to clear the air by examining the charges against the CEC on merit. The Indian Express sometimes back carried a report that the two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had in the preceding ten months submitted 14 official notes expressing reservations about the process related to enrolment of new voters, SIR and centralisation of electoral data. They even wrote to the cabinet secretary. However, all their objections were eventually overruled and the CEC had his way. On the basis of this report, a narrative is sought to be created that the CEC acts unilaterally in an autocratic disregard of dissent, has compromised the sanctity of elections, severely damaged the reputation of the ECI as a fearless, independent constitutional body, acted as a pawn of BJP and therefore, is unfit to continue in the high office. All his decisions should be revoked and he should be prosecuted for high treason.
The charge sheet is as bogus as it is serious. The allegations lack substance. The Supreme Court laid down, way back in 1993 that all the election commissioners have the same powers, the CEC is just the first among equals and decisions in the ECI must be taken either unanimously or with a 2:1 majority. In this setup, if the two commissioners join hands on any issue and force voting on it there is no way the CEC can overrule them. The election commission has said in an official release that all decisions in the last ten months have been taken unanimously.
It is significant that while there is a lot of firing done from the shoulders of the two commissioners, they have not issued a single contradictory statement (forget addressing the press), or written to the President, who has appointed them. Also, people whose names are deleted from the draft rolls are given time and opportunity to seek redressal, file documents and restore their names. Assistance is available to them not just from the Election Commission staff, but also from workers of political parties. If genuine citizens are left out of the electoral rolls, the ECI must answer for it. But there are no complaints from the states where the SIR process has been completed. Only in the states where it is underway, administrative glitches (which are being corrected) are blown up as evidence of malicious purging of select voter groups.
It must also be noted that the issue of SIR had earlier been taken up in courts, including high courts and the Supreme Court, not once but twice. Leading lawyers exercised their brains, all the opposition’s arguments were examined in detail and the court upheld all the decisions, processes and procedures of the commission. Far from any adverse rulings, it did not even make any adverse comment against it.
But what about the dissent notes? It is neither possible nor necessary to deny them. In any independent democratic organisation where many people work collectively, it is normal to have several shades of opinions, views and proposals in the initial stages. The differences are sorted out during discussions and the final decision is binding on all. This happens routinely in all organisations, associations and companies. The ECI says this is what happened in its case also, and the court is examining its veracity. So what is paraded as evidence of highhandedness of the CEC actually suggests a democratic setup where not only the commissioners but other officers too have the liberty to voice their opinions and put them on record.
That has not prevented Modi’s opponents from going ahead with their campaign with full gusto. The opposition parties are planning a fresh impeachment motion against the CEC in the parliament. Rahul-Priyanka led a march of MPs to the Election Commission office. The cockroaches have resumed their stir at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi and also held a show in Mumbai. Public response in all these demonstrations was dismal. In Mumbai, in fact, the local residents registered a strong protest against the planned demonstrations and BJP supporters organised a rally against the CJP.
Lack of evidence or public support, however, makes no difference to the agitators. Their agenda is clear. Their strategy does not count on public support at this stage. They are not worried about ground realties. Right now they are busy with perception management. The battle now is less political and more psychological. By repeating their lies thousands of times, by putting on artificial ferocity and by using abusive, vulgar and obscene language against the highest dignitaries, they intend creating an impression, a perception that democracy in India has hit the nadir, not just the government machinery but even constitutional bodies have been either bludgeoned into submission or captured through penetration or simply bought over and there is no alternative to a violent countrywide agitation. Carefully, a stage is being prepared for widespread violence, anarchy and foreign intervention, overt or covert.
The entire anti-Modi, anti-Hindu, anti-India ecosystem has been activated to the hilt. The Opposition knows it does not have numbers in the parliament to impeach the CEC. Its strategy is to force, cajole or shame him into resigning through a sustained campaign of mud-slinging. The Kerala government has ordered a probe into 20-year old graft allegations against him. Numerous articles are being written and statements issued as if Gyanesh Kumar has already been proven guilty of all he is accused of. Cockroaches, their sponsors, leftist groups, Congress, Thackeray cousins and even a few Supreme Court judges are all speaking in the same language: democracy is in peril, defend it by removing Gyanesh Kumar. Muslim bodies, missionary organisations and a few farmers’ bodies and trade unions are waiting in the wing to enter the stage at an appropriate time.
Gyanesh Kumar is, of course, the dummy. The real target is, you guessed it, Narendra Modi and his government. The ultimate target, though, is India itself and its democracy. The opposition parties are telling the world that we were not defeated by the people, but betrayed by the system; we were trounced not by the rival team, but the referee. The object is to destroy the legitimacy, first of the Modi government and ultimately of the election process itself. If the CEC can be removed on the charges of favouritism, then fresh elections can be demanded and simultaneously, by questioning the validity of the voter rolls and impartiality of the election commission, doubts can be created about the whole constitutional structure of governance. From that point, anything can happen.
The plan looks fool-proof and is being implemented in all seriousness. There are, however, flies in the ointment. For one, the general public sees through the spuriousness of the campaign and shows complete indifference to it. The contrived issue of vote theft could not attract the public even in politically conscious states like Bihar and West Bengal. Now the agitators are much more exposed. Their complete silence of their sources of funding, the presence of usual suspects at their demonstrations, and their stubborn refusal to say even a word of praise for Smit Machchar, the brave pilot of Flydubai who displayed extraordinary courage, resolve and presence of mind and saved hundreds of lives besides averting a major terrorist attack, have exposed them as puppets of anti-India forces at home and abroad. Also, the police showed greater resolve in tackling them. The BJP has become more vocal in exposing the designs of the opposition parties.
All this, however, is far inadequate in view of the serious implications of this malicious agitation. The agitators are provoking the government to resort to large scale use of force which they can portray as atrocity by an illegitimate government and leverage for violence and lawlessness. At the same time, treating them with kid gloves will signal weakness and helplessness to the general public and security forces. The need is to strike a middle path and take the most stringent action against the agitators under every relevant law. They have a lot to hide and be ashamed of. They deserve to face the full might of the rule of law.
A great role needs to be played by us, the citizens. We must oppose whenever the agitators try to occupy the space around us. Above all, we should be clear in our minds about the stakes involved. The campaign against Gyanesh Kumar is not about politics. It is about who can vote and decide the fate of India. For the first time in several decades, a brave, astute and patriotic CEC is trying to cleanse the electoral rolls of illegal infiltrators; and the left-liberal-Islamist ecosystem which depends upon their votes is screaming murder. Do not be hoodwinked. See the things for what they are. Stand for clean electoral rolls. Stand for Indian democracy. Stand with Gyanesh Kumar.
› Virendra Parekh writes on economics and politics, also on issues related to Indian civilization, history and cultural nationalism.
Filed under: india | Tagged: chief election commissioner of india, election commission of india, gyanesh kumar, indian democracy, special intensive revision |
