This Umpire Can’t Play Unchecked
· Free Press Journal
Fresh grave concerns arise over the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process following a damning report by The Indian Express. It laid bare a very serious and continuing administrative rupture inside the Election Commission of India (ECI), revealing that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally and on record objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to major decisions pushed through under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
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They flagged unauthorised modifications to statutory voter forms, questioned the centralisation of sensitive databases, and protested that sweeping executive actions were being taken in the poll panel’s name without their prior knowledge or consent.
At the heart of this friction is Form 6, the fundamental statutory application used by citizens to register as new voters or modify their crucial details on the electoral roll. When executive adjustments are made to such a vital document outside proper legal amendment channels, fears of wholesale disenfranchisement have never sounded more credible.
Since this controversial revision process began, a relentless cycle of major electoral exercises has been held across the country, including general elections, numerous high-stakes state assembly polls, and scores of crucial local by-elections. Yet, the questions raised throw a long and dark shadow over the very murky process.
We note carefully that the ECI’s rebuttal issued in the name of someone at the very bottom of the totem pole does not voice even a whimper of a denial, only a tendentious explanation that does not travel credibly outside the four walls of the current Election Commission.
Former CECs Raise Alarms
The gravity of these developments has drawn sharp rebukes from those who once steered the institution. Former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi warned that decisions pushed through against the collective will or majority view of the three-member body are legally suspect and invalid, while former CEC O.P. Rawat explicitly condemned alterations to Form 6 as entirely illegal.
These alarms are compounded by the fact that the brother commissioners had to petition for the attention of the Cabinet Secretary, T.V. Somanathan, over software architecture and IT integrity issues, a move that is more than a mere cry of desperation of the rancid situation inside the EC. It is no longer possible to turn a blind eye to these revelations under the guise of internal routine.
Questions Over Electoral Process
With more elections looming on the horizon, there is more than ample merit in looking into what can only be described as the shenanigans of the CEC. Lakhs and lakhs of voter names have already been deleted by missionary actions of the Election Commission that can easily be termed as being predatory.
India’s democracy relies entirely on the sanctity of its electoral umpire; to preserve public trust, true transparency and institutional accountability must be restored immediately. Is that asking for too much in these days of Amrit Kaal and Viksit Bharat?