The agitation in India demanding resignation of Gyanesh Kumar

A tidal wave or a tsunami seems to be sweeping all over India with a single demand : the Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar, who is regarded a stooge of the ruling BJP, must resign or be sacked, for allegedly having got deleted the names of 13 million voters ( who, it is believed, would have voted against the BJP ) from the electoral rolls unilaterally, by a special intensive revision ( SIR ) and thus totally undermined democracy in India.

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The government claims that SIR wasa legitimate exercise to clean up the electoral rolls by removing many dead and duplicate names, and names of illegal immigrants.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/14/india-protests-election-commission-gyanesh-kumar

https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/delhi-india-protests-modi-gyanesh-kumar-jantar-mantar-b3066321.html

Critics, however, allege that the alleged aim to “purify” India’s voter roll of illegal immigrants and names of dead people was just a pretext for the SIR. Its real purpose was more sinister – disenfranchising 130 million people e.g. Muslims, other minorities, and poor and lower caste communities, who are largely not BJP voters.

In a matter of weeks, nationwide anger at SIR has boiled up and spilled out on to the streets of India’s biggest cities, presenting a formidable challenge to the government. Over the weekend, Delhi was transformed into a high-security fortress of barricades, roadblocks and tens of thousands of police and paramilitaries who detained thousands of people, as they attempted to stop youth-led protests calling for the man who oversaw SIR, the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to step down immediately.

In India, the media– print, TV, youtube, and social media seem to show almost nothing else but this news.

The matter began with the publication of an article in the newspaper Indian Express on 23.9.2026 that 14 times in 10 months Gyanesh Kumar took major decisions e.g. ordering a special intensive revision ( SIR ) of the voters list unilaterally, and despite the written objections of the other two Election Commissioners.

https://indianexpress.com/article/express-exclusive/election-commission-sir-14-objections-gyanesh-kumar-sukhbir-singh-sandhu-vivek-joshi-10889737

https://scroll.in/latest/1095930/two-election-commissioners-objected-14-times-to-sir-related-decisions-indian-express-reports

https://www.newindianexpress.com/india/2026/Sep/23/two-election-commissioners-objected-to-poll-panel-decisions-14-times-in-10-months

There are 3 members on the ECI, the Chief Election Commissioner being only one of them, and decisions have to be taken unanimously or by majority vote. So the unilateral decisions of Gyanesh Kumar e.g. ordering SIR were illegal, as the other 2 Election Commissioners were opposed to his decisions.

The newly formed Cockroach Janta Party first took up the issue by holding protests in the capital Delhi, and now almost all opposition political parties have joined the agitation, which has spread to many cities in India. The Indian media nowadays is crammed with this single news about the widespread protests all over India, particularly in the capital Delhi.

The opposition parties, which had been lying totally despondent and demoralised after the victory of the BJP in the West Bengal state assembly elections, have suddenly got a fresh lease of life, having got a ‘mudda’ ( issue ) to agitate about.

Earlier the youth alone were holding these protests, but now lawyers have joined them.

Even a very senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, Kapil Sibal, MP and former Union Minister, who said he had never earlier in his life joined a public protest on the street, was seen marching on a street, accompanied by senior lawyers Prashant Bhushan, Vrinda Grover, and others like Neha Bora and Yogendra Yadav

Another senior lawyer, Shadan Farasat, was seen being dragged by the police.

Senior lawyer Mehmood Pracha was seen marching and speaking on the ‘vote chori’ ( vote theft ) and alleged ‘murder of democracy’.

Senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan went so far as to say that the agitation was not just for removal of Gyanesh Kumar, but for a regime change

‘We all want regime change’: Prashant Bhushan says anti-SIR protests are about removing the government

In my opinion, in all likelihood this agitation will not fizzle out soon, as the BJP leaders may have thought, rather it is going to escalate.

I hold no brief for Gyanesh Kumar. I believe that just as other institutions in India have been ‘saffronised’ ( i.e. made pro-BJP ), he too has been saffronised, and has been doing the bidding of the government.

However, there is another aspect of the matter which needs to be looked into, but which is totally overlooked amidst all this hue and cry, hoopla and hullabaloo.

This whole agitation assumes that democracy is a good thing for India, and therefore whatever damages or undermines it, like vote chori, is bad. But is this assumption correct ?

The test of every political activity or political system is one, and only one : does it raise the standard of living of the people ? Does it give them better lives ?

https://indicanews.com/does-india-really-need-democracy

Looking at the matter from that perspective, we must ask : would it have made any difference in the people’s lives if there was no ‘vote chori’ ( vote theft ), and the voters list had been properly prepared ?

I submit it would have made none, and at most it could have resulted in a change of leadership, but without any improvement in the people’s lives. Let me explain :

(1) Everyone knows that Indian democracy runs mostly on the basis of caste and religious vote banks. When most voters in India vote, they do not see the merit of the candidate, but only see his caste or religion ( or the caste or religion his party claims to represent ). So even if there is no vote chori, most of our voters will still vote on the basis of caste and religion.

https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2024/11/02/opinion-why-democracy-is-unsuited-to-india.html

I explained this in video interviews I gave when the Bihar elections were being held, and there were many complaints of vote chori :

Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but democracy, as practised in India, further entrenches and strengthens these feudal forces ( as it largely runs on their basis ).

Democracy sounds a fine, rosy word, connoting rule by the people. But we have not to see it in theory or in the abstract, but how it is actually practised in India. As mentioned above, democracy, as practised in India, strengthens casteism and communalism, which are feudal forces. How, then, can it be said to be good for India. Rather, it is definitely bad, because by further entrenching and fortifying casteism and communalism it is blocking our progress.

Democracy is not a holy cow

https://www.hastakshepnews.com/2025/07/democracy-is-not-holy-cow-justice-katju.html

(2) The present day Indian politicians, of all parties, only seek power and pelf, and have no genuine love for the people or genuinely care for their welfare ( though they profess it ).

https://www.hastakshepnews.com/2024/08/indian-politicians-justice-markandey.html

If there is no vote chori, the most that can happen is that instead of A, B will become the Prime Minister or Chief Minister, and that instead of Party X, Party Y will come to power. But will that make any change in the massive poverty, massive unemployment, appalling level of child malnourishment ( every second child in India is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index ), almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, sky-rocketing prices of food and other essential commodities, etc There will be no change.

So is this agitation for restoration of democracy really relevant for the Indian masses ? Is democracy suited to India ?