Institutions rarely correct themselves without pressure being brought on them to do so. The anti-corruption movement of 2011 placed the Lokpal on the statute book; anger on Delhi streets after the 2012 gangrape rewrote the law; this summer, protests forced a Union minister to resign and the government to set up a panel to reform a broken exam system. Voices raised in peaceful protest are the soundtrack of democracy. As the Cockroach Janta Party is set to return to Jantar Mantar, following mobilisations by opposition parties, this time the issue touches the very heart of the democratic compact: A citizen’s right to be counted. Troubling questions have been underlined by this newspaper’s investigation into the functioning of the Election Commission of India. They span a critical arc: From institutional integrity to the........

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