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The social contract between the government and citizens rests on trust. The government is expected to work for citizens’ welfare, deliver justice and protect rights. The right to vote is the most fundamental and sacred in a democracy. Failure to deliver on the promises and bad governance erode trust. But trust disappears altogether if the vote is snatched or manipulated. Lack of trust means the social contract has lapsed.

Any government running without public trust lacks legitimacy. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is absolutely right in saying that India has entered a new place because the Election Commission was never caught manipulating and stealing votes to ensure the government’s victory. It’s a bizarre phenomenon that independent India hasn’t seen. While the opposition parties were fighting against the Election Commission’s (EC) misdeeds for the last few years, and a large section of voters nurtured deep suspicions about the integrity of the electoral processes, revelations about serious internal disapproval completely delegitimised the conduct of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. 

What’s more distressing is that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Narendra Modi government firmly stand behind the discredited CEC, establishing that the rot in the system is not about a bad apple; it’s a horrendous case of bad barrels culture. 

While the Supreme Court failed to understand that the intent of the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) is not to cleanse the electoral rolls despite tell-tale evidence of wrong-doing and a stubborn resistance from the opposition parties and activists, the government passionately backed the EC throughout the politico-legal battle.

In both Bihar and West Bengal, the agonising experience of excluded voters was disrespected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah by describing the exercise as a crusade against “ghuspaithiyas” (infiltrators). Names of over 13 crore existing voters have been struck off the list and the Union government is wallowing in the ghuspaithiya mud. Not a word of sympathy or assurance of justice has come from Modi and Shah. To rub salt on the wounds, BJP spokespersons ridiculed the reports of opposition from within the EC and defended Kumar who has clearly acted in violation of the law, overruling the majority opinion of two Election Commissioners.

So far, the prime minister and the........

© The Wire