S.I.R protests: Students, farmers & civil society groups stage protest in Delhi

Central Delhi once again turned into a major flashpoint, with the national capital seeing another tense standoff between anti-SIR protesters and the Delhi police. Heightening tensions and political temperatures in the capital, adding to the controversy, is a fresh set of revelations which detail how the cabinet secretariat received complaints from the two election commissioners and the internal discussions preceding the current round. In New Delhi, students, farmers and civil society groups under the collective banner of People Against SIR attempted to march from the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara in Delhi's Connaught Place to the Election Commission's office near Patel Chowk. The protesters were demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and scrapping of the SIR exercise. However, Delhi police and the paramilitary personnel halted the march near the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara. Protesters subsequently sat on the road, staged a People's Parliament and were eventually detained after defying restrictions. Interestingly, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's husband joined the protests too. However, CJP leaders including Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Rangka, Saurav Das, who have largely been the face of these protests in the national capital, they stayed away from this one. Meanwhile, the INDIA Block Alliance is also preparing to step up the heat on the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal has confirmed that the alliance would hold one of its biggest rallies ever at New Delhi's Ramleela Maidan on November 1st. The election commission has also come under renewed pressure after an RTI revealed the sequence of events in the cabinet secretariat after it received complaints against a senior official in the poll body from election commissioners Sukbir Singh Santu and Vivek Joshi. According to the RTI reply on July 29th, the cabinet secretary, Somananth, had received separate letters from SS Santu and Vivek Joshi. The two election commissioners had written to Somananth for action against Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Manish Garg. Days later, on August 3rd, internal discussions took place within the Cabinet Secretariat where officials proposed seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar's opinion on the issue. On August 4th, the Cabinet Secretariat observed in its internal notings that the two election commissioners had written in their individual capacity and the complaint was not from the election commission as a whole. File notings further revealed that the cabinet secretariat deemed that any action against Manesh or Manish Garg would be inappropriate. On August 5th, Somananth wrote back to both the ECs, acknowledging their complaints and forwarded the same to the CEC and the Department of Personnel and Training. Following the revelations, the Congress party ramped up its attack on the commission with the party's General Secretary KC Venugopal alleging that it proves interference by the government in the functioning of the commission. What we are saying that Modi and Shah is actually completely doing all these type of mischiefs on election related issues by misusing Ganesh Kumar's position as the chief election commissioner. Now that has been substantiated by the cabinet secretary's note. This type of serious letter from the election commissioners are unnoticed or otherwise send it without any action means the government is sponsoring Chief Election Commission's activities. While the Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to formally respond to the charges, its leadership has in the past slammed the Congress Party for allegedly trying to create anarchy and also accused the opposition of blaming EC when it loses, but staying quiet when it wins. All right, let's discuss this further with Professor Siddharth Mishra, author and analyst, joining us here on the broadcast from New Delhi. Professor, always a pleasure. Thanks so much for joining us here on Race to Power. There are two distinct demands here. One is the removal, obviously, of Gyanesh Kumar. And then there is the scrapping of the SIR process altogether. The latest RTI findings, is that enough for what the opposition wants from each or both of these demands? What more do they need to produce at this point? You see, this RTI findings to my understanding is, you know, endorses the point that, you know, the government is not going to, and government actually does not consider itself in a position to act against the election commission. it would not and actually election commission is a constitutional body that is the legal position and the government would not want to intervene in its functioning that is the stand which the government is taking in this matter that is what the RTI shows that is the de jure position but de facto you know I think from keeping that in mind that is why the election commissioners you know wrote to to the current cabinet secretary in their individual capacity. But to mark the same letter back to the chief election commissioner somehow doesn't make the Caesar's wife of such suspicion, as the saying goes. You know, it could have been handled better rather than marking it back to CEC because the whole complaint was against the CEC and his way of functioning and his set of people in the team there. So, you know, sending the complaint to the CEC to look into it somehow belies my understanding and somehow belies, you know, the acumen of administration. It could have been, if the file was to be marked, it could have been marked somewhere else. It could have been marked to the internal inquiry because, after all, Manishwar is an IAS officer. The DoPT could have started the internal inquiry against him. They did mark the file to DoPT also. But why did they mark it to the CEC? That, you know, that somehow doesn't make the government very, very, you know, what you call, look comfortable now that the revelations have come out. Professor, let me come to the opposition now with more of these street protests. Of course, there's one that's now planned at the Ram Leela Maidan rally. What is a concrete endgame that comes to light with these moves, at least when you look at this week? You see, what you saw in Delhi today is actually, it happens, such protests and things happen. Today it is on SIR, on other days it is something else, you know, from a march from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara to, you know, Parliament and all such places. It does happen under the Parliament Street Police Station. But actually one has to look forward to the November 1 rally at Ramlila Ground and the India Block rally. The India bloc today is, the India bloc was not even this united in the 2024 elections as it is today. And big players like, you know, somebody who actually weakened the India bloc by almost even distancing herself from it, Mamata Banerjee is today firmly with India bloc. Although she is in a much weakened position than what she was in 2024. But then she is a face to reckon with. If not a force to reckon with, she is a face to reckon with. And she will be able to mobilize a lot of sentiments around, you know, what has been done to her party post-elections. And similarly, one has to also see, you know, the other people. You know, we had been hearing stories about, you know, after the initial breakdown of these opposition parties and they joining the NDA bloc. There were talks of some more people jumping the ship from Shiv Sena, UBT and Sharad Pawar's NCP. But at least that has come to stop all for now. So, somewhere the opposition is seeing itself in a position of strength, which it never found itself in the last 10-12 years. But Narendra Modi has been in government. So, it is somehow finding itself in a position of strength. And that is worrisome for the government. You know, government, you cannot take away the right of the opposition to protest, and you designated a spot to protest, they have taken up that spot to protest, they have opened a protest there, and if they are able to fill Ramlila ground on the day of the protest, I think it sends a very, very difficult message for the government. If you recall, all the big movements in this country which have led to change of government, I would not use the word regime change, change of governments in the next election or anything like that, be it Indira Gandhi's government in 1977 or Manmohan Singh's government in 2014, it all commenced from the rallies in Ramlila. You know, there was to be this, when Jayaprakash Narayan gave a call for removal of Indira Gandhi's government in 1975-76 in the Ramlila ground. he quoted the very famous of the poet Singh Hassan khali karo bhi janta aati hai you know, vacate the throne because the people are coming. So, that is the kind of sentiment which Ramlila ground rallies have. So, let's wait and see how good that is. November 1st is around the corner Professor Mishra, but let me just also get your thoughts on this. The SIR challenges have already been in the court since a while and you know these are challenges which have already been before the Supreme Court. What is the material presented so far established about wrongful voter deletions there are pending cases with these calls now to scrap it how do you put this together going forward you see uh going by the way the courts have behaved in this whole matter you know and allegations which have been brought out against them uh i would only say that the court should have you know court should have uh acted more judiciously in these matters like one of the one of the claims which has been made was that you know, in this tribunal matter of the West Bengal elections were taking place, that the Supreme Court order was not uploaded for two or three days, you know, by the time the elections were over. So, such kind of things have happened. They are pointing a finger at the judiciary and there have been also now, you know, issues inside the courtroom where the lawyers of the other side, the petitioners, have walked although the court is saying that they have been hooted inside the courtroom and bullying is taking place, I think the courts have to manage themselves better and their courtrooms better in this whole matter. Actually, the courts not being, you know, acting that judiciously is making things very, very difficult for the government. Because many a times, courts acted as a safety valve, which is not happening in this case. Alright, let's wait for November 1st, because that's going to be a first that we're going to see at the Ramlila Maidan. And then we'll, of course, there will be more to discuss. Professor Mishra, thank you so much for joining us here on Race to Power. Thank you. Thank you so much.