An imaginary letter from 1st CEC to present one

Dear Chief Election Commissioner,

I write to you across the corridors of time, not as a mere predecessor but as one who was entrusted, in the most formative years of our Republic, with the sacred task of ensuring that every Indian, regardless of caste, creed, class or region, could cast their vote freely and fearlessly. It is a deep sense of constitutional duty and historical reflection and I want you to know as to how we laid the foundations of a great experiment in democratic self-rule: A Republic where every adult, regardless of social or economic standing, would enjoy the equal right to vote.

When I conducted the first General Elections in 1951-52, the Republic was still nascent, scarred by Partition, burdened by illiteracy and unfamiliar with the idea of universal adult franchise. Yet, the Indian people reposed an unshakable faith in the electoral process because they believed that the institution conducting it would act with fairness, firmness and full independence from the executive.

Today, that faith must not be shaken because recent reports emerging from Bihar regarding the ongoing intensive revision of electoral rolls are deeply troubling. Allegations suggest that the process is disproportionately affecting the poor, the landless and the socially marginalised, precisely those for whom the right to vote has often been the only real instrument of empowerment.

The ongoing revision exercise appears to be both exclusionary and disempowering. To even attempt to do something so monumental and so far-reaching at such short notice and in such a short time frame is a recipe for disaster. You are doing this in a state with high out-migration rates and a geography disrupted by floods. So, there are the obvious logistical challenges that seem to have not been taken into account.

The other issue is of propriety. The institution you are heading has been facing a range of accusations, which, according to multiple stakeholders, citizens of conscience and critics, have not been comprehensively and credibly responded to. Instead, they accuse you of being economical with information disclosures, unyielding in discussions and dialogue and, most woefully, belligerent in your public outreach. All of this reeks of bad faith.

It has become somewhat of a moralistic stunt these days to throw the rulebook at your detractors. But, may I remind you that the rulebook is to ensure minimal and basic standards. There is nothing that should stop us, those in public service, from going above and beyond to earn people’s trust in our institutional integrity.

People with ears closer to the ground are reporting that crores of people are besieged with anxiety. Two weeks into the exercise, many have not even received the enumeration forms. A large proportion of the electorate also does not possess any of the 11 documents your commission has asked them to produce. And, as I alluded to earlier, a large proportion of them are from the marginalised groups. Some of the commonly issued documents have been inexplicably left out, including EPIC. This betrays, as erudite observers have pointed out, a clear social bias.

Your ambiguous communication on the issue is further wreaking havoc in the everyday lives of ordinary people, pushing them to navigate a bureaucratic dystopia. You are asking them to prove their citizenship in a very specific and narrow manner in a context where the state has not issued any citizenship document. They have already proven they exist (Aadhaar, PDS and MNREGA authentications), they are known (a range of KYC initiatives without which you cannot get a phone or even send a rupee from here to there these days) and they are voters (who voted in a government of their choice just a year ago). But none of it matters to your institution.

While updating electoral rolls is important for clean elections, the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar appears to be deeply flawed and potentially undemocratic.

I must remind you that when I presided over the first General Elections, we faced massive logistical and infrastructural obstacles. Yet, we ensured that even the poorest citizens in the most remote corners of the country were not only registered but also actively encouraged to participate. That was not a technical exercise; it was a moral and constitutional commitment. We ensured that the purpose of any process should be based on inclusion and not exclusion.

Please do not forget to remember that the disenfranchisement of any Indian citizen, whether by design or by negligence, is a grave assault on the Constitution. If the voter list becomes a tool for exclusion, especially exclusion of the poor, then the Election Commission would stand in violation not only of the Representation of the People Act, but of the very soul of Article 326 of our Constitution.

It pains me to observe that the Election Commission, the very institution we forged as a bulwark against executive overreach, is now being increasingly perceived as tilting in favour of the ruling dispensation. Perceptions, of course, can be unfair. But in the life of a public institution, perception and credibility are as critical as action.

Let me remind you: The Election Commission is not merely an administrator of polls. It is the sentinel of democracy. It must stand apart from all political actors. It must speak in a voice unclouded by fear or favour. And, above all, it must command the trust of the last voter in the most distant hamlet of this land. A biased Election Commission wounds the idea of India. A silent one betrays it.

I urge you, therefore, in the spirit of constitutional propriety and national duty, to ensure that every action, statement and decision of your office reinforces the commission’s neutrality. If the government of the day crosses the line, it is your solemn responsibility to draw it back, not with hesitation, but with constitutional courage. History will not remember the names of election commissioners who pleased the powerful. It will remember only those who protected the powerless voter.

With hope, and in faith in the enduring spirit of our Republic,

Yours sincerely,

Sukumar Sen

(India’s First Chief Election Commissioner)

Manoj Jha is an RJD MP from Bihar.

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