Jantar Mantar Protest Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar: Why was Neha Bora detained?

What began as an internal row in the Election Commission has come out into the streets. On Friday, 25 September, protestors gathered at Delhi's Jantar Mantar questioning the Election Commission and calling for action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. AISA president Neha Bora was among the protestors.

But what is the cause for protest and why is the Election Commission facing renewed criticism?

What happened at Jantar Mantar?

AISA and other activists and protestors gathered at Jantar Mantar on Friday, raising slogans against Gyanesh Kumar and questioning the functioning of the Election Commission specifically regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Delhi Police laid barricades at Jantar Mantar and detained several protestors. Reports around the demonstration noted that the detained included activists and politicians. Neha Bora was also present at the protest, as were CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activists Yogendra Yadav and Anjali Bharadwaj among others participating in the demonstration.

Police stated that the protestors did not have permission for the demonstration. AISA, however, claimed that its leaders were forcibly detained at the protest. These are conflicting reports around the detentions.

RJD MP Manoj Jha, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and others also participated in the demonstration.

Why is Gyanesh Kumar at the centre of the controversy?

The immediate catalyst for the protest is a recent Indian Express investigation that reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded at least 14 formal objections about decisions and processes related to electoral-roll management over 10 months.

The objections, the report stated, related to adding and deleting voters, restoring names, changes to Form 6 regarding new voter registration, appeals regarding electoral rolls and access to voter data systems. The report also noted that the two commissioners had raised issues around centralising electoral roll data.

What makes the objections notable is not just the number (14) but the fact that these were raised by two members of the three-member constitutional body that conducts elections.

However, the objections themselves do not indicate that the Chief Election Commissioner or the Election Commission acted unlawfully.

But does this mean the Election Commission was divided?

The Election Commission disagrees.

In its response, the poll panel said that internal observations and differing views are part of the process and that the Commission's final decisions over the period, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.

The three commissioners have also continued to appear together at public meetings and briefings despite these reported objections.

The real question then is about the process by which these decisions were taken.

Why does SIR matter?

The Special Intensive Revision is a significant exercise around verifying and updating electoral rolls.

According to The Indian Express, over 13 crore names were left out of the draft electoral rolls in 30 States and Union Territories during the SIR process.

However, being left out of a draft roll was no bar to being on the final rolls. That the draft rolls were prepared in this manner is controversial for some voters. But there continues to be the question of whether there is a process for those excluded to raise a claim and objection. For critics, the controversy is whether the redress mechanism is accessible to all voters.

For the Election Commission, SIR is part of the process of ensuring accurate rolls. It has maintained that all decisions taken were through the Commission's formal process.

What happens next?

The row is set to spill out of the Election Commission.

Opposition parties have been preparing another bid to move a motion of removal against Gyanesh Kumar in Parliament.

Separately, the Cockroach Janta Party has demanded his resignation and threatened to launch a nation-wide protest from Mumbai on 2 October if he does not resign.

Meanwhile, the reported detentions and the controversy around the participation of Neha Bora have added a new layer of complication to the row.

The bigger question now is not just about the heads of the Election Commission but also about the process by which decisions regarding the voter list are taken, challenged and decided.