The need to preserve the shine of Indian elections

1. At a Glance

• Core idea: Indian elections are "the best organised expression of 'we, the people'" and "cannot be allowed to fail". The article warns that the credibility, or "shine", of the electoral process may be wearing down [1].
• Trigger for concern: Ongoing protests targeting the Election Commission of India (ECI), and the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls during the past year, which led to "attention, litigation and agitation" [1].
• Wider claim: Elections were long branded as one of India's "topmost soft powers". The author argues they may now be entering a "phase of devaluation", and that the executive, legislature, judiciary, winners, losers and voters all share responsibility for this [1].
• UPSC relevance: The topic links ECI's independence (Art. 324), the integrity of electoral rolls (RP Act, 1950), the 2023 law on appointing election commissioners, and democratic legitimacy. It recurs in GS-II [2][6].

2. Why in the News

• 12 Oct 2026: Op-ed in The Hindu (Chennai edition, p. 11) by Akshay Rout, former Director General of the ECI and a public policy commentator [1].
• 10 Oct 2026: Security personnel in riot gear guarded the ECI office in New Delhi ahead of a planned protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar [1].
• 2025–26: The SIR of electoral rolls began in Bihar and was later extended to several major States, generating disputes over how it was managed [1][6][7].

3. Background & Evolution

• Constitutional origin: Article 324 gives the ECI "superintendence, direction and control" of elections. The ECI cited Article 324 together with Section 21 of the RP Act, 1950 as its power to order the SIR [6].
• Pre-2023 appointment framework: The service conditions of the CEC and Election Commissioners were governed by a 1991 Act, which the 2023 Act replaced [2][4].
• March 2023: In Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India, the Supreme Court set an interim selection process for the CEC and ECs that would apply until Parliament made a law [4].
• 28 Dec 2023: The CEC and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 was enacted as Act No. 49 of 2023 [2][3].
• 2 Jan 2024: The Act came into force by notification in the Gazette of India [2].
• 2025: The ECI ordered the SIR in Bihar, with 1 July 2025 as the qualifying date [6].
• Later phase: The ECI deployed Special Roll Observers for the SIR in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan [7].
• Oct 2026: An ECI instruction dated 1 Oct 2026 refers to final rolls being published after EROs decided claims and objections under the SIR [8].

4. Core Static Facts

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Legal / Constitutional

• The SIR rests on the ECI's plenary power under Art. 324 and on Sec. 21 of the RP Act, 1950. Litigation tests where that discretion ends and where a citizen's right to be on the roll begins [1][6].
• The 2023 Act replaced the Supreme Court's interim committee. The Court's committee included the CJI, while the Act's committee has a Cabinet Minister in that place, giving the executive a 2:1 majority. This is the central criticism about the ECI's independence [4][5].

Ethical / Governance

• Trust in elections depends on the referee being seen as neutral. Protests demanding the CEC's resignation signal a deficit of trust that the author says may persist ("the smoke could linger") [1].
• The author spreads responsibility across all institutions, including the executive, legislature, judiciary, candidates and voters, rather than only "election managers" [1].

Administrative

• A roll revision on this scale requires EROs, BLOs and observer networks. Deploying Special Roll Observers across 8 States shows how large the task is [7][8].
• Tension exists between cleaning the rolls (removing duplicate, dead or shifted electors) and excluding genuine electors, especially through documentation demands [1][6].

Social

• Migrants, the poor, and people without documents are the most likely to be left off revised rolls. This affects the universality of adult franchise.
• The SIR has caused agitation in several States, which shows that roll integrity is a mass political issue [1].

Geopolitical / Soft power

• India's record of democratic elections compares favourably with "dozens of countries in Asia, Africa and West Asia" that became independent around the same time. Losing that record would weaken India's democratic soft power [1].

Historical

• Over decades, elections came to be branded as one of India's "topmost soft powers". The author frames the present as a possible turning point, a "wakeup call" [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 2025: The ECI began the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, with qualifying date 01.07.2025 [6].
• 2025–26: The SIR was extended to major States, with Special Roll Observers posted in WB, TN, UP, Gujarat, Kerala, MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan [7].
• Over the past year: The SIR faced litigation and agitation [1].
• 1 Oct 2026: ECI instruction on publishing final rolls after EROs decided claims and objections [8].
• 10 Oct 2026: Protest in New Delhi demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, with heavy security deployed at the ECI [1].
• 12 Oct 2026: Former ECI DG Akshay Rout's op-ed warning that elections are losing their "shine" [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• The ECI ordered the SIR under Article 324 of the Constitution read with Section 21 of the RP Act, 1950 [6].
• The qualifying date for the Bihar SIR was 1 July 2025 [6].
• The first State in the current SIR exercise was Bihar [6].
• Special Roll Observers were deployed for the SIR in 8 States, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal [7].
• Claims and objections in the SIR are decided by EROs [8].
• The CEC & Other ECs Act is Act No. 49 of 2023, dated 28 Dec 2023 [2][3].
• The 2023 Act came into force on 2 Jan 2024 [2].
• The CEC and ECs are appointed by the President on a Selection Committee's recommendation [2].
• The Selection Committee is the PM, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM. The CJI is not a member [4][5].
• The Search Committee in the Act is headed by the Union Law Minister. The Bill had proposed the Cabinet Secretary [3][4].
• The 2023 Act repealed the 1991 Act on ECs' service conditions [2][4].
• The Supreme Court laid down an interim appointment mechanism in March 2023 (Anoop Baranwal) [4].

8. Who Has to Prove a Voter Is Genuine: the Citizen or the State?

• The SIR moves the work of proving eligibility onto the voter
• For Bihar, the ECI treated the 2003 electoral roll (qualifying date 01.01.2003) as probative evidence, meaning it counts as proof unless someone shows otherwise [6].
• People who were on that old roll start with a presumption in their favour. Everyone else has to produce documents.

• Young voters, migrants and people who moved home after 2003 therefore carry the heaviest load. These are also the people least likely to have papers ready.

• A roll check can quietly become a citizenship check

• An ERO (Electoral Registration Officer, the official who keeps the roll for a constituency) decides claims and objections [8].
• The ERO is not a citizenship authority. Still, a demand for documents that prove citizenship makes the ERO act like one.

• This is why the dispute reached the courts. In a reportable judgment (2026 INSC 564), the Supreme Court examined whether the ECI had the power to run the SIR at all [10].

• The Aadhaar question shows exactly where the fault line lies

• On 8 Sep 2025 the Supreme Court directed the ECI to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity for inclusion in, or exclusion from, the Bihar roll [9].
• The Court also said that under the Aadhaar Act, 2016, Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship. Officials may still check whether a card is genuine [9].
• Aadhaar is accepted because Section 23(4) of the RP Act, 1950 lists it as an identity document [9].
• So the document most poor people actually hold proves who they are, but not that they are eligible to vote. That gap is where exclusion happens.

9. The Best Case for the SIR, and What It Still Misses

• The strongest argument for the SIR
• A roll full of dead, duplicate or shifted names is itself unfair. Wrong names can be misused, and honest votes count for less.
• The ECI says it had collected documents from 98.2% of Bihar's electors with eight days still left [12].
• The ECI also says Phase I in Bihar finished with zero appeals [11]. By a press release dated 30.09.2025, it declared that the Bihar exercise had been successfully completed [10].

• This is a fair point. The ECI has a statutory duty under Sec. 21 of the RP Act, 1950 to keep rolls accurate [6]. Doing nothing is not a neutral choice.

• Why these numbers do not settle the matter

• A 98.2% collection rate also means about 1 in 50 electors had not submitted documents at that point [12]. Across a large State's roll, that is a big group of real people.
• "Zero appeals" counts only the people who appealed. People who are poor, migrant or without papers are the least able to file an appeal. A low count can mean the remedy was hard to use, not that nobody was wrongly removed.

• The article's worry is about trust, not only accuracy [1]. A roll can become cleaner and still be less trusted if the losing side believes the cleaning was one-sided.

• Where this leaves the debate

• The SIR's goal is legitimate. The real argument is about procedure: who carries the burden of proof, how quickly a voter can get back on the roll, and how openly deletions are explained.

10. Why the 2023 Act Has Not Settled Doubts About ECI Neutrality

• The government can always outvote the Opposition on the panel
• Of the three members, two are from the government: the PM and a Cabinet Minister the PM chooses. PRS notes that this gives the ruling side a built-in majority [4].

• In practice the Leader of Opposition can record a dissent but cannot block a name.

• The panel can work even when the Opposition seat is empty

• The Bill kept the panel's recommendations valid even when the panel was not fully constituted [4].

• PRS points out that the PM and the Cabinet Minister posts can never be vacant. Only the LoP post can be empty, for example when the Lok Sabha is dissolved. The panel would then be made up only of ruling-party members [4].

• Only senior bureaucrats can be chosen

• Only people of Secretary rank or equivalent (present or former) are eligible [4].

• The ECI also does quasi-judicial work: it decides cases like a court, for example on disqualification and on party-symbol disputes. PRS says this rule may keep out other qualified people, such as judges [4].

• Election Commissioners are less protected than the CEC

• The CEC can be removed only in the way a Supreme Court judge is removed. An EC can be removed on the CEC's recommendation [4].
• An EC who disagrees with the CEC therefore has weaker job security. That makes the Commission less independent inside itself.
• In 2023 the Supreme Court said it could not order equal protection, because the Constitution itself sets the two procedures. Changing this needs a constitutional amendment [4].

11. What Past Committees and Other Democracies Already Suggested

• Every major review asked for someone outside the government on the panel
• Goswami Committee (1990): the President should appoint the CEC and ECs in consultation with the CJI and the Leader of Opposition [4].
• Law Commission, 255th Report (2015): a panel of the PM, the LoP in the Lok Sabha and the CJI [13].

• The 2023 Act chose none of these models [4]. In Parliament, the government said the 244th and 255th Reports were "under examination" [14].

• Parliament should give the ECI its own independent secretariat

• The Goswami Committee asked for an ECI secretariat independent of the government. PRS notes that the 2023 law does not deal with this [4].

• Without its own staff, the ECI depends on State government officials to run exercises like the SIR. This makes it easy for critics to question whether those officials are neutral.

• Other democracies keep the executive at a distance

• USA: a person who is an elected or appointed officer, or holds a federal government post, cannot serve on its election commission [4].
• South Africa: one of the five members of its electoral commission must be a judge [4].

• Both rules build judicial or non-government voices into the body itself. India's Act does not have either rule.

• The ECI can rebuild trust without waiting for a new law

• It can publish every deletion from the roll with the reason, and give a simple, time-bound way to get re-included.
• After the 8 Sep 2025 order, it can accept Aadhaar as proof of identity in every SIR State [9], so the poor are not asked for papers they rarely have.
• These steps answer the article's worry directly: being seen as fair matters as much as being fair [1].

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Documents were received from 98.2% of Bihar's electors with eight days of the SIR still left. Put the other way, about 1 in 50 had not yet submitted documents [12]
• Data: The ECI reports zero appeals after Phase I of the Bihar SIR [11]
• Report/Committee: Goswami Committee (1990): appointment in consultation with the CJI and the LoP, plus an independent ECI secretariat [4]
• Report/Committee: Law Commission 255th Report, Electoral Reforms (2015): a panel of the PM, the LoP and the CJI [13]. The government told Parliament it was "under examination" [14]
• Law/Case: Supreme Court order of 8 Sep 2025: Aadhaar must be accepted as proof of identity for the Bihar roll, but it is not proof of citizenship. Section 23(4) of the RP Act, 1950 lists Aadhaar as an identity document [9]
• Law/Case: 2026 INSC 564: the Supreme Court examined whether the ECI had the power to conduct the SIR [10]
• Comparison: South Africa requires one of the five members of its electoral commission to be a judge. The USA bars government office-holders from its election commission [4]

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: Appointment to various constitutional posts, and the powers, functions and responsibilities of constitutional bodies (ECI). Salient features of the Representation of People's Act. Indian Constitution: significant provisions.
• GS-IV: Probity in governance, and the integrity and impartiality of public institutions.
• Essay: Democracy, trust and institutions.
• Model question stems: 1. "Free and fair elections depend as much on the perceived neutrality of the Election Commission as on its actual conduct." In this light, examine the appointment mechanism under the CEC and Other ECs Act, 2023. (15 marks) 2. Discuss the constitutional and statutory basis of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. How can the goal of clean rolls be balanced against the risk of disenfranchisement? (15 marks) 3. "Elections are India's foremost soft power." Critically evaluate whether recent controversies threaten this, and suggest institutional reforms. (10 marks)

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• Article 324–329 and the ECI's plenary powers. These are the constitutional base of every ECI action, including the SIR.
• RP Act, 1950 vs RP Act, 1951. The 1950 Act covers rolls and the 1951 Act covers the conduct of elections. Confusing them is a common trap.
• Anoop Baranwal v. UoI (2023). The SC ruling that preceded the 2023 Act.
• Removal of the CEC (Art. 324(5)) vs removal of ECs. This concerns security of tenure and independence.
• Voter ID–Aadhaar linkage (Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021). Another roll-purification measure with exclusion concerns.
• EVM–VVPAT debate. A parallel area of contested electoral trust.
• Model Code of Conduct. Enforcing it tests the ECI's perceived neutrality.
• Delimitation and One Nation One Election. Upcoming structural changes to the electoral system.

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Special Intensive Revision (Polity): The SIR is the central controversy behind the litigation and agitation the article describes.
• Election Commission of India (Polity): The protests target the ECI, whose neutrality and credibility are the article's main concern.
• Electoral roll (Polity): Roll integrity, including wrongful exclusion of genuine voters, is what the SIR dispute is about.
• Representation of the People Act 1950 (Polity): Section 21 of this Act gives the legal basis for preparing and revising rolls in the SIR.
• Chief Election Commissioner (Polity): Protesters demand the CEC's resignation; the 2023 Act changed how the CEC is appointed.
• Free and fair elections (Polity): The article's worry about the 'shine' of elections is about whether polls remain free, fair and trusted.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Rolls fall under the RP Act, 1950, not 1951. The SIR power is Sec. 21 of the 1950 Act [6].
• The CJI is not on the statutory Selection Committee. The CJI was part only of the SC's interim (2023) arrangement [4][5].
• Search Committee head: It is the Law Minister in the Act, not the Cabinet Secretary as in the Bill [3][4].
• Dates: The Act was enacted on 28 Dec 2023 but came into force on 2 Jan 2024. Do not give 2023 as the commencement date [2].
• SIR vs Summary Revision: The SIR is an intensive, house-to-house re-verification of the rolls. It is distinct from the routine annual summary revision.