Congress Alleges Modi-Shah Regime Poses Gravest Threat to Electoral Democracy

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday said democracy faces the "gravest of threats" from the current dispensation, days after opposition parties urged the Supreme Court to take steps to restore the integrity and accountability of the electoral process.

In a letter to the Chief Justice of India, leaders of several Opposition parties had written, saying "democracies turn to anarchies when institutional mechanism fails" and "when the judiciary fails, it indicates a complete breakdown of the Republic".

The opposition parties demanded that the entire SIR (special intensive revision) process be suspended and launched at a time when the next assembly election is at least five years away. They also raised the alleged misuse of central agencies and sought serious consideration of restoring ballot papers where appropriate.

Sharing the opposition parties' letter to the CJI in a post on X, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the Supreme Court is entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that injustice is not done and the free and fair nature of elections is protected.

"Electoral democracy in our country faces the gravest of threats from the Modi-Shah regime," he said in his post.

Venugopal said that on June 28, 24 opposition parties, along with an Independent MP, wrote to the CJI on the flawed SIR process, the "partisan role" of the Election Commission of India and other election-related issues.

"It is the role of our judiciary to guard our democracy from the excesses of the executive - especially one which is hell-bent on destroying the Constitutional framework that gives us our democracy.

"In our democracy, the Supreme Court is entrusted with the onerous responsibility of ensuring injustice doesn't prevail. Therefore, it has a vital role to play in protecting the free and fair nature of elections, and also to make sure that they seen to be free and fair. Without this, injustice against 1.4 billion voters persists every single day," he said in his post.

"We are releasing this letter, in the interest of transparency, and in the hope that the Hon'ble Supreme Court will take the firm steps urgently required to restore the integrity and accountability of and faith in the election process of crores of our people," Venugopal said.

TMC MP Derek O'Brien also said on X, "Significant. This is the first time since five meetings of the INDIA bloc have been held, that parties opposed to the BJP, have jointly signed a letter/document".

In their letter, various leaders of political parties said it is addressed to the Supreme Court through the CJI and is not intended to influence the decision of any cause pending before any court.

"We all, representing like-minded political parties, firmly opposed to the BJP, believe that the electoral process is being manipulated and outcomes in multiple instances do not reflect the will of the people. There are several reasons for this.

"First, how the Election Commission (ECI) is constituted is and has always been decided by the government in power," the letter said, citing various other instances on the functioning of the EC.

The opposition leaders have also alleged, "There was complete lack of transparency and administrative confusion in the implementation of this process exacerbated by the timeframe within which it was required to be done."

"The whole process of the SIR, according to us, was meant to favour the BJP," they alleged.

The Opposition leaders alleged that there was "massive deletion of names" from electoral rolls in West Bengal and this "devious plot" left 27 lakh people without right to vote.

They also alleged that recently conducted elections in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra were "manipulated".

"In light of what we have stated, we do expect the impending SIR process be suspended and be launched at a time when the next Assembly election is at least five years away so that representatives of the Commission can go to each house for verification of voters, instead of a process of documentation which has never been adopted in the past," the letter stated.

"We believe this is a matter that warrants wider public discussion, including a serious consideration of restoring ballot papers where appropriate.

"We find, and it is a matter of grave concern, that the agencies of the government, in particular the CBI, the ED and the NIA, are used only to target those in opposition. These agencies are also used for the purpose of manipulating the outcome of results in the elections, apart from bringing down elected governments," the letter to the CJI said.

Noting that judges do not live in ivory towers, the opposition leaders said, "You too are aware of what is happening on the ground."

"We respect all institutions as we must. We honour them as we must. But when institutions themselves become instruments of oppression, carry forward the agenda of the government, then the future of our democracy is fraught with grave consequences.

"When all else fails, people still repose their trust in the judiciary. So when the judiciary fails to respond, it indicates a complete breakdown of the Republic. Democracies turn into anarchies when institutional mechanisms fail completely," the letter said.

Noting that they are not questioning the judiciary, the leaders said, "We turn to the courts when every mechanism fails. When this too fails, it leaves the question - who do we now turn to? We leave that question for you to ponder upon."