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In this third episode of The Caravan Long View, Hartosh Singh Bal and Sushant Singh critically examine the role of the Election Commission of India. Once regarded as a trustworthy institution capable of safeguarding one of democracy’s most important facets–the ability to conduct free and fair elections–the ECI’s workings, since 2014, raise serious concerns about its independence and credibility. From Vote Chori allegations by Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition to the fallacies of the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar, the commission appears to have subverted its constitutional duties to assist and shield the Bharatiya Janata Party. This troubling tilt raises serious questions about the integrity of the institution, as what should have been an impartial guardian of democracy now appears compromised—forcing us to ask whether democracy can retain its meaning when its protector becomes complicit in its erosion? Watch now for a critical exploration of how the ECI’s recent actions are reshaping India’s democratic process. Hartosh Singh Bal is the executive editor at The Caravan. Sushant Singh is the consulting editor at The Caravan.
For more on the ECI’s institutional evolution and the troubling shifts in its role, also see the following reports by The Caravan:
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