NEW YORK: Public trust in the electoral process may be the biggest casualty of controversial implementation and flaws of SIR, and CEC's reported conduct within the commission. On Monday, there were further misgivings when Calcutta High Court pulled up EC over its handling of a party poll symbol dispute between two factions of Trinamool Congress, and went on to suggest 'connivance' between the poll panel and one of the disputing parties. The next day, Supreme Court agreed to take up a petition questioning CEC Gyanesh Kumar's functioning and seeking to declare SIR illegal.
Recent surveys point to a decline in public confidence in the fairness and legitimacy of elections. For BJP, erosion of trust in the electoral process and, by extension, in GoI, may ultimately pose a greater risk than the Opposition's resistance to SIR.
