No one expected Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to resign after the massive INDIA bloc rally this Sunday. Yet, despite the churlish debate over how many attended the rally, the protest has achieved more than anyone expected. At the same time, this success places greater responsibility on everyone involved in this month-long struggle.The run-up to the rally had already seen the entire Opposition, not just the INDIA bloc, come together to question the role of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Although AAP and DMK stayed away from the rally, they are very much with the cause. Non-INDIA bloc opposition parties like the BJD, BRS and YSRCP, which have often supported the government, have also come out against the SIR and the ECI. Such a full-spectrum vote of no confidence by the entire parliamentary Opposition against the election management body would be unprecedented in any democracy. This is like all the non-host teams demanding replacement of the tournament referee.AdvertisementAlso Read | Before UP polls, let’s ask: Does voter list meet criteria of completeness, equity, accuracyThe “Vote Bachao Desh Bachao” rally and the “public impeachment” of Gyanesh Kumar, the day before the rally, expanded the definition of opposition beyond the political parties. A large number of “civil society” organisations and movements that have led the current campaign against the SIR were present both in the “mock parliament” on Saturday and at the podium of the Sunday rally. These included many farmer organisations and all the youth organisations active in the October protests. In an unusual and significant move, the CJP issued a call to support the Opposition rally. Influencers like Dhruv Rathee and farmer leaders like Rakesh Tikait also endorsed the rally. Though the rally participants were overwhelmingly workers and supporters of INDIA bloc parties, mainly Congress, they exuded confidence that they stood for the people at large. While we should not expect all future protests to be under a single umbrella, this weekend has brought in much-needed cohesion in this medley of protests that we witnessed in October. It has also established Rahul Gandhi, the first leader to bring the “vote chori” issue to a disbelieving public, as the moral leader of the wider oppositional space.The rally was a significant landmark in the popular acceptance of the “vote chori” narrative. The Indian Express exposé has opened the floodgates of media reporting on the multiple scandals of the SIR, besides the unconstitutional functioning of the ECI. The public now knows about the questions that surround Form 6, misuse of bulk Form 7 objections, the contentious use of Form 8 to change the final voter list, the weird pattern of voter deletion and bulk filing of anonymous appeals in West Bengal and much more. The ECI is on the back foot. The Supreme Court, too, faces questions. True, many of these grave infringements are too technical for the public to grasp. Yet the cumulative impact of the last six weeks has been a shift in the collective common sense towards “daal me kuchh kaala hai” — something is rotten out there. The gravitas of the “public impeachment” pushed this popular narrative further.This imposes a historic responsibility on all those who have contributed to the success of these protests so far. Going forward, the movement is not just about removing Gyanesh Kumar and rolling back the SIR but about reclaiming the democratic space that has been lost over the past 12 years. The anti-SIR and anti-CEC agitation is now set to become a pro-democracy movement.AdvertisementAt this critical juncture, the call for “regime change” is a distraction best avoided. To be sure, there is nothing wrong or unconstitutional about demanding regime change through the normal democratic route of elections. And the onus of keeping that normal route truly open is on the ruling establishment and independent institutions like the ECI and the Supreme Court. Yet at this stage, this is the demand of the Opposition, not necessarily the demand of all the people on the streets. The success of a mass movement depends on floating with the sentiment of the organic protesters, on keeping to the lowest common denominator that ensures the widest possible support.As of now, a call for free and fair elections encompasses the most widely shared sentiment of the people. Such a call goes beyond the current demands for the removal of the CEC, the repeal of the 2023 Act and the rollback of the SIR. This would also entail reclaiming democratic freedoms like freedom of expression, dissent and protest — all the more relevant in the context of the repressive and intimidatory tactics adopted by the state, like the insistence on a “peace bond”. A demand for neutral functioning of autonomous institutions like the ECI, the judiciary, investigating agencies and the media would also be a part of the democracy movement. Yet, all this does not amount to a demand for regime change — and certainly not on the streets — until all peaceful, democratic and constitutional means are truly and fully exhausted. And are perceived to be so by the people.you may likeIn that context, the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh could be the litmus test. For someone like me who has observed Indian elections closely for the last four decades, the assembly election in UP will be an agnipariksha that will determine whether we can expect anything like fair elections in the minimal sense of the term under the present dispensation. More than a test of Narendra Modi’s or Yogi Adityanath’s popularity, it will be a test of the electoral system’s credibility. That must be the focal point of the pro-democracy movement.As this stir enters its second phase, it may not look like a mountain river with its mad and unpredictable gush of water. As it descends to the plains, the movement will be slower and more widespread. This is not to be regretted, as the example of the farmers’ stir showed us. The river slowing down allows water to percolate. As the rush of energy unleashed by the spontaneously synchronised protests gives way to a loosely coordinated movement spread across the country, the “vote chori” message is likely to seep deeper into popular consciousness. The regime’s decision to brazen it out and block Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation could well be a blessing in disguise, not just for the protestors, but for Indian democracy.The writer is member, Swaraj India and national convenor, Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan. Views are personal