What is happening inside Gyanesh Kumar’s Election Commission? | TV Newsance 353

Your bi-weekly dose of everything that passes for news on Indian television. This week on TV Newsance, the streets of Delhi and Mumbai were louder than any prime-time debate. The Cockroach Janta Party’s big contribution to the movement against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was “Gyanesh, it’s done bro.” Meanwhile, Delhi University’s women, out on the streets for women's safety, dropped rhymes that made the men’s slogans look like a draft. Poetry round: Women, 1. Boys, 0. So what lit the match? The Indian Express got hold of the Election Commission’s internal file notings, and they show that the other two commissioners were deeply uncomfortable with how the voter-roll revamp, or SIR, was being run. Two things from those notings remain unexplained: One, in West Bengal, 16 lakh appeals were filed against voters being added back to the rolls, and not even the commissioners knew who filed them. Two, in Goa, 97 eligible voters stayed off the list because the software in Delhi had no “add name” option, despite eight emails begging for one. Yes, the country of software engineers. The government, meanwhile, is busy with the real threat: blocking cartoonists. But in all of this, the worst takes still came from the usual suspects: Godijeevis! They were like “Disagreements happen in every office, bro.” Sure they do, but we’re pretty sure office disagreements differ from a constitutional body like the Election Commission functioning undemocratically. Please let us know in the comments what you think of the episode. 00:00 Gyanesh, it’s done bro! 01:20 Protest slogans: Women 1, boys 0 03:10 Keep news free for ₹99 03:52 Protests through the TV news lens 05:07 The investigation shaking the Election Commission 05:57 SIR: A voter clean-up or a citizenship test? 07:53 Two commissioners raise objections 08:36 TV anchors defend, government blocks cartoonists 10:08 The Election Commission’s response 10:41 Who filed 16 lakh appeals against voters? 13:09 Goa’s 97 voters and the missing software option 14:50 Who controls the switch on your vote? 16:54 Goodbye Gullu, thanks for the memes 17:49 What Gandhi understood about democracy 19:25 Support independent news for ₹99 This Gandhi Jayanti, celebrate the Mahatma’s birthday with a ₹99 Newslaundry subscription. For two weeks, you get our paywalled reporting and some very fun interviews, including our chat with the man who wants a Bharat Ratna for Gyanesh Kumar: https://rzp.io/rzp/QIi973mo353 Join the NL-TNM Book Club: https://www.newslaundry.com/book-club Join us on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va61... Download the accessible Newslaundry app: https://www.newslaundry.com/download-app Follow and engage with us on social media: Facebook:   / newslaundry   Twitter:   / newslaundry   Instagram:   / newslaundry