The resignation of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has created ripples in Indian politics. For the first time since 1993, a single-member Election Commission is currently supervising poll preparations in the world’s largest democracy. There is no word on why Mr. Goel, who was handpicked by the BJP government, quit but some media reports point to differences with the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

So, what does Mr. Goel’s resignation spell? Will the Government rush to appoint two Election Commissioners under the new law that gives the political executive a majority in the selection process? Do Election Commissioners grow a spine after taking office?

Guest: Nilanjan Mukhopadyay is a senior journalist and author, whose latest book is The Demolition and the Verdict: Ayodhya and the Project to Reconfigure India (2021). He has also authored The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right (2019) and Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times (2013).

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.