Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas at his office, in Thiruvananthapuram on October 23, 2026
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
The ongoing protests across the country are not limited to a demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over vote theft allegations, but also seeks to regain the democratic space, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas has said. In an interview to The Hindu in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday (October 23, 2026), the Left leader who has been at the forefront of the protests in Delhi said that now there is a widespread feeling that the issues at stake affects everyone.
“Unless there is democratic process or free and fair elections, everything becomes redundant. Whether you are running a political party or whether you are a social activist, it won’t have value. Every section of the society is feeling the pinch. All those gains the country has made and its progressive ideals are being reversed. Now people have begun saying enough is enough. How far can you go ahead with Muslim-Hindu debate? Even those sane people who might have voted for the BJP are coming out in large numbers to support this protest,” he said.
However, Mr.Brittas feels that compared to the case of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who resigned after the first round of protests at Jantar Mantar over the NEET-UG exam paper leak, Mr. Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation will not come easily, as he is not as dispensable for the Modi government.
‘Jantar Mantar protests have literally upended the political scene in India’
“Since he is the one who is executing all the electoral plans of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, he is not that dispensable like a Minister. They don’t want to have transparent or free and fair elections in India. The moment they shed Gyanesh Kumar, things will start rolling. They are also in a dilemma because they fear that the demands may grow. One crucial factor will be how these issues will impact the U.P. elections,” said Mr. Brittas.
The Union government resorted to more repressive tactics against the second round of protests because the BJP leaders feel that if they buckle once more, it would be a disaster with far reaching consequences, he said.
“All those people who are supposed to be guarding the borders are deployed in Delhi. All central paramilitary forces which are not trained at managing civilian protests are deployed in large numbers. That is why the brutality is much more,” he said.
According to him, in the present political climate, beyond conventional parties or alliances, everybody has a role to play. All the narrow calculations of political parties whether the movement would benefit them or whether the new entrants in the fray are going to affect the political fortunes of the others should take a backseat.
“Jantar Mantar protests have literally upended the political scene in India. Social discourse has changed. I feel the conversations at homes have also changed. Now you know that a meme is much more powerful than a manifesto. The fact that Sonia Gandhi has now joined Instagram or that Narendra Modi is forced to appear in a reel indirectly reflects upon the tremendous influence the Gen-Z protests have had on conventional politics,” he said.
Mr. Brittas is not disheartened by the fact that the Left, which has served as one of the major mobilising forces in recent protest movements, is now electorally at one of its lowest points.
“Left as a physical political form is a different thing from the thought process and how it inspires people, how it envisages a trajectory for protesters. I feel numbers are not very important. What is more important is how you speak, how you act or how you try to influence a situation. Even Mr. Modi has understood this and that is why he says that the Left is something he wants to eliminate,” he says.
As a former journalist, he feels that the credibility of a large section of mainstream media, seen as close to the ruling BJP and the RSS, is at its lowest ebb.
“I have never seen such an onslaught on legacy media. They were driven out from the protest sites. They are being seen as trumpeters or propaganda mechanisms. This is a time when everyone needs to introspect. You may have your corporate interests or parochial designs, but everything is being seen by people. Now maybe there is a slight lull in the protests. This is something just before the storm,” says Mr. Brittas.
Published – October 24, 2026 03:00 pm IST
