Here is the complete text of the open letter by the 272 eminent personalities (as published by India Today):

Here is the complete text of the open letter by the 272 eminent personalities (as published by India Today): 

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Assault on National Constitutional Authorities

18/11/2025

We, the senior citizens of civil society, express our grave concern that India's democracy is under assault, not by force, but by a rising tide of venomous rhetoric directed toward its foundational institutions. Some political leaders, instead of offering genuine policy alternative, resort to provocative but unsubstantiated accusations in their theatrical political strategy. After their attempts to tarnish the Indian Armed Forces by questioning their valour and accomplishments, and the Judiciary by questioning its fairness, Parliament, and its constitutional functionaries, now it is the turn of Election Commission of India to face systematic and conspiratorial attacks on its integrity and reputation.

The Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, has repeatedly attacked the Election Commission, declaring that he has open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in vote theft and claimed that he has 100 per cent proof. Using unbelievably uncouth rhetoric that what he has found is an atom-bomb and when it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide. The sanctity of our electoral rolls is not a partisan issue — it is a national imperative.

We call upon the Election Commission to continue its path of transparency and rigour. Publish complete data, defend itself through legal channels when necessary, and reject politics dressed up as victimhood. We call upon political leaders to respect the constitutional process, to compete not through baseless accusation but through policy articulation, and to accept democratic verdicts with grace.

Civil society reaffirms its unshakeable faith in the Indian Armed Force, the Indian Judiciary and Executive, and specifically the Election Commission, in its integrity, and in its role as guardian of democracy. India's institutions must not be reduced to political punching bags. Indian democracy is resilient — its people are wise. The time has come for leadership rooted in truth, not theatrics; in ideas, not invective; in service, not spectacle.

Signed by:

Justice S N Dhingra, Former Delhi High Court Judge

Nirmal Kaur, IPS, Former DGP, Jharkhand

— and many others (total 272 signatories)

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