At one of many stops in Israel during the course of his whirlwind shuttle diplomacy in 1975, Henry Kissinger told reporters that on that particular day he had come “to rescue [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin from [defence minister Shimon] Peres.” Flippancy apart, the then US secretary of state was invoking one of the most unresolved conundrums faced by every supremo: how not to let a deputy or a close aide or ally spoil the broth. When a helmsman fails to rein in hawkish voices in his entourage, the result invariably is lasting damage.Our own post-independence history records many instances: Jawaharlal Nehru allowing Govind Ballabh Pant and Morarji Desai to scupper any agreement during Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai’s last visit to India in 1960; Sanjay Gandhi trapping his mother, Indira Gandhi, into the quagmire of the Emergency; L.K. Advani ensuring that the A.B. Vajpayee-Pervez Musharraf summit at Agra ended in a deadlock. The list is long.In a dynamic polity, inter-locking institutions are often nimble-footed enough to see to it that there is no systemic breakdown. Because of weakened institutions, however, the Indian polity today is staring at a catastrophic meltdown – unless a new imagination makes itself felt.The contours of the deadlock are all too visible. A prime minister, surrounded by a posse of take-no-prisoner hardliners; an Election Commission, a constitutional body, theoretically not easily amenable to any blandishments yet suspected of being at the beck and call of the ruling party; an agitated Opposition, led by a leader who has nothing to lose; and, a leaderless army of angry insurgents who have no time or respect for old-fashioned niceties and protocols.Also read: Why the Protests Against SIR Have Completely Defied CoercionThis deadlock has manifested itself dramatically these last few days in the battle for control over the streets in the national capital. From July 20 to October 10, the officially empowered instruments of coercion and violence have asserted themselves against unarmed dissenters of various hues. Highly unappetising images have emerged of a police force ruthlessly pitting itself against young boys and girls and other decent citizens.Even more unpalatable and troublesome is the utter indifference of (the Union home ministry-directed) Delhi Police to the Supreme Court’s directions. The longer the deadlock persists, the greater will be the ruling regime’s appetite for defying judicial injunctions, and for relying on thuggish militias to chase unarmed protestors out of the streets.Also read: To Save Himself, Modi Must Get Rid of His LiabilityThat inclination cannot bode well for the republic. The stalemate has to be prised open.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.At the heart of the deadlock are the proven illegalities wilfully committed by the incumbent chief election commissioner (CEC). Hardly anything need be said any more about the institutional mischief knowingly set in motion by Gyanesh Kumar. The rub is that he, as CEC, enjoys not only constitutional autonomy but also has been provided protection against any future punitive action for acts of commission and omission. That someone in the Narendra Modi establishment deviously felt the need for putting in place this legal protection suggests malice aforethought.Now, there is seemingly no way out of the deadlock. Whatever use Modi has made – and still hopes to make – of him, Gyanesh Kumar has become an albatross around the prime minister’s neck. The CEC can be removed only through a motion of impeachment in parliament. But the ruling party cannot possibly let such a motion pass.Still, no one can be sure if the inner clique has come to realise that Gyanesh has become a debilitating liability. At the same time, one can be sure that if the ‘competent authority’ does decide the time has come to cut its losses and let the CEC go, the regime definitely has the requisite resourcefulness to get him to step down. Not too long ago, a vice-president of the republic was made to send in his resignation, citing reasons of health.Also read: ‘No Fear, Only Rage’: After Days of Brutal State Crackdown, Delhi Returns to the StreetsIt is against the grain of the ruling regime to yield to pressure; its inner coterie wallows in confrontation and remains in thrall of its own roguish impulses. Yet if history is any guide, a king surely knows that no one is – or should be – indispensable. If Modi has not totally shut off his antennae, he should be able to grasp that the CEC’s carefully curated excesses have cast a shadow on what should be a prime minister’s most potent asset: the perception that he or she is an honest leader worthy of citizens’ trust. The legitimacy of the Modi regime is at stake.Arguably, an even more fundamental question has presented itself: is our constitutional arrangement efficacious enough to find a way out of the deadlock? On the one hand is the argument, spelled out a few days ago by Shiv Sena chief, Uddhav Thackeray: “You can control institutions but the streets belong to us.” Against this, the BJP spokesperson has argued that the national agenda would be set in parliament and not on the streets. Between these two positions, the polity effectively remains checkmated.Has the time then come to resort to the old, time-tested (but unacknowledged) legerdemain: seeking the judiciary’s help to help end a political quarrel. To be sure, judicial intervention is not to be easily countenanced; but, often in the past, the court has allowed itself to be used by politicians to put a lid on a raging fire.Prime Minister Modi needs to be given an excuse to seek Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation; the CEC needs to be given an honourable exit; the sanctity and autonomy of elections need to be protected; and, the Opposition needs to feel reassured that the incumbent regime is not ‘stealing’ elections.While the Supreme Court cannot ‘suspend’ Gyanesh Kumar, it is entirely within its remit to legitimately pass adverse strictures against him. Such a judicial aspersion would give the prime minister the fig leaf of a decent excuse to nudge Gyanesh babu to go home. Such a ‘solution’ would be in line with the civilisational common sense that has worked most usefully in this complex land: saap bhi mar jaye, aur lathi bhi na toote. Above all, it is starkly clear that Narendra Modi needs rescuing from Gyanesh Kumar.Harish Khare was editor-in-chief of The Tribune.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.