November 26 marks a very important milestone in independent India’s history. On this day in 1949, after the Constituent Assembly members worked hard for two years, eleven months and seventeen days, India adopted its Constitution. The zeal with which they participated in materialising this idea of India is reflected in the fact that they proposed as many as 7,635 amendments to the draft. Finally, the founding fathers of the Constitution gave the nation its sacred book, comprising 395 articles and eight schedules.
For the Constituent Assembly (CA), if a democratic country was the goal, free and fair elections were its means. Not many know that 16 articles of the Constitution were enacted exactly two months before the Constitution became fully operational. These included Article 324, which laid the foundation for the establishment of the Election Commission that was mandated with “superintendence, direction and control” of all elections. Interestingly, the Election Commission of India (ECI) was established on January 25, 1950 — one day before India was born as a sovereign democratic republic.
During proceedings of the Assembly, the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights recognised the independence of and non-interference by the executive and legislature in elections a fundamental right. Most significantly, the Constitution, through Article 329, debarred even the judiciary from interfering in the election process to ensure uninterrupted elections. This provision has been the envy of many election commissions.
A significant issue of discussion in the CA was whether the elections to the state legislatures should be vested in the state election commission or the central commission. In a far-sighted move and radical departure from the federal principle, the CA, put the Vidhan Sabha elections under the central Election Commission.
B R Ambedkar summed up the rationale for this bold move in the following words: “… No person who is entitled… should be excluded merely as a result of the prejudice of a local government… In order, therefore, to prevent injustice being done by provincial governments to people other than those who belong to the province racially, linguistically and culturally… the whole of the election machinery should be in the hands of a Central Election Commission.”
How prophetic was he! We increasingly see in different parts of the country overt or covert attempts to exclude certain sections of citizens from electoral registration.
Indian elections have not only earned national respect but have also received accolades from across the world. US Senator Hillary Clinton went to the extent of calling it a gold standard. The New York Times described it as “the greatest show on Earth”. No wonder ECI’s International Institute of Democracy and Election Management has attracted the top management of election bodies including Commissioners of over 130 countries in the last 12 years to learn from us.
However, great elections do not necessarily mean a great democracy. Many world democracy indexes have consistently described India as a flawed democracy. What is holding us back? Several factors like illiteracy, poor gender participation, corruption, attack on civil liberties, political culture, etc. This points to a need for urgent democratic and electoral reforms.
One of the great blessings of our electoral system is the supportive and protective role of the higher judiciary. The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasised that the EC’s mandate for free and fair elections is absolute: “Democracy cannot survive without free and fair elections” (Union of India versus ADR, 2003); “Free and fair elections is the basic structure of the Constitution” (PUCL versus Union of India, 2003; NOTA judgment, 2013); and “The heart of the parliamentary system is free and fair elections” (Mohinder Singh Gill versus CEC of India, 1977).
In February 2024, the apex court struck down electoral bonds as “unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary” annulling all the legislative changes which had institutionalised and legalised crony capitalism in India. SC, which has been a guardian angel of democracy, has undone a great damage.
One important factor that makes our democracy flawed is the low participation of women in elections, both in terms of voter enrolment and voter turnout, despite the Constitution giving them equal voting rights from day one (Article 326). ECI, by its concerted efforts, has corrected the skewed gender ratio in the electoral roll. In the 2024 general elections, the gender ratio of registered voters improved to 948 women per 1,000 men, up from 928 in 2019. The gender gap in voter turnout, which used to be 10 per cent earlier, has disappeared. In 19 of 36 states, more women turned up to vote than men in 2024.
While EC has fulfilled its gender obligation rather impressively, legislative action remains far behind. While 33 to 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies elections has been a commendable achievement, the NDA government has done well by enacting 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, to be operational from the 2029 elections.
It is noteworthy that in the 2019 elections, Mamata Banerjee created history by giving 41 per cent of tickets to women and ensuring entry of 9 out of 17 into Lok Sabha.
While several reforms have sought to improve the electoral system, many new challenges and threats have emerged, which, if not handled quickly, will derail our democracy. The use of black money and the increasing criminalisation in politics have assumed alarming proportions. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the number of members with criminal cases went up to 46 per cent and crorepatis to 93 per cent. Political defections have plagued government formations in the country since the 1960s. The Anti-Defection Law, 1985, also known as the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution has proved ineffective. Horse trading is now much less of an equestrian term than a legislative jargon.
Some of the critical reforms the EC has been demanding are:
A ceiling on political parties’ expenditure like that for candidates. State funding of political parties (not elections) with independent audit, and a complete ban on private donations. The establishment of an independent National Election Fund for all tax-free donations so allocation can be made based on electoral performance.
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Article 324(2) expected Parliament to make a law for the procedure and service conditions of the Election Commissioners which remained unattended for over seven decades. The Act was finally passed in 2023, on SC directions, with some mixed features. A partisan collegium makes no sense. Even an iota of doubt about its neutrality is fatal for democracy. Additionally, the Act has missed out on protecting the two Election Commissioners from removal from office, so that they do not feel as if they are on probation and their elevation to CEC would be dependent on the government’s pleasure.
Despite these flaws, the Election Commission of India is indeed one of the greatest gifts of the Constitution to the nation. The institution has stood the test of time and lived up to the trust of the nation as a powerful watchdog of democracy, some temporary hiccups notwithstanding. Cooperation of the executive, legislature and the judiciary is required to keep our democracy strong. Only then can the largest democracy on the planet hope to become the greatest.
Quraishi is a former chief election commissioner of India and the author, most recently of, India’s Experiment with Democracy: The Life of a Nation through its Elections
