Every election is a lesson and a message for political parties; no victory or defeat is permanent. In a democracy, the insanity of hijacking the power of the people’s mandate through arrogance and anarchy is harmful to democratic dignity
The electoral system of India, the world’s largest democracy, is stuck in a maelstrom of political slugfests. Those who have been “democratically defeated” through votes are at the peak of their “chaotic craze to calumniate” the electoral system of the country, from the Parliament to the streets. Why has the Election Commission, which has created a record of successfully conducting 18 Lok Sabha general elections and a number of elections to legislative assemblies of various states and union territories in all kinds of challenging environments after Independence, now become a victim of the “bashing brigade” which is trying to create a fake narrative of “vote theft”?
The Election Commission was formed on 25th January 1950 under Articles 324 to 329 of the Indian Constitution as an autonomous and constitutional body with complete independence, impartiality, and accountability. Since its inception, the Election Commission was a one-member body and became a three-member body after 1989. The Constitution and the People’s Representation Act are the holy books of the Election Commission of India. To understand how much truth and how much fiction there is behind the conspiracy to portray the people’s mandate as a flaw in the election process, we will have to closely understand the history and present of the Election Commission and the elections held so far in India.
The “litmus test” of the newly formed Election Commission started with the herculean task of conducting the first Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in various states in 1952, when everything — from voter lists, polling booths, ballot papers, ballot boxes to polling personnel — was new and inexperienced. Organising elections on such a large scale in a free, fair, and transparent manner was a humongous task. There were several questions of paramount importance, such as: How would the voters vote in harsh climatic conditions and geographical challenges? How would the booth personnel conduct the voting?
Everything was an experiment. Everything had to be done for the first time in the 68-phase election for 489 Lok Sabha seats and Assembly seats of most of the states, with more than 17 crore voters above 21 years of age in a population of more than 36 crore.
Printing of ballot papers from around 3,80,000 reams of paper, 7,50,000 ballot boxes of different colours for each candidate, more than three lakh ink packets to be applied on the voters’ fingers after voting, lakhs of stamps, wax or lacquer for sealing, more than 2,50,000 polling booths, including 27,527 booths for female voters, lakhs of polling officials, construction of temporary roads and bridges for transporting polling parties and voters to polling booths in remote areas devoid of resources and facilities, training of voters on voting due to lack of literacy among most of the voters, awareness campaigns — all these were a big and tough task, but due to the democratic zeal of the people of India, the country successfully achieved this important milestone and a new democracy, India, became the world’s largest democracy.
In this first festival of democracy, all the backward and underprivileged areas of the country did wonders, whether it was the vast Mizo Hills region spread over 8,000 miles or the desert of Rajasthan or the tribal areas of Odisha; the areas deprived of electricity, water, and roads in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, or the coastal areas of the South — everywhere, people came enthusiastically to celebrate democracy with zeal, walking miles on camels, bullock carts, riding boats, horses, and on foot to cast their votes. The world was stunned and amazed to see that around one-sixth of the then world’s population, spread over such a large geographical area with different languages, religions, lifestyles, and contrasting climates, successfully conducted such a huge election process which witnessed a voting percentage of 45 per cent.
Voting was held for 4,500 Lok Sabha and Vidhansabha seats in the elections conducted in 68 phases from October 25th, 1951, to March 27th,1952, out of which there were 489 Lok Sabha seats and the rest were Assembly seats of various states. More than 53 political parties, including the Congress, the Communist Party, the Jansangh, the Forward Bloc, the Akali Dal, the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, the Scheduled Caste Federation, the Ram Rajya Parishad, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Zamindar Party, the Muslim League, the Republican Party, and 1,874 independent candidates, were in the election fray. More than 13 crore voters cast their votes with 45 per cent voting. With a significant increase in the voting percentage in the next elections in 1957 (46 percent voting), 1962 (56 percent voting), and 61 percent voting 1967, India moved ahead as a mature and credible democracy.
In the first general elections, out of a total of 489 Lok Sabha seats, 86 seats were won by two MPs, one from the General and one from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe.
This also included Nehru Ji’s Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency, from where Nehru Ji and Masuriya Din Ji had won. One seat was from North Bengal, from where three MPs had been elected. As the constitutional reservation system for seats had not been made till then, this temporary arrangement continued till the 1957 general elections. The Parliamentary journey of Indian democracy got a great start with the formation of the first Lok Sabha of independent India on April 17th, 1952, after successful elections. The journey of the Election Commission from 1952 to 2025 moved forward with election reforms, voter ID cards, registration of new voters, simplification of the voting process, awareness among the voters, protection of bona fide voters, review of bogus voters, etc.
The delimitation of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats also took place during the same period. The shape and configuration of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha constituencies changed in view of geography and population. During this period, the impartiality and efficiency of some Chief Election Commissioners were praised, while questions were raised on the working style of some others.
Knowingly or unknowingly, the conduct of a few Chief Election Commissioners tarnished the constitutional commitment and credibility of the Election Commission. If we assess the tenure of the Chief Election Commissioners from the first Chief Election Commissioner to the 26th Chief Election Commissioner, the first and second Chief Election Commissioners, Sukumar Sen and KVK Sundaram respectively, were awarded the Padma Vibhushan for their efficiency; the third Chief Election Commissioner, S P Sen Verma, is remembered for his excellent election management; the fourth Chief Election Commissioner, Nagendra Singh, became the President of the International Court of Justice and India’s representative in the United Nations due to his efficient and impartial administration; the tenure of the fifth and sixth Chief Election Commissioners, T Swaminathan and SL Shakdhar, was excellent and undisputed; the seventh Chief Election Commissioner, Ramakrishna Trivedi, was later made the Governor of Gujarat; the eighth Chief Election Commissioner, RVS Peri Sastri, brought in many major reforms, including reducing the voting age to 18 years and moving towards introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and it was during his tenure that the Government made the Election Commission a three-member body from a single-member body.
The ninth Chief Election Commissioner, Smt VS Ramadevi, was later made the Governor of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh; the tenth Chief Election Commissioner, TN Seshan, known for his remarkable tenure, joined the Congress after retirement and contested elections from Gujarat; the eleventh Chief Election Commissioner, Dr MS Gill, directly joined the Congress and became a Minister; the Chief Election Commissioners from the 12th to the 24th were JM Lyngdoh, TS Krishna Murthy, BB Tandon, N Gopalaswami, Navin B Chawla, SY Quraishi, V Sundar Sampath, Hari Shankar Brahma, Nasim Zaidi, Achal K Joti, OP Rawat, Sunil Arora, and Sushil Chandra, who remained free from any major controversy. The 25th and 26th Chief Election Commissioners, Rajiv Kumar and Gyanesh Kumar respectively, remained the target of the Opposition political parties.
After retirement, many Chief Election Commissioners got directly associated with political parties and were appointed as Ministers, Governors, or to positions in other Government institutions, which gave a jolt to the power and pride of the Election Commission. In the era of the battle of elections, the country also witnessed hooliganism of bullet-wielding musclemen and the robbery of ballot boxes. There used to be queues of voters, voting used to be completed, and during the counting of votes, the mess of counting ballot papers from one bundle to another was a common thing.
Despite all this, trust in the fairness of the Election Commission and the electoral system remained more or less intact. After 1977, the Election Commission’s responsibilities and accountability increased enormously as elections to most of the State Legislative Assemblies were held separately from the Lok Sabha. India, which had more than 17 crore voters in the 1952 elections, has become a country of around 100 crore voters in 2025; there are 11 lakh polling centres from 2,50,000 polling centres in 1952. Ballot papers printed on lakhs of reams of paper, lakhs of ballot boxes, more than three lakh ink packets, lakhs of stamps have been replaced by more than 55 lakh EVM-VVPAT machines.
The limited rights and administrative power of the Election Commission have increased with the passage of time. As soon as elections are announced, the control of the local administration comes into the hands of the Election Commission.The “confused chicanery” to raise questions and uproar over the Election Commission started after the 2014 elections.
The Congress, which called itself the natural party of power for more than five decades, could not digest the fact that for the first time after Independence, a non-Congress Government had entered into its third consecutive term at the Centre, setting records of good governance and success on all fronts with stability and credibility. This is the reason behind the frustration and bitterness of the “feudal clan”. The “Congress’ cunning character” is “power for family and creating a tower of trouble for others.” In the 1952 general elections, the Congress got 364 seats and 45 per cent votes out of 489 seats; in 1957 it got 371 seats and 48 per cent votes; in 1962 it got 361 seats and 45 per cent votes; in 1967 the Congress got 283 seats and 41 per cent votes out of 520 Lok Sabha seats; in 1971 it got 352 seats and 44 per cent votes; in 1980 it got 353 seats and 42 per cent votes; in 1984 it got 414 seats and 48 per cent votes.
But the Opposition never questioned the bumper seats and monumental mandate received by the Congress; the Opposition never said that the Government was formed by dishonesty or vote theft, even though the Congress appointed some Chief Election Commissioners, after their retirement, as Union Ministers, Governors, and to positions in different Government institutions.
The Opposition never questioned the impartiality or credibility of the Election Commission; all the Opposition political parties accepted and saluted the people’s mandate. The country has also been a witness to the period when the Congress, “the Grand Old Party of India”, which considered itself the natural party of power in the general elections in 1989, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024, shrank across the country due to its craze to become “feudal without fiefdom, landlord without land”.
On the other hand, the BJP alone secured 282 seats and 38 per cent votes in 2014; 303 seats and 38 per cent votes in 2019; and 240 seats and 37 per cent votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and entered its third term under the effective leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi without “the support or remote of the Congress”. Under “their depression of defeat”, the Congress is engaged in a conspiracy to convert the people’s mandate into a flaw of the election process and has become a “rowdy of ruckus” and “champion of chaos”.
Every election is a lesson and a message for political parties, no victory or defeat is permanent. In a democracy, the insanity of hijacking the power of the people’s mandate through arrogance and anarchy is harmful to democratic dignity.
Be humble in victory, gracious in defeat. Glamour of victory and grace in defeat are a part of vibrant democracy.
The writer is the Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Government of India