The continued pursuit of the perfect election

Elections come and go in India with predictable regularity; largely and more predictable because a new legislature must be constituted before the house reaches the end of its term. Combined with the practice of bunching elections together for logistical efficiency, the timing of polls becomes no big mystery.

Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, announced earlier this month, stand apart as they follow the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has not only pared down electoral rolls but also added to the political tensions between the Opposition parties in power in these States and the party ruling at the Centre. But that is not all.

Work extraordinary, the scale and phases

Setting up elections across 2.19 lakh polling stations in four States and one Union Territory, including those in the farthest corners, is no easy task even for a country with 75 years of electoral democracy. For example, polling officials trek three hours in the challenging terrain of the Varusanad hills in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district to serve five electors at the Vellimalai polling station. In Kerala’s Idukki, officials have to travel through 30 kilometres of rugged off-road terrain, followed by an eight kilometre walk to reach the Edamalakuddy booth. Polling teams in Assam make it to the remote Dhanekhana polling station after a journey over nearly 60 km by ferry, road and crossing the Brahmaputra river.

Over 25 lakh election officials will serve a 17.4 crore electorate in these elections, making it one official for every 70 electors. The number includes 8.5 lakh security personnel and 49,000 micro observers. In the midst of doubts being raised over the neutrality of officials, Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act binds their allegiance solely to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Over 1,100 central observers have already moved to the Assembly constituencies to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

The ECI has also made — and is still making — sizeable changes among senior administrative and police officials with the objective of ensuring fair polls, even as State governments such as West Bengal have been severely critical of these moves. Ideally, someday, heightened civic responsibility should make the deployment of forces around polling stations and poll time shifting of officials redundant.

Efforts in recent years to complete polling in the fewest possible phases suggest maturing election management and better governance. Multiple phases are often been attributed to the availability and movement of security forces, required to safeguard the integrity of polls. Polling days in politically volatile West Bengal have been reduced to two phases — a significant reduction from the eight phases in 2021. This would be a confidence booster for election managers once concluded smoothly.

The four ‘M’ challenge

The ECI has said that these elections will be violence and inducement free. During the 2024 general election, the ECI had declared a war on the 4Ms — ‘Money’, ‘Muscle’, ‘Misinformation’ and ‘Model Code of Conduct (MCC)’ violations.

With strong security and practically indestructible electronic voting machines, elections in India have been largely free from open threats of muscle power; but polarised campaigns and the desperation of some political parties continue to pose challenges to the conduct of peaceful elections. West Bengal has a chequered history of election-related violence, especially acts of post-poll vengeance. The State has been on the radar of the ECI for several weeks now — the vulnerability should be lower, but fingers crossed. The ECI has ordered round-the-clock live webcasting of all polling stations.

Electoral inducements, in cash or kind, have long persisted in electoral politics irrespective of concerns being expressed in important fora from time to time, court observations and sporadic public debates. Electoral inducements now drive fierce political competition. Political parties and candidates have experienced the profitable effect of this malignant strategy. Cash transfers from governments to targeted groups just before the announcement of polls is routine — in these elections as well — with the ECI again clarifying that its ruling commences only after the MCC comes into force. Campaign freebies abound, and party manifestos often flout fiscal logic in a free-for-all manner. Moves by the Supreme Court of India and the ECI to rein in the ‘promise bazaar’ have made little headway.

Enforcement agencies monitor polling areas closely, aiming to catch bribes in action and tracking the inflow of cash, liquor, drugs, and other goodies including digital transactions. In the 2024 general election, the authorities seized over ₹10,000 crore worth of inducement material countrywide, almost three times the amount seized in 2019. Tamil Nadu, more than the other States, will be tested once again. In 2021, inducement material worth over ₹1,000 crore was seized in five States, almost half of it from Tamil Nadu. Specially constituted field units — 5,200 static surveillance teams and an equal number of flying squads — will be expected to deliver a stellar performance. Over ₹400 crore worth of illicit inducements have been seized in the first month.

Election managers have long faced offensive, misleading and inflammatory advertisements close to polling day, leaving little room for rebuttal. The ECI has now banned political advertisements in the print media on poll day and one day prior to poll day unless pre-certified. A voluntary code of ethics for social media platforms — to prevent spurious use — has been only moderately effective, so poll officials aim to hold candidates’ accounts more accountable for content and expenditure, tighten offline media regulation, and swiftly counter fake news and deepfakes on digital media.

The contests in 2021 in these States/Union Territory saw several violations of the model code, with appeals to caste, religion, sect, and ethnicity. In this election, Kerala’s multiethnic fabric and West Bengal’s majority-minority dynamics are under strain, which could intensify closer to polling day. Regulators will be closely watched, though some argue that all types of verbal assaults should fall under free speech rather than make a futile attempt at ensuring a balancing act.

These are four States and a Union Territory with a high degree of political awareness. These are also States and a Union Territory with a record of high voter turnout between 70% and 80%. The SIR process, which has removed absentee, shifted, and deceased voters, is expected to boost participation figures. Over the past one and a half decades, the ECI’s Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme has enhanced voter engagement. Collection of votes from the homes of electors over 85 years and persons with disabilities is a standout measure. Facility to deposit mobile phones at polling booths and ensuring colour photographs of candidates and larger font size on the EVM ballot are citizen-friendly innovations.

The duty of the voter

The voter’s task will be to protect the sacred character of his entitlement from the acid rain of political campaigning and to make a moral choice at the electoral booth. Voter education has to be directed towards developing a civic resistance against blaring insinuations and provocations. Politicians should not be allowed a free walk over the moral judgement of the citizen-voter by gifts of cash and kind or false promise, or falsification of opponents. Falling prey to fake and seasonal narratives is an insult to the power of the vote and the Constitution of India. Let the elections this summer be a win for India and its citizens in the four States and Union Territory. Even while candidates and political parties score their victories and defeats, let election managers derive satisfaction from yet another successful exercise.

Akshay Rout is a former Director General, Election Commission of India. The views expressed are personal

Published – March 31, 2026 12:16 am IST