In the recently concluded Assembly elections, 116 million Indians spanning 690 electoral constituencies in five States exercised their voting rights. There were nearly 7,000 candidates belonging to 350 different political parties and 1,700 independent candidates in the fray across these five States. The sheer scale and plurality of Indian elections is often hailed as the most shining testament to the idea of a liberal democracy.
It is undeniable that India gets its rulers in accordance with the people’s wishes, the very tenet of a democratic ideal. The foundational premise of such a democratic exercise, as espoused by ancient philosophers, is the ‘free will’ of the people — that is, people must have the moral, social, intellectual and political freedom to choose their elected representative. Does India’s much vaunted electoral democracy truly represent the ‘free will’ of the people?
