Factors Responsible for Making Elections Democratic in India

The factors responsible for making elections democratic in India are as follows

Independent Election Commission (EC):

All of India’s elections are conducted and managed by an independent Election Commission of India (EC), an entity that can’t be influenced by any political party. The Independent Election Commission has a wide range of powers. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) heads the Election  Commission of India and is appointed by the President of India. Once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the President or the government. Apart from the chief election commissioner we have two election commissioners in the Election Commission.

The Wide–ranging powers of Election Commission of India: 

• From the announcement of elections to the declaration of results, The Election Commission has the power to make any choice and is in full control of the decisions
• The Election Commission implements the Model Code of Conduct for elections and has the power to punish a candidate or party if they violate any rule   
• The Election Commission can arrange the public authority to observe a few rules and to forestall use and abuse of executive ability to upgrade its opportunities to win elections or to transfer someone who is a government official
• During the election time frame, government officials work directly under the supervision of the Election Commission of India
• When election officials come to the opinion that polling was not fair in some booths or even an entire constituency, they have the power to order a repoll

Popular Participation 

Another way of checking the quality of the election process is to see whether people participate in it with enthusiasm or not.

Some facts about participation in India:

• Voter turnout figures typically indicate a lot of things about people’s participation in elections. The turnout will demonstrate the number of  citizens who are eligible and really cast their vote. In the course of the most recent fifty years, the turnout in North America and Europe has declined. In India, the turnout has either stayed stable or really gone up
• In India, the poor, illiterate, and the people belonging to the underprivileged part of the society are the majority voters. This is completely opposite to western democracies. For example: in the United States of America, the white and the rich people are the ones who vote in majority
• Common people in India attach a lot of importance to elections and feel that through elections, they can pressurize the political parties to adopt policies and programs favourable to them through elections
• The interest of voters in election-related activity(rallies) has been increasing over the years. During the 2004 elections, more than one-third of voters took part in campaign-related activities. More than half of the people identified themselves as being close to one or the other political parties. One out of every seven voters is a member of a political party

Acceptance of election outcome

One final test of the free and fair process of the election is in the outcome itself. If elections are not free or fair and the outcome always favours the powerful.

Challenges to free and 

• Money power: The parties with a  lot of money may enjoy an unfair advantage over the smaller and independent parties even if they may not be sure of their victory in the elections 
• Criminal connection: In certain parts of the nation, candidates with criminal associations have had the option to push others out of the discretionary race and to get a ticket from significant gatherings
• Dynastic politics: Some families who are present in the party disseminate tickets to their own family members rather than giving them to the deserving ones
• Party dominance: Independent candidates and smaller parties suffer huge disadvantages compared to bigger parties

Conclusion

India is a democratic country and elections are considered as the biggest festival of democracy. There are so many ways by which elections would be conducted in a democratic way. In our country, any person irrespective of his/her caste, religion, community, gender, language, status etc. is free to cast the vote for the candidate of his/her choice. No one can force/threaten a voter to cast his/her vote to a particular candidate. The Election Commission of India is an independent body which is responsible for conducting free and fair elections in India. This body can not be influenced by any political party.