The juggernaut has started rolling. The extravaganza that is the Indian Elections, is currently underway in India. In fact, the Election Commission of India, the nodal body for holding and managing elections in India declared the dates a few days back only, and the model code of conduct has already kicked in. The Preamble to Constitution of India declares India to be a "sovereign, secular, socialist, democratic Republic". Thus, the Republic of India has this periodic trysts with democratic process, that promise to keep us sovereign, secular and in line with the socialist ideals.

India has a bicameral legislature. This means that there are two "houses" of legislature, the upper(called the Rajya Sabha) and the lower(called the Lok Sabha). The 2009 elections are for the lower house, i.e., the Lok Sabha. The elected members are called the Members of the Parliament (or MPs). The MPs for the Lok Sabha are directly elected through popular votes. The Rajya Sabha members are chosen indirectly.

India is a huge country in every term of the word. Just have a look at these numbers, and you will get a sense of the mindnumbing responsibility of the Election Commission to hold free and fair elections.

• A population of 1.2 billion people is spread over 28 states and 7 Union Territories. That is an area of approximately 2.97 million square kms.
• Of this population, approximately 720 million people are eligible to vote for the Elections of 2009! It is an increase of about 45 million from the last polls.
• Polling to be done in 828,804 polling stations/booths across the country (One polling station in Gir, Gujarat is scheduled to cater to only one voter, who is priest in a temple in the middle of the National Lion Sanctuary!).

• The election exercise to be overseen by more than 5 million civilian officials and 2 million security personnel.
• The elections to be held in 5 phases from April 16 to May 13, 2009. Results will be declared on May 16, 2009.
• Elections to be held for all the 543 parliamentary constituencies. In other words, 543 MPs are to be elected.

• Total official budget for the Elections 2009: Rs 1120 crores (US $ 225 millions). The actual expenditure by the parties and candidates is likely to be many times the official figure. Some "experts" estimate the total, actual figure to be around Rs. 10,000 Crores ($ 2 billion).(Source).
• Electronic voting machines (EVM) to be used for the entire exercise. A total of 1.36 million such machines likely to be used.

In addition to these mind-numbing numbers, and the truly scary logistics that are a part and parcel of India, the Indian democracy in general, and Indian elections in particular, has to contend with some additional challenges. These are:

Voter Apathy: The single biggest stumbling block for Indian democracy. The Indian voter has gradually turned apathetic to the elctoral process, and all due to just reasons. The voter turnout hovers around 60%. The remaining 40% is also a huge number in the Indian context. If these people don't participate, then they have no say in the elections.

Fractured Polity: The Indian democracy is a multi party system. In the years before 1990, it was largely dominated by a single party, the Indian National Congress. Over the years, numerous regional parties have evolved. These parties do not have any say on an individual level, but they often combine together to form potent pressure groups. This often results in political blackmails and horse-trading.

Illegal and Unethical Influences: This is really a euphemism. Political parties across the board indulge in malpractices to gain advantage at the hustings. The party in power tries to influence the officials, others resort to money, favours and even muscle power. The Election Commission has really been battling against these nefarious practices and prescribes a rigorous code of conduct. Whether that code is strictly enforced, is a matter of debate.

Criminalization of Poiltics: This is the single most shameful and sad aspect of the Indian politics. Approximately 20% of the Members of Parliament in India face criminal charges in Courts of Law. Admittedly, some of these are political cases, yet the figure is way too high for comfort.. The people of India do not deserve this.

Murky Election Financing: As a matter of fact, it gets murkier and and murkier with each passing year. As pointed out, the elections are going to cost about Rs 10,000 Crores. Where is this money coming from? What are the sources of income for the political parties? A look at the accounts and Tax returns of the parties does not reveal anything at all. Admittedly, most of the money is coming out of the pockets of big businesses and corporates, who use the donations as a sort of investment.

As already mentioned, the makers of the constitution had envisioned a vibrant demeocracy for free India. Even though India gained freedom from the British, the leaders of our country were impressed enough by the political process of Great Britain to adopt the Westminster model of democracy. Over all these years, since 1947, India has kept up its tryst with democarcy in a very admirable manner. If you look closely, India is one of the very few nations outside of North America and Europe which have a truly representative democracy of any form. Even a cursory look at the neighbourhood of India (China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar etc) will show that democracy is really at premium. We do not realize this fact, especially since we have always lived in a democracy, with all the attendant benefits of freedom of speech, expression and profession. This also shows the tremendous will power of the people of India  to keep the democracy in place. Threrefore, the Indians are justifiably proud of this achievement.

Yet, there is lot of distance that we have to cover before we can claim to be truly democratic. In our enthusiasm, we often compare ourselves with other democracies. We say that we have the "largest democracy" vis a vis USA's "most vibrant" or the UK's "oldest democracy". I honestly believe that we have a lot of room to improve, before we can claim to be truly democratic. If democracy only means Universal Adult Franchise, then yes, we have it. If it means total participation of people in every aspect of governance, in every issue that affects them, and having a say in who will make the suitable laws for them, then we are not yet there. A true economic democracy still eludes the people of India.