Page 17 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Introduction

“ uch more important than the integration and

the standardisation of the constituent States of
Mthe Republic is the great democratic election
which is going to be held within a few months from now. It
would be unparalleled in the history of the world. I am sure
that it would awaken the sleeping giant of this country to
the consciousness of its great power and potentiality.
Need I express the hope that the adage “vox populi, vox
dei” would be remembered by you all when you cast your
votes and declare your choice. You have the power of
gods, and let me hope you would use it like gods”.

That was how India's first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad –
Page on Elections in the Illustrated Copy of the Constitution of India (1949)
in his Independence Day eve broadcast to the nation on
August 14, 1951 – exhorted the voters to exercise their This book “Leap of Faith: Journey of Indian Elections” is an
franchise in all sincerity and seriousness in the upcoming attempt to retrace the growth of representative
First General Elections (1951-52). His words reveal the institutions, voting rights, conduct of elections and
abiding confidence he had in the people of India to electoral reforms in India. While the first chapter deals
handle universal adult suffrage conferred upon them by with the development of representative institutions and
the Constitution. There were many others who kept their elections in pre-independent India., the rest of the
fingers crossed on the 'great experiment' of democracy in chapters trace the elections held after independence
a poorly literate and economically underdeveloped India under the Constitution of India and conducted by the
of the 1950s. The history of the last 70 years has Election Commission of India. In particular, the fifth
vindicated the implicit trust Dr. Rajendra Prasad and chapter focuses on the Seventeenth General Elections,
other founding fathers of the Constitution had 2019 whereas the sixth describes Legislative Assembly
demonstrated in the people of India. Elections held during the Pandemic in 2020-21 period.

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