Page 9 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Message

Chief Election Commissioner of India

am extremely pleased to present the book This book is among a number of recent initiatives that the
“Leap of Faith: Journey of Indian Elections” to the Election Commission has undertaken to deepen the
I readers. I am sanguine that they will find it both discourse on democracy under the purview of the
edifying and engaging. Constitution. The exceptional scope and approach of the
book demanded that there should be plurality of sources
Much has been written about democracy in India.
in research and writing.
However, comparatively less is available on the growth
and development of elections in a systematised manner. I compliment the team led by Shri Umesh Sinha,
This book seeks to redress that deficit. Elections have an Secretary General- which includes author Priyadarshi
interesting history in India, as well as a promising future. Dutta and designers Shri Neeraj Sahai and Ms. Pallavi
They have evolved over time in terms of legal Sahai - for coming out with a finely balanced work that
architecture, technological innovation and sociological should reinforce everyone's pride in India's democracy.
principles like inclusiveness and accessibility. This book
traces that long journey of elections through eloquent
content and vivid photographs. The narrative extends to
the elections held for Legislative Assemblies of five
states/UT during the Pandemic in 2021 and promulgation
of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021. Sushil Chandra
Chief Election Commissioner of India
It was an immense leap of faith that independent India
took in implementing universal adult suffrage in the First
General Elections (1951-52). The faith stood us in good
stead, not only because of the sound electoral
management, but more importantly due to the innate faith
in democracy that common people of India possessed.

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