Page 27 - Leap of Faith Vol - 2

Long Road to Democracy “ Chapter 1

“ Subhas Chandra Bose
Democracy is by no means a Western institution, it is a
human institution. Wherever man has attempted to
evolve political institutions, he has hit upon this
wonderful institution called democracy.

Maharashtra Provincial Conference, Pune
May 3, 1928

(An extract om the Government of India Act, 1919)

From this time onwards, one finds a number of election
guides being published to explain the subject to
candidates, electors and officials. These include titles like
Indian Election Guide published by the Indian Civil Services,
Indian Electioneering by E.L.L. Hammond, Nirvachan Niyam
(in Hindi) by Dayashankar Dubey et al, Indian Candidate and
Returning Officer by E.L.L. Hammond (with a Foreword by
Edwin S. Montagu) that appeared between 1920 and 1923.
Corrupt practices like bribery, inducement, threat and
impersonation, etc were common in elections. India's first
election related law viz. Indian Election Offences and
Inquiries Act, 1920 (Act 39 of 1920) was promulgated on
September 14, 1920. Aimed at combating the evils of
impersonation, bribery, mayhem and misrepresentation,
its provisions were incorporated into the Indian Penal
Code, 1860 as Chapter IXA.

The qualification for electors varied across the provinces.
It was mostly based on property rights, which led to
Nirvachan Niyam (1926)- An election guide in Hindi
published om Vrindavan (United Provinces)

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