NEW DELHI, April 22 -- The first general election in India was conducted in 1951-52. The election was conducted with the universal adult franchise in a country where 84% of people were illiterate with no experience in electoral politics. It was the biggest experiment in democracy in human history. No country had experimented with democracy with a universal adult franchise before. The US granted all its adult citizens the right to vote only in 1965, nearly 200 years after its independence. That was the proudest moment of independent India. The biggest upset was the defeat of Morarji Desai and BR Ambedkar from the Bombay Province, which demonstrated the power of the ballot.

Now, India is holding the general election for the 18th Lok Sabha ...