India, April 22 -- On World Earth Day, the national conversation rightly turns to forests, rivers, air quality, waste and the climate crisis. But there is another institution that deserves to enter that conversation with urgency and seriousness: The election itself.

In India, democracy is not merely a constitutional process. It is a vast public exercise that moves millions of people, mobilises enormous administrative machinery and shapes the moral legitimacy of the state. Yet every election also leaves behind an environmental footprint that remains under examined in public policy. Plastic banners, vinyl flex, disposable campaign material, excessive paper use, fuel intensive mobilisation and post poll waste have too often been treated as ...