India, April 13 -- On the morning of April 9, the queues began forming before the sun had properly risen. Outside polling booths in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, people stood quietly, some with umbrellas, others with folded slips of paper, all waiting their turn. It wasn't noisy. This is Indian democracy in action. The Assembly elections underway are drawing huge crowds and voter turnout is setting new records.

No slogans, no spectacle. Just a steady, deliberate presence. By afternoon, the lines hadn't thinned. If anything, they grew longer. By evening, the numbers arrived. Assam had touched 85.91 per cent. Puducherry crossed 91 per cent. Kerala, never far behind its own standards, pushed past 78 per cent. They are just figures on paper,...