New Delhi, May 8 -- Concerns about the direction of electoral politics in India's democracy often emerge in moments of visible political shift, such as recent outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, two of the larger and politically important states. The discomfort is usually not about who wins, but about how electoral mandates are constructed, whether through governance debate or through identity-driven mobilisation.

At the core of this debate is the constitutional promise of the Constitution of India, which guarantees universal adult franchise while also expecting elections to remain free from coercion, intimidation, and identity-based appeals. The tension lies not in the principle of democracy, but in the evolving mechanisms through w...