| dc.description | India, the second most populous country in the world, has coined terms like "Tamasha" or
"Carnival" because of the large number of voters. In a country of over a billion people, 714
million voters will decide who will lead the world's largest democracy in the next five years.
More than 5,400 candidates from 230 political parties took part in the 2004 elections. In 2009,
approximately the same number of candidates will run for parliament. Electoral candidates win
votes promising reforms such as better governance, social and economic equality, and greater
efforts to reduce poverty. However, corrupt politicians with a criminal record, caste and
religious politics, and allegations of vote buying are damaging the democratic process. At the
same time, the coalition politics of the past 20 years, although more inclusive, have also given
small parties an outside force that they use to carry out their short-term plans. Indian historian
Ramachandra Guha, in his book India After Gandhi, argued that the country was "only 50%
democratic" with stable elections, but we "did a good job of what politicians and political
institutions did." Not enough." | en_US |
