An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.[1] Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century.[1] Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations....Election is the real participation of people in democracy, where the people participate in direct way to form in government. Election is not only a process where people go on cast his vote, though it is a festival of democracy system. Democracy depend on people, people depend on election there they elected his representative to parliament or government. Government needs to go with election for taking fresh memorandum through people of his country. Election shows the country is rule by the people of that country. Whenever government need for a fresh new term of his government they will go for election. Election is a power of government also a power of people.
The dominance of the Indian National Congress was broken for the first time in 1977, with the defeat of the party led by Indira Gandhi, by an unlikely coalition of all the major other parties, which protested against the imposition of a controversial Emergency from 1975–1977. A similar coalition, led by VP Singh was swept to power in 1989 in the wake of major allegations of corruption against the incumbent Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. It, too, lost its steam in 1990.
In 1992, the heretofore one-party-dominant politics in India gave way to a coalition system wherein no single party can expect to achieve a majority in the Parliament to form a government, but rather has to depend on a process of coalition building with other parties to form a block and claim a majority to be invited to form the government. This has been a consequence of strong regional parties which ride on the back of regional aspirations.
While parties like the TDP and the DMK had traditionally been strong regional contenders, the 1990s saw the emergence of other regional players such as the Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Janata Dal. These parties are traditionally based on regional aspirations, e.g. Telangana Rashtra Samithi or are strongly influenced by caste considerations, e.g. Bahujan Samaj Party which claims to represent the Dalits.
Presently, the outgoing United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress Party is in power and parliament is in process of dissolution post Indian general election, 2014, while the National Democratic Alliance the prime opposition is set to form the Government.
In recent polls of 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party has achieved the simple majority on its own with securing 282 seats and their alliance NDA has secured 335 seats. Narendra Modi widely recognized as a strong leader with economic developmental focus is set to be the next Prime Minister..............................................................................
The Parliament of India comprises the head of state and the two Houses which are the legislature.indian electoral system.
The President of India is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of members of federal and state legislatures.
The House of the People (Lok Sabha) represents citizens of India (as envisaged by the Constitution of India, currently the members of Lok Sabha are 545, out of which 543 are elected for 5-year term and 2 members represent the Anglo-Indian community). The 545 members are elected under the plurality ('first past the post') electoral system.[8] Council of States (Rajya Sabha) has 245 members, 233 members elected for a six-year term, with one-third retiring every two years. The members are indirectly elected, this being achieved by the votes of legislators in the state and union (federal) territories. The elected members are chosen under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. The twelve nominated members are usually an eclectic mix of eminent artists (including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists and common people .
Electoral Process in India takes at least a month for state assembly elections with the duration increasing further for the General Elections. Publishing of electoral rolls is a key process that happens before the elections and is vital for the conduct of elections in India. The Indian Constitution sets the eligibility of an individual for voting. Any person who is a citizen of India and above 18 years of age is eligible to enroll as a voter in the electoral rolls. It is the responsibility of the eligible voters to enroll their names. Normally, voter registrations are allowed latest one week prior to the last date for nomination of candidates.Government’s expenditure in Elections
Government’s expenditure on an elector has gone up to twenty times from the first General Elections to the Fifteenth General Elections. In the first elections, the Government spent Rs 0.60 on an elector whereas it went on spending Rs 12 in 2009 General Elections. Considering expenditure in absolute terms, Rs 10.45 Crore were spent in 1951-52 whereas Rs 846.67 Crore was the amount the Government spent for 2009 General Elections.Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system (VVPAT)
The Government of India, via notification, dated 14 August 2013, has amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, enabling the Election Commission of India to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system (VVPAT) with the Electronic Voting Machines.The Election Commission of India has decided to use the VVPAT system at the By-election for 51 Noksen Assembly Constituency of Nagaland.[11] Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system is introduced in 8 of 543 parliamentary constituencies as a pilot project in Indian general election, 2014.[12][13][14][15] VVPAT is implemented in Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Jadavpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib and Mizoram constituencies. Generated slip tells voter to which party or candidate vote has been given and also includes name of voter, constituency and polling booth.Pre elections
At first before the elections the dates of nomination, polling and counting takes place. The model code of conduct comes in force from the day the dates are announced. No party is allowed to use the government resources for campaigning. The code of conduct stipulates that campaigning be stopped 48 hours prior to end of polling.Voting day
Government schools and colleges are chosen as polling stations. The Collector of each district is in charge of polling. Government employees are employed to many of the polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being increasingly used instead of ballot boxes to prevent election fraud via booth capturing, which is heavily prevalent in certain parts of India. An indelible ink is applied usually on the left index finger of the voter as an indicator that the voter has cast his vote. This practice has been followed since the 1962 general elections to prevent a bad vote."None of the above" voting option (Negative Vote)
"None of the above" is a proposed voting option in India that would allow voters who support none of the candidates available to them to register an official vote of "none of the above", which is not currently allowed under India election regulation.[27] The Election Commission of India told the Supreme Court in 2009 that it wished to offer the voter a None of the above button on voting machines; the government, however, has generally opposed this option.[28]
On September 27, 2013, Supreme Court of India pronounced a judgement that citizen's of India have Right to Negative Vote by exercising None of the above (NOTA) option in EVMs and ballot papers. The judgment was passed on a PIL filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, an NGO in 2009.[29][30][31] Election Commission has implemented this option of "None of the above" voting option in EVM machines w.e.f.five states polls starting from November 2013. However it does not mean that if 'NOTA' gets highest votes then election will be conducted again, rather even in that case, the candidate with the highest votes will be treated as elected candidate.[32]Post election
After the election day, the EVMs are stored in a strong room under heavy security. After the different phases of the elections are complete, a day is set to count the votes. The votes are tallied typically, the verdict is known within hours. The candidate who has mustered the most votes is declared the winner of the constituency.
The party or coalition that has won the most seats is invited by the President to form the new government. The coalition or party must prove its majority in the floor of the house (Lok Sabha) in a vote of confidence by obtaining a simple majority (minimum 50%) of the votes in the house.
Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of the adult suffrage. The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552, which is made up by election of up to 530 members to represent the States, up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President, if, in his/ her opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the lower house,Lok Sabha.
In 1952 Lok Sabha Elections there were 1874 candidates, which rose to 13952 candidates in 1996. However in 2009 Lok Sabha Elections only 8070 candidates contested.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body responsible for administering elections in India according to the rules and regulations mentioned in the Constitution. It was established on January 25, 1950 with the aim to define and control the process for elections conducted at various levels: parliament, state legislatures, and the offices of the president and vice president of India. In other words, the ECI ensures smooth and successful functioning of the democracy.

In its assigned role, the most crucial challenge before the Election Commission of India is to implement norms and the Model Code of Conduct to ensure free and fair elections in the country. Its existence and independence are necessitated by history, which has shown that democratic elections are not free from sabotage. Towards this end, it has been empowered to oversee political parties and candidates and take appropriate action in case of violations.
Structure

The secretariat of the commission has 300 officials, and is located in New Delhi. The deputy election commissioners and director generals are the senior-most officers in the secretariat. The President of India appoints the chief election commissioner, who serves for six years and must retire at the age of 65. The commissioner is generally a member of the Civil Services, and more often, of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) or the Indian Revenue Services (IRS). He can be removed from his office through the process of impeachment, which needs to be carried out in the parliament. The President of India can remove the other officers on the chief commissioner's recommendation.
• Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were introduced to improve reliability and efficiency.
• The website of the ECI was launched on February 28, 1998 to provide accurate information and instant results of the elections.
• Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) were issued in 1993 to prevent electoral fraud. From the 2004 elections, these were made mandatory.
• The Election Commission of India is considered the custodian of free and fair elections.
• It issues the Model Code of Conduct in every election for political parties and candidates so that the dignity of democracy is maintained.
• It regulates political parties and registers them for being eligible to contest elections.
• It publishes the limits of campaign expenditure per candidate allowed to the political parties, and also monitors the same.
• The political parties must submit their annual reports to the ECI for getting tax benefit on contributions.
• It ensures that all the political parties regularly submit their audited financial reports.
• The commission can suppress the results of opinion polls if it deems such an action fit for the cause of democracy.
• The commission can advise for disqualification of members after the elections if it thinks they have violated certain guidelines.
• In case a candidate is found guilty of corrupt practices in elections, the Supreme Court and high courts consult the commission.
• The commission can suspend candidates who fail to submit their election expense accounts timely.