The phrase ‘’Free and Fair elections ‘’ is very common as it is on the lips of every one-the executive, legislature ,Judiciary ,press ,politicians and last but not least in the general population which is the real and supreme being to choose their political masters to rule for the common people .While the phrase free and fair elections is an attractive phrase but it is very necessary for the democracy and a successful government in a vibrant and dynamic democracy is not possible without holding a free and fair elections .The election commission of India has said it time and again that holding of free and fair elections is its responsibility and for the current general elections, there is enormous need for holding a free and fair elections so that the real masters of a democracy will get an opportunity to vote feely and fairly to give themselves a most representative and transparent government and so it should be the objective and aim of the government to ensure that free and fair elections are held to choose a government of their choice .The phrase of free and fair elections should be implemented on the ground and thus it should be made practicable in the real electioneering so that the people who are the real masters of a democracy are given the opportunity to elect the government of their choice and this depends on the free and fair elections .
The money power and muscle power should not be tolerated in the elections while the fact is that in Indian politics there is the interplay of caste, money power and muscle power in elections and thus it should be the duty and responsibility of the government and all the stakeholders as well as the people to ensure that elections are held in free and fair manner and the chances of rigging in elections are reduced and in fact abolished and this will be the test of the resilience of the Indian democracy .In the electoral democracy there is no scope for the lung power ,money power and fraudulent and corrupt practices but it is unfortunate that our elections are sometimes marred by these evil practices and all this coupled with the government’s over indulging into exploitative practices turns the elections into ill actions and this is a big drawback of our electoral system and multiparty system .At the outset let us define free and fair elections .
A free and fair election is defined by political scientist Robert Dehi as an election in which coercion is comparatively uncommon. A free and fair election involves political freedoms and fair processes leading to the vote ,a fair count of eligible voters who cast a ballot ( including such aspects as electoral fraud or voter suppression) and acceptance of election results by all parties .An election may partially meet international standards for free and fair elections or may meet some standards but not others .The election commission and governments time and again in every election declare that elections will be conducted freely and fairly but in actual practice it will have to be seen how for the elections in Indian democracy were free and fair .It has become a habit and fashion of the opposition parties to decry the elections and label them far from free and fair and in majority of cases the elections in India are conducted freely and fairly ,thus giving the electoral democracy a just and good name .But is very paradoxical that the opposition parties blindly criticize every election from Panchayat to parliament and label them devoid of being free and fair and it is the big dichotomy that in our country all most all elections are labeled as rigged ,but it is far from truth and there are no takers of this myopic view of the opposition parties .
Free and fair election includes many factors which are given as under .A 2016 study evaluated ten dimensions of the conduct of electiuons between 1975 -2011. 1-Legal framework ( whether there was a constitutional right of citizens to vote and seek office ,whether elections were held at regular intervals and if election related laws were not changed immediately before an election).’’2—electroal management if gerrymandering occurred and if election management bodies ,if they existed ,were independent ,impartial and accountable.3—electroal rights( whether citizens were generally able to vote on the basis of equal suffrage and access),4—Voter registers if they were accurate ,current ,and open to voters for easy and effective voter registration.5-Nomination rules /ballot access( whether candidates had in practice a right to compete in the election ,with rejections of candidate applications being based on ‘’ internationally recognizable and acceptable norms and with no candidate receiving more than 75% of the votes ,a signal of malpractice or election boycotts.)6-Campaign process(if elections were carried out without violence ,intimidation ,bribery (vote buying) ,use of government resources to advantage the incumbent ,or a massive financial advantages for the incumbent).7-Media access ( whether freedom of speech was protected and if the ruling party was disproportionately benefitted by the government owned media).8-Voting process (Whether elections were conducted by secret ballot on one person one vote basis ,with adequate security to protect voters and protection against ballot box stuffing ,multiple voting ,destruction of valid ballots and other forms of manipulation).9=Role of officials-(Whether the election was administered with adequately trained personnel ,free from campaigning or intimidation at polling stations and with the ability of international election observers and party representatives to observe polling places) and 10-Counting of votes (if the votes were tabulated transparently and free of fraud or tampering).Election subversion can involve a range of measures to change the outcome of a vote ,including voter suppression ,election denial ,disinformation ,intimidation and other legal or illegal attempts to not count or disqualify certain votes.
There should be no authoritarianism ,democratic backsliding ,election interference ,electoral fraud, Fascism ,unfair election and voter suppression .Elections are a central feature of democracy .For elections to express the will of the electorate ,they must be free and fair. ’Free’ means that all those entitled to vote have the right to be registered and to vote and must be free to make their choice .An election is considered free when you can decide whether or not to vote and vote freely for the candidate or party of your choice without fear or intimidation .A free election is also one where you are confident that you vote for remains your secret .
Fair means that all registered political parties have equal right to contest the elections ,campaign for voter support and hold meetings and rallies .This gives them a fair chance to convince voters to vote for them .A fair election is also one in which all voters have equal opportunity to register ,where votes are counted and where the announced results reflect the actual vote totals .In short in our democracy there should be free and fair elections so that the voters can freely and fairly vote for the candidates and party of their choice and thus form the democratic government of their choice.

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