One Billion Voices, One Vote: General Elections in India

Around 810 million voters will be deciding the course of future for the largest democracy in the world,  when India goes to polls this summer from April 7th till May 16th , 2014. With 50 % of its total voters being below the age of 30 years and close to a 100 million first-time voters, this general election is getting its share of media glare not only because of the huge numbers involved but also because of the issues like anti-corruption and rising middle-class activism. Elections in India, being the biggest exercise of the democratic rights of people, is not limited to being just that. An exercise. It is in fact a multi-faceted process with takes into account the social, political, economic as well as the cultural diversities that exist in the country. The purpose of the panel discussion is to delve upon issues related to Indian elections from these varying perspective and get insights from scholars of different fields of Indian politics in order to deepen our engagement as well as understanding of these various aspects which all happen simultaneously before, during and even after elections.