It’s amazing that Indian democracy works. I am not talking about the staggering figures of 714 million eligible voters in 543 constituencies with 828,000 polling stations and 1.36 million electronic voting machines, administered and protected by six million officials and security forces—statistics that are trotted out in awe by foreign correspondents every election to grab the attention of their news desks.
My point is, it is so surprising that the vast mass of India’s electorate tolerates this exercise and accepts the result, even though it will do them little good. Every five years, and sometimes more frequently, around 60% of those eligible troop into polling booths and vote for aspiring parliamentarians and politicians who are most unlikely to have any interest in improving their lot.