( MENAFN - The Conversation) This year's general election in India arguably brought up more questions about the fairness of the electoral process than any other in the country's history. For example, in December, a bill was passed in India's parliament that allowed election commissioners to be appointed by a panel dominated by the executive branch, which many feared would endanger free and fair elections. And during the campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a string of speeches that were widely seen as Islamophobic , in which he accused the opposition congress Party of favouring Muslims.
The Election Commission failed to adequately enforce the Model Code of Conduct when it came to these comments. Opposition chief ministers , Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), meanwhile, were arrested on charges of corruption. Both parties claimed the charges were politically motivated.
One of the lessons from the election, however, is that even when there are questions about how free and fair a vote is, opposition parties can dent the dominance of ruling parties. In India's election, the opposition presented a united front and stuck to a consistent message reflecting specific issues of voter discontent. Read more: With democracy under threat in Narendra Modi's India, how free and fair will this year's election be? Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party did not perform as well as expected in the election, suffering major losses in its he.