Abstract: Scholars of democracy are of the opinion that one of the most significant features of a mature democratic polity is elections at regular intervals. In fact the elections constitute the signpost of democracy. India being one of the democratic countries has adopted parliamentary democracy in post-1947 era after partition and freedom from Britishers. The core ideas of the Indian constitution are bedrock of Indian democracy. The Indian democracy believes in the people and their political rights. It is in this context this article studies the importance of elections in representative and parliamentary democracy. It studies the importance of elections and the problems related to it. As free and fair elections are fundamental basis for success of any democracy. Thus various committees were formed and laws have been passed over the period of time for the mechanism of free and fair elections and to make them flawless, all these committees suggest reforming the electoral systems. This paper evaluates need, issues and challenges for electoral reforms in India.
