Instances of transgressions of law, especially by political leaders and their supporters, have been a visible part of elections in India. Election-related violence of varied kind, though considerably reduced over the years, still occurs. Blatant violence has become rare. A look at the evolution of electoral violence in India helps in understanding why and in what form election violence occurs and how the EC deals with it. Evidence suggests that this particular violence, while endemic in transitional states or nascent democracies, is not absent in long-standing democracies. However, as democracies get increasingly stable, violence declines or becomes sporadic – indicating institutional strengthening and a greater capability of polities to solve differences through institutional mechanisms non-violently. Violence then becomes confined to specific areas within democratic states where greater economic inequality and acrimonious social relations persist. In contexts of deep division, control over political power becomes a do-or-die situation, and here political incumbents and rivals (and, of course, their supporters) take recourse to violence during elections to change electoral outcomes. Elections are held and accepted because of their legitimate value among the larger public and international community, but violence is perpetrated to deal with insecurities of electoral outcome.

Election violence, as stated, is not unique to India but occurs in other democracies too. Institutional efforts, judicial overreach, initiatives by civil society, media coverage and international attention have done much to help reduce electoral violence and its intensity everywhere. However, in societies facing serious divisions, violence and intimidation related to elections are intense. In India the threat of violence is still considerably high in certain pockets such as J&K, parts of the north-eastern states and those with Maoist presence, making the organising of elections and electoral activity a big challenge here – the logistics of elections takes considerable energy and resources. Interestingly, in states like Bihar that were known for blatant election violence, it has considerably reduced.

Violence and Its Utility

Electoral violence is violence that is carried out to influence elections or electoral outcomes (Rapoport and Weinberg, 2000: 33; Hoglund, 2009: 415). This violence manifests itself both as physical attacks and intimidation of voters (Rapoport and Weinberg, 2000: 33; Hoglund, 2009: 417).