3 Review(s)

2 August 1993: A red-letter day for democracy in India On this day, elections were indefinitely postponed through an order issued by the Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC), T.N. Seshan. The CEC, ironically, is tasked to ‘conduct’ elections, so who inhis right mind would do such a thing in a democracy? Seshan had put everything on the line while signing that order. And it was an indication as to thelengths he would go to prosecute his designated mandate. And the Supreme Court too did not findthe order to be unlawful. Before Seshan came on the scene, the Election Commission was increasingly functioning as anappendage of the government. Over and above that, there was evidence that malpractice andlawlessness in elections were reaching alarming levels. If that trend were to continue then furtherdown that track lay the ignominy of a banana republic and the danger of Balkanization. Fearless to the core, in his autobiography, Through the Broken Glass, Seshan brings to light his yearsof struggles to usher in a new era of electoral reforms in India. Not the one to mince words andSeshan’s devil-may-care attitude and righteous self-awareness took even the Union governments bysurprise. Written by a person who never cowered to the high and mighty, the book gives a noholds-barred account of the man who revolutionized the electoral process. Thought-provoking and inspiring to the core, Through the Broken Glass is a testament to the gritand determination of the man who wagered a lone struggle to bring about a colossal change in theIndian electoral system.