The Role of the Election Commission as a Guardian of Democracy | DAKSH Annual Lecture

DAKSH is excited to announce its Fourteenth Annual Constitution Day Lecture on 30 November 2025, at the Bangalore International Centre at 6:30 PM.

The guest speaker for the event is Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India.

Our Election Commission is responsible for conducting free and fair elections for over 900 million voters across a vast and diverse nation. Recent electoral cycles have raised questions about the Commission’s independence, impartiality, and ability to enforce the Model Code of Conduct uniformly. Questions about the preparation of voter rolls, the timing of rounds of elections and the handling of hate speech have sparked debates about whether this body is sufficiently insulated from executive influence. As we observe Constitution Day, it is crucial to examine how the framers envisioned the Election Commission and whether contemporary challenges require us to reimagine the institutional safeguards that protect the integrity of India’s electoral democracy.

About the Speaker:

Dr. S. Y. Quraishi is the former Chief Election Commissioner of India and was the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India from 30 July 2010. He previously held the position of Election Commissioner with the Election Commission of India.

Prior to joining the Commission, he was Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and Special Secretary (Health) & Director General of the National AIDS Control Organisation. Quraishi also pioneered India’s biggest AIDS awareness programme and IEC campaign, ‘Universities Talk AIDS’.

Dr. Quraishi has published a number of books and articles on issues related to democracy, elections, HIV AIDS and family planning, social marketing, women and child development and Youth. His book Social Marketing for Social Change (1998) broke new ground in the field of development communication. He is also the author of An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election (2014).

Dr. Quraishi was an International IDEA Board Member from 2012 to 2021.

Venue: Bangalore International Centre, 7, 4th Main Rd, 2 Stage, Domlur, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560071, India

Date: Sunday, November 30

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm