| Abstract: | In the Indian political system, electoral reforms and political accountability are two inseparable terms, which is why it has not been fully studied and researched. With the largest democracy in the world still struggling to ensure that systemic issues such as criminalization of politics, secretive funding of their campaigns, loss of internal party democracy, and institutional limitations in electoral governance agencies, there is mounting pressure on the need to conduct wholesome and integrated reforms. The article is a critical reflection on the connection between the electoral reform activities and mechanisms of political accountability in modern India, especially in the context of recent developments such as the Election Commission Integrated Network (ECINET) digitalization, the One Nation, One Election initiative and the Constitutional 130th Amendment Bill (2025) on ministerial disqualification. This article presents an argument that any meaningful electoral reform needs to be anchored to institutional frameworks and emerging reform proposals through an analysis of the provisions of the constitution, institutional frameworks and emerging reform proposals with the aim of ensuring democratic integrity, the rule of law, and trust of the people in democracies. The article reports the most significant missing links between current frameworks and suggests a comprehensive reform agenda that steps up to incorporate electoral administration, transparency in campaign financing, criminal responsibility in political leadership and independence of electoral institutions. |
