Statement of Lok Raj Sangathan on the 2026 Assembly Elections
Another election, another round of promises — yet people’s hardships remain unchanged. Why? This statement examines the roots of the crisis and demands political transformation.
As the election campaign for state assemblies gathers momentum, once again the people are being told that this election will bring change, relief and a better future. Polling has already taken place in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on 9 April, while Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will vote later this month. The results are scheduled for 4 May.
Across these election states, the people are facing severe and chronic problems — rising prices, unemployment, insecure livelihoods, attacks on workers’ rights, agrarian distress, privatisation of essential services, deteriorating public health and education systems, and growing insecurity among youth, women and marginalised communities.
In Assam, people continue to grapple with unemployment, recurrent floods and erosion, agrarian distress, and anxieties surrounding citizenship, voter roll exclusions and identity-based politics.
In West Bengal, alongside rising prices and joblessness, people face deep concerns over political violence, corruption, insecurity of workers in the informal sector, and uncertainty caused by large-scale revisions of electoral rolls.
In Kerala, despite its stronger social indicators, youth unemployment, rising cost of living, migration pressures, and financial stress on public welfare systems remain major concerns.
In Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, people are confronting unemployment among educated youth, precarious work in the industrial and service sectors, water and urban infrastructure stress, and the rising burden of household expenses.
In Puducherry, concerns over livelihoods, tourism-linked employment instability, rising prices and limited economic opportunities continue to weigh heavily on ordinary families.
In cities such as Chennai, Guwahati and Kolkata, and in towns and villages across these states, ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet while a small privileged minority continues to accumulate wealth and power.
Yet the people have seen this cycle repeated again and again. Since 1947, different parties and alliances have come to power in these states and at the Centre. Governments have changed, faces have changed, slogans have changed, but the basic problems of the people have remained fundamentally the same. Every election is accompanied by promises, welfare sops, temporary concessions and grand declarations. But once the votes are counted, these promises are diluted, postponed, or taken away.
This is not merely a failure of one party or another. It points to a deeper and more fundamental problem — the political and electoral process itself.
The present electoral system has its origins in the colonial political order established by the British rulers, particularly with the Government of India Act of 1919. This Act introduced a structured system of elections to provincial and central legislative assemblies. In provinces such as Madras, Bengal, Bombay and Assam, elected legislative councils were created, though the Governor retained overriding powers. At the central level, a bicameral legislature was introduced with a Legislative Assembly and a Council of State, but real authority remained in the hands of the Viceroy and the colonial executive.
These elections were never meant to empower the people. The right to vote was restricted by property, tax, income and educational qualifications, which meant that only a small section of landlords, wealthy Indians, businessmen and professionals could participate. The vast majority of workers, peasants, women and poor people had no voting rights. Separate electorates and special representation for privileged interests further strengthened elite politics.
This system was designed to accommodate the interests of wealthy Indians within the colonial framework and to train political parties representing landlords and capitalists in the art of managing and defending an exploitative state structure. When colonial rule formally ended in 1947, universal adult franchise was introduced, but the basic Westminster parliamentary framework and party-dominated political structure were retained, leaving real decision-making power concentrated in the hands of a privileged minority. The people were granted the right to vote, but not the right to directly shape policy, hold elected representatives accountable between elections, recall them, or initiate laws in their own interest.
Thus, while elections create the appearance of people’s sovereignty, real decision-making continues to remain concentrated in the hands of political parties, corporate interests, bureaucratic elites and privileged classes. The people are reduced largely to voting once every few years, while policy is shaped by forces beyond their control.
This is why people repeatedly hope for change during elections, only to face disappointment afterwards.
Lok Raj Sangathan holds that what is required is not merely a change of government, but a fundamental transformation of the political process.
A genuinely democratic political system must place the people at the centre of decision-making. Such a transformed process must include:
- the right of the people to select candidates, instead of candidates being imposed by parties
- the right to recall elected representatives who violate their promises or act against public interest
- the right to initiate legislation and policy proposals
- mechanisms for continuous public consultation and decision-making, not merely periodic voting
- full transparency and accountability by elected representatives and governments
- an end to the domination of money, media and muscle power in elections
- institutions and mechanisms through which workers, peasants, women, youth and all sections of society can directly participate in decision-making
The time has come to move beyond a system that serves only the ruling elite. The people of our country must become the real decision-makers.
This election season must therefore become an occasion not merely to choose between parties, but to raise the demand for a new political process that truly vests power in the people.
