India, Dec. 13 -- A democracy growing wiser

Fifty years of state elections have revealed a quiet but profound transformation in India's democracy. The Indian voter, once impatient and quick to punish, is now more deliberate, data-aware, and delivery-driven. Between 1975 and 1999, only 39.5 per cent of incumbent state governments were re-elected. From 2000 onwards, that figure has risen to nearly 50 per cent, according to Election Commission data.

This change is not simply political. It signals the rise of a new kind of citizenship - one that judges governance through tangible results rather than rhetoric. Increasingly, environmental performance, local welfare, and everyday sustainability are becoming decisive factors in voter behaviour....