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 Election Commissioner (CEC), T.N. Seshan. The CEC, ironically, is tasked to ‘conduct’ elections, so who in his 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 the lengths he would go to prosecute his designated mandate. And the Supreme Court too did not find the order to be unlawful. Before Seshan came on the scene, the Election Commission was increasingly functioning as an appendage of the government. Over and above that, there was evidence that malpractice and lawlessness in elections were reaching alarming levels. If that trend were to continue then further down that track lay the ignominy of a banana republic and the danger of Balkanization.