ABSTRACT In this essay, we have a given a brief view about elections and politics inheriting criminalization. The failure of the Legislature to deliberately think over key issues, particularly criminalization in politics forms the fragment of introduction. A concise panorama about the misuse of authority, money power and muscle power escort the introducing lines. Besides, the essay entails the electoral reforms in India. The transformations in the same has been discussed such as the introduction of Electronic Voting Machine, lowering of voting age, deputation of Election Commission is included. The power of Election Commission accompanies the above lines in the essay. Further, the method of free and fair elections forms a part of it. The elections held at regular intervals, that is, after every five years forms a part of our democratic structure. Auxiliary, the next part deals with criminalization in politics leading to an unfair election. Few instances aiding such criminalization in politics add to it. Use of money power to win elections has also been discussed in this essay. The subsequent part enumerates the issues and challenges before the Election Commission. It also includes criminal charges against the politicians already holding their posts as the representatives of the government. At the end, a short assessment of the current situation is discussed. It entails the failure of our political structure together with a suggestive approach and the need for bringing more electoral reforms in the present system. Electoral Reforms in India: Issues and Challenges before the Election Commission INTRODUCTION “An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.” - George Bernard Shaw Electoral reform means introducing fair electoral systems for conducting fair elections. It also includes recuperation of the existing systems to enhance and increase the efficiency of the same. One of the most important features of our democratic structure is elections which are held at regular intervals. Free and fair elections are indispensable for a healthy democracy. India has an indirect form of democracy which implies that the government draws its authority from the “will of the people”. It is the citizens who have the sovereign power to elect the government and this government is responsible to the people who have elected them. But there are some shortcomings connected with this form of democracy which we have been carrying since long. The citizens who elect the representatives have no right to “recall or reject the representative” on the ground that they are unsatisfactory for their post unlike Switzerland, pursuing a direct form of democracy. They have the right to recall a representative elected by them if they are not competent to hold their office. But no such system exists in our country. Six decades ago, India opted for a Parliamentary democracy at the time of Independence. The term “Parliamentary democracy” implies that the sovereign power to elect the representatives vests with the citizens. But now the time has come to chew over the points that were we correct in opting for this form of democracy. We should not only blame the politicians alone but also “we the people of this country” because we too are some where responsible for the same. The first and the foremost task that is required to be done at this hour is the removal of three dreadful things, that is, money power, muscle power and the mafia power. Besides this, four C’s have also to be wiped off. This includes corruption, criminalization, casteism and communalism. After being elected as a representative of the government, politicians turn their deaf ear towards the citizens with the help of whom they were able to climb up to their chambers. But these are the topics still waiting in the queue to be taken into consideration. No one feels like giving their ear to it. We have a Parliament that does not discuss those issues which requires serious attention and debate. Just because we have elections every year, it does not mean that we have an effective democratic structure. We can compare this with other countries which attained freedom from colonial rule at the time when India achieved its Independence. The condition differs. It’s true that we have inaugurated a good democratic structure as compared to other developing nations but the recent observations shows that we are still lagging behind because of the intervention of criminalization in politics. Indian political system is deteriorating day-by-day due to various reasons like misuse of offices, money power, corrupt officials, etc. Politics is like a game. If you play well, you will keep on ascending and one day you will be certified as the Master of Politics. People today, consider this arena to be a dirty one and they usually don’t prefer intruding in the same. They regard it as a non-lucrative field. There was