It is very interesting to follow up the Indian parliamentary elections that started in India in the middle of last month and shall come to a close in a few days' time. India is the largest democracy in the world. It is a democracy that became strong in spite of the very complicated prevailing conditions that makes it very difficult to have a stable political system.

India is considered the largest democracy in the world as its population represents the sixth of the world population and the number of Indian voters reached more than 700 million, which is three times as much as the number of voters in the US elections. The Indian people managed to construct this democracy against a backdrop of very complicated conditions. There were very complicated social and cultural problems in a country that suffered for long from backwardness and abject poverty.

In his book about the US, India and Pakistan, Norman Brown said that India was never united except at times when it was invaded by foreigners. There is social rigidity in the country that was preventing any natural change which is the feature of any democratic society not to mention the linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity there. Moreover, the regional conditions were not favorable at the time India got its independence for the establishment of a democratic system. That is why the future of democracy in the country seemed to be risky. A large number of specialists believed that democracy will go to the wind after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. Yet, Nehru insisted that his country is qualified to have a more democratic political system.

History proved that he was farsighted. A few scientists, including Morris Jones, realized the peculiarity of the Indian society. In his pioneering study about the parliament in India issued in 1957, he stressed the importance of the non-political elements in the formation of the Indian political system. Thus, Jones was more qualified to understand Nehru's political discourse. He said that Indians practiced some forms of democracy over the history on a small scale in villages and towns. Democratic practices have accumulated in India and Nehru managed to use them as a foundation for building a modern democracy. This was not an easy task anyways. The first election was held in India in 1951. The current election is the 15^{th elections in India. It has become an exemplar of elections worldwide.}

The Indian experience is full of lessons that are useful for us in Egypt and in the Arab world. The Indian Election Commission is one of the most important features of the Indian experience. The number of voters in India reached 714 million and they cast their votes in more than 800000 voting stations. Logically speaking, this experience shall be more successful on a smaller geographical, demographical and political scale, as is the case in Egypt. Thus the Indian democracy remains rich and inspiring in spite of the problems facing it such as the terrorism of the Maoist rebels in some eastern provinces, the weak participation of the members of the Middle Class and the influence of the poor brackets of the society by local elements and social services more than political programs and democratic dialogue.