An Undocumented Wonder by S Y Quraishi

Year First Published: 2014

Revised Edition: 2019

How to run the biggest festival in the world? The festival called the Indian Elections? An enormous number of hands and minds spearheaded by the Election Commission of India or the ECI, along with the SECs!

An Undocumented Wonder by former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi provides an insider's (in fact the top of the ladder) perspective about everything that makes the elections in India a global spectacle. The book covers everything from the grassroots and top-level initiatives, the responses to these initiatives and the controversies and court rulings about the initiatives. 

The major plus point of the book is that it addresses all aspects of some of the frequently discussed topics about elections like making the Model Code of Conduct a legal provision, the hiccups in the process and why it's best to leave it as it is. Various people, both heard and unheard are elaborated on their contribution to the election process

It is of utmost importance for a book that attempts to provide a peek in the complex world of elections to provide background information about the constitutional provisions of elections. The author has dedicated a significant portion of the first part of the book informing the reader about provisions of the Indian Constitution dealing with the conduct of elections. 

The author does not rush through the messages to be conveyed to the reader about the Indian elections, allocating sufficient pages for each topic and subtopic. The over 400 pages of the book justifies the messages of the author. 

+: Comprehensive coverage

+: Adequate elaboration on key issues

+: Sequential progress of contents

Rating: 9.4/10

Verdict: A possible Bible for Indian psephologists