Some 150 million Indians going to the polls to pick their REPRESENTATIVES in the Federal and State legislatures is a majestic and unparalleled exercise of democracy which rightly evokes the ADMIRATION and respect of the rest of the world. But how far this exercise is carried out according to the prescribed rules is increasingly turning out to be quite a different story. The Representation of the People Act has laid down a strict code of electoral conduct to ensure that no extraneous influence is brought to bear on the voter in the free exercise of his franchise and also to give every Indian an equal opportunity to contest an election if he (or she) so wishes. Some of these rules, however, are so much more Utopian than realistic they have come to be more honoured in the breach than the observance. For instance, the rule about how much a candidate can spend on electioneering — Rs. 9.000 for a State legislature constituency (in Tamil Nadu) and Rs. 25.000 for a Parliamentary constituency — is so unrealistic CONSIDERING the size of constituencies and the shortness of the distance that a rupee GOES these days, it is an open invitation to candidates to circumvent it by getting money spent through other channels. There are MANY such rules which are similarly broken in practically every election that takes place.