Challenges to free and fair elections in India are as follows:
(i) Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
(ii) In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to secure a 'ticket' from major parties.
(iii) Some families tend to dominate the political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
(iv) Very often, elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens as both the major parties are similar to each other in their policies and practices.
(v) Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage as compared to the bigger parties.