This deeply meaningful picture from the Karnataka Elections 2018 encapsulates exactly why democracy is the greatest equaliser

While we're seeing Karnataka head to the polls en masse in a remarkable expression of democracy and equality, in the grand scheme of things, it's not long ago that matters were completely different!

In millennia worth of Indian history, it is only in the last seven decades that leaders and representatives have been chosen because of the will of the people. Before that, the majority of Indians were ruled by kings, queens, sultans, nawabs, princes and other monarchs (including the British crown!)

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However, while 'royalty' as it were has been abolished, on Saturday we've witnessed a 'maharaja' come out into the heat, stand in line like everyone else, and cast his vote, which counts just as much as anyone else's, for whichever candidate he chooses:

That 'maharaja' is the 26-year-old Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the 27th maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore!

The Karnataka Assembly elections come at a critical time in Indian politics, a year to go before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and a year after perhaps the BJP's biggest electoral achievement -- the stellar win in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Given that the last major win for the Opposition was in the Bihar elections in 2015 and Karnataka is the last large state, apart from Punjab, to be held by the Congress, it presents the BJP with a chance to go further than anybody ever has in making a 'Congress mukt Bharat', as has been party president Amit Shah's goal. Follow the Karnataka Elections in-depth here.

Follow non-stop coverage, the quickest breaking updates and the most engrossing stories from the critical Karnataka Assembly elections in our LIVE blog, and watch the election unfold on Republic TV, here.

WATCH | Whether Or Not The Political Leaders Have Performed, We Know These Two Voters In The Karnataka Elections Have!