Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan or TN Seshan, the election commissioner of India who transformed the way polls were conducted and contested in the country passed away on Sunday night in Chennai. He was 86. Seshan played a key role in changing the way the poll body functioned, and was instrumental in implementing the model code of conduct to curb booth capturing and bogus voting which were considered normal before he took charge as the 10th Election Commissioner of India on 12 December, 1990.

The former civil servant remained at the top post till 11 December, 1996. During his six years in office, politics in India was undergoing a major change and coalition politics had just started to take shape. The tenure of Seshan was also interesting because it was during the early 1990s when caste and religion decided politics and elections. Before becoming the election commissioner, Seshan was the 18th cabinet secretary ofIndia.

"TN Seshan was an outstanding civil servant. He served India with utmost diligence and integrity. His efforts towards electoral reforms have made our democracy stronger and more participative. Pained by his demise. Om Shanti," tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During his term, Seshan witnessed implementation of the Mandal Commission, giving reservation to other backward classes (OBCs) in government jobs, demolition of Babri Masjid and the entire Ram Janamabhoomi movement. These developments dominated politics and elections in India for nearlya decade.

Born in the Palakkad district of Kerala on 15 December 1932,Seshan joined the Madras Christian College for a Bachelors degree in Physics.He joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1955. The former EC wasalso awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1996 for his contributionin government administration.

During his tenure, India had four prime ministers -- ChandraShekhar, PV Narsimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpyee and HD Deve Gowda. During thistime, the government introduced the concept of a three-member electioncommission headed by a chief election commissioner.

"TN Seshan has passed away in Chennai. He was myfather’s classmate at VictoriaCollege Palakkad — a courageous &crusty bosswho asserted the Election Commission’s autonomy& authority as no CEC beforehim had done. A pillar of our democracy," tweeted Shashi Tharoor, formerunion minister and senior leader of Congress.