Between 30-60% of India’s population use facilities for defecation, with most sanitation infrastructure development occurring over the past two decades. Sanitation is the responsibility of the states under India’s Constitution. Yet political activity for sanitation is observed in each governmental role – prime minister, president, supreme court, state legislatures, congress, and bureaucracy. Recently, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was elected into office in May 2014 has been utilizing a political campaign for “Not temples, but toilets” during and continuing after his election. In a recent Times of India news article, Congress reportedly critiqued Prime Minister Modi for claiming sanitation improvements as his own political agenda, while failing to recognize the momentum for sanitation that other political institutions had created. Does it matter which political institutions are supporting sanitation? How does authority over sanitation differ among government roles? Finally, how do elected officials control implementation by non-elected government officials?