Chapter: Electoral Politics

By : S.Pandey
What makes an election democratic?

• Everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.

• Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some
real choice to the voters.

• Elections must be held regularly after every few years.

• The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.

• Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can
choose as they really wish.
System of elections in India :

General Election

• Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day
or within a few days.

By-election

• Sometimes election is held only for one constituency or two to fill the vacancy
caused by death or resignation of a member.

Electoral Constituencies

• The country is divided into different areas based on population for the purpose
of elections which are called electoral constituencies.

• For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies.
Reserved Constituencies

• Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Voter’s List

• The list of people who are eligible for voting is prepared by the Election
Commission of India before election.

• In India, all the citizens aged 18 years and above has the right to vote, regardless
of his or her caste, creed, colour, religion or gender.

Nomination of Candidates

• Anyone who can be a voter can also become a candidate in elections.

• However, minimum age of in order to be a candidate the minimum age is 25

years.
Election Campaign

• The campaigns take place for a two-week period between the announcement of
the final list of candidates and the date of polling.

Polling and Counting of Votes

• The final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote.
What Makes Elections in India Democratic?

Independent Election Commission

• In India, elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election
Commission (EC) which enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary
enjoys.
But once appointed, CEC is not answerable to the President or the government.

Acceptance of election outcome

• The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state
level.

• In India about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.

Challenges to free and fair elections in India

• 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.

• In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been
able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major
parties.
• Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the major
parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.

• Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage

compared to bigger parties.
Extra Q & A

1. What does the term rigging mean?

Answer: The term ‘rigging’ means fraud and malpractices indulged by a party
or candidate to increase its votes.
2. When does the by-election occur?
Answer: When any vacancy occurs due to death or resignation of a
candidate, election becomes necessary and it is known as by-election.
3. What is ‘Defection?
 Answer: Changing party allegiance from the party for which a person got
elected to a different party is called ‘Defection’.
4. What is mid-term election?
Answer: If the Lok Sabha or any State Legislative Assembly is dissolved
before the expiry of its normal term, the election held to constitute a new
House is known as mid-term election.
5. What is election petition?
Answer: If any candidate or voter feels that election in his constituency has
not been held properly or if he has any objection against the result he can
file an election petition in the court.
6. What are Electoral Constituencies?
Answer: The country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections.
These areas are called electoral constituencies.
7. How many seats are reserved for SC & ST in Lok Sabha?
Answer: Currently in the Lok Sabha 79 seats are reserved for the scheduled
caste and 41 for the scheduled tribe.
8. What do you mean by ‘Turn out’.
Answer: Turnout indicates the percent of eligible voters who actually caste
their vote.
9. How is division of constituencies done at the state level?
Answer: (i) Each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly
constituencies on the basis of their population size.
(ii) In this case, the elected representative is called Member of Legislative
Assembly or an MLA.
(iii) Each parliamentary constituency has several assembly constituencies
within it.
10. Do people have real choice in a democratic election?
Answer: (i) In a democratic election, people should have real choice. This
happens only when there are almost no restrictions on anyone to contest
elections. This is what our system provides.
(ii) Anyone who can be a voter, can also become a candidate in elections and
therefore can contest elections.
(iii) The only difference is that in order to be a candidate, the minimum age
is 25 years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter.
11. What is a Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns?
Answer: (i) No party or candidate can use any place of worship for election
propaganda.
 (ii) No party or candidate can use government vehicles, aircraft and officials
for elections.
(iii) Once elections are announced, ministers shall not lay foundation stones
of any projects, take any big policy decision or make any promises of
providing public facilities.
12. What does booth capturing and rigging mean in the elections?
Answer:(i) Booth capturing: Supporters or hired musclemen of party or a
candidate gain physical control of a polling booth and cast false votes by
threatening everyone or by preventing genuine voters from reaching the
polling booth. (ii) Rigging: Fraud and malpractices indulged by a party or
candidate to increase his votes. It includes stuffing ballot boxes by a few
persons using the votes of others; recording multiple votes by the same
person; and bribing polling officers to favour a candidate.
13. What are the merits and demerits of an electoral competition?
Answer: Merits:
(i) In an ideal world, all political leaders know what is good for the people
and are motivated only by a desire to serve them.
(ii) Our constitution makers opted for free competition in elections as the
way to select our future leaders, because this system works better in the
long run. (iii) Political leaders are motivated by a desire to advance in their
political careers. They want to remain in power or get power and position
for themselves for which, they can compete with other political parties.
Demerits:
(i) An electoral competition creates a sense of disunity and
factionalism in every locality.
(ii) Different political parties and leaders often level allegations
against one another.
(iii) Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections.
14. How does a party file a nomination for its candidate?
Answer: (i) In order to be a candidate, the minimum age is 25 years.
(ii) Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and
support.
(iii) Party’s nomination is often called a party ‘ticket’.
(iv) Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a ‘nomination
form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’. If the information provided
is not correct, the nomination can be cancelled and the security deposit is
returned.
15. Who organises the election procedure in India?
Answer: (i) In India, elections are conducted by an independent and very
powerful Election Commission (EC).
(ii) It enjoys independence like the judiciary of our country.
(iii) The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of
India. But once appointed, the CEC is not answerable to the President or the
government.
(iv) Even if the ruling party or the government does not like what the
Commission does, it is virtually impossible for them to remove the CEC.
(a) What is ballot paper?
(b) Name the machine by which these papers have been replaced.
(c) Why is there no educational qualification required for the
candidates for contesting election?
Answer:(a) A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the
contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed. The
voters put a stamp on the name of the candidate whom they want to elect.
(b) Nowadays Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are used instead of ballot
papers.
(c) The relevant qualification for being an MLA or an MP is the ability to
understand people’s concerns, problems and to represent their interests.
Educational qualification is not relevant to them. Fixed educational
qualification will deprive a large section of people to contest election.
16. Are elections in India ‘free and fair’?
Answer: Elections in India are basically free and fair. The party that wins an
election and forms government does so because people have chosen it
once. A few candidates may win on the basis of money power and unfair
means. But the overall verdict of a general election still reflects popular
preference.
17. Like in Panchayats should we not have at least one-third seats in the
Parliament and Assemblies reserved for women?
Answer: One-third of the seats are reserved for women in the Panchayats,
but unfortunately even today representation of women in the State
Assemblies and Parliament is very low. The women constitute 50% of our
society. So, we need to reserve at least one-third seats in the Assemblies
and the Parliament for women. This help them to uplift their status in
society.