POLITICAL PROCESSES IN INDIA

 In a vast country like India, representative democracy is necessary.

Representative government works through representation and
representation through elections. Therefore, elections are the foundation
of democracy.
 Elections need electorate and electoral processes. Electorate implies
citizens using their power of vote. In today’s democracy, universal adult
franchise is important. A Single member constituency system is more
common than multi-member constituency.
 Voting is done through secret ballot. Generally, there are direct elections
for legislative assemblies, however, indirect election system is used for
certain posts such as the President and the Vice-President of India.
 The electoral process has to pass through various stages such as filling up
the nomination papers for election by the candidates, scrutiny of the
nomination papers, withdrawals from elections, election campaign,
results, etc.
 The constitution in India has provided for independent and impartial
Election Commission to conduct and supervise elections.
Universal Adult Franchise
 Elections play a vital role chiefly because of the system of universal
adult franchise was adopted in India only after its independence. The
universal adult franchise became a part of the electoral process after
Independence.
 ‘Universal’ means commonly applicable to all persons, without any
discrimination; ‘adult’ means a person who is a major and not a minor;
‘franchise’ means right to cast vote.
 Therefore, universal adult franchise is a system in which all adults, men
and women, without any discrimination, have a right to cast their vote in
the elections.

ELECTIONS IN INDIA
 In India, elections are held to elect Members of the Lok
Sabha, the Vidhan Sabha and the representatives of Gram
Panchayat or Municipal Bodies.
 Elections are held periodically after a particular period.
The country or the State or the area of the concerned local
body is divided into a number of smaller units called
constituencies.
 Each constituency elects one representative from a
number of candidates contesting elections. The candidate
who gets the largest number of votes s declared elected.
 A Constituency is a territorial area delimited separately for
the Parliament, the State Legislature and the local bodies in India. Each constituency elects a single
representative.
 A Candidate is a person seeking some position through election. He is either the incumbent hoping for re-
election or is a challenger hoping to replace the incumbent.
 A Manifesto is a document that highlights the proposed programmes and policies of the political parties.
Types of Elections in India
 In India, we have direct and indirect elections.
 In direct elections, people vote directly to elect their representatives to Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies
and local government institutions.
 In indirect elections, the elected representatives of the people further vote for electing persons to occupy
specific positions.
 The President and the Vice-President of India are indirectly elected. The members of the Rajya Sabha also are
elected indirectly. Furthermore, a certain percentage of members of the Legislative Councils are indirectly
elected by the members of the concerned Legislative Assemblies.
 There is another classification of elections:
a. General Elections: These are held across the country, for the Lok Sabha and/or for the State Legislative
Assemblies. These elections are held after the completion of the term of the legislature. The Lok Sabha
Elections held in 2014 is an example of General Elections.
b. Mid-term Elections: When the elections are held before the expiry of the normal term of the legislature
owing to the dissolution of legislative bodies, these are known as Mid-term Elections. The Lok Sabha
elections that took place in 1991, for example, were mid-term elections.
c. Bye-elections: These are held in a particular constituency due to a vacancy caused by resignation or death
of the elected member, or when the election of a particular member is set aside by the judiciary.
Important Facts on Indian General Elections
 The first general elections were held in India in the year 1952. Since then, there have been 16 General Elections
up to 2014. The latest General Elections were held in 2019 and were India’s 17th General Elections.
 The Lok Sabha elections of 1980, 1991, 1998 and 1999 were Mid-term Elections.
 The 1977 Lok Sabha elections were deferred for about two years on account of the declaration of National
Emergency in the country.

ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN INDIA

 India has earned praises for successfully holding so many elections. There is a huge system that has been
engaged in managing elections in India.

Election Commission of India

 The responsibility of conducting free, fair and impartial elections lies with an impartial constitutional authority
which is known as the Election Commission.

 The Election Commission is a constitutional body. Our Constitution provides for the Election Commission of
India.
 The Election Commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and the number of Election
Commissioners as the President may fix in accordance with the law.
 The Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners are appointed by the President of India.
They have six years term or up to the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
 They enjoy the same status and service conditions as are enjoyed by the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his post only by impeachment..
 The Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendations of the Chief Election
Commissioner.
 Following are the main functions of the Chief Election Commissioner:
1. To conduct free and fair elections in the country;
2. To supervise, direct and control the entire election machinery; preparation of electoral roll;
3. To provide recognition to political parties and register them as national and state parties;
4. To allot symbols to political parties and the numerous independent candidates contesting the elections;
5. To issue guidelines and code of conduct for the election officials, candidates, and for the political parties
during the elections;
6. To address to election complaints received from the voters, the candidates and the political parties;
7. To appoint electoral officials; and
8. To advise the President on matters relating to elections.

IMPORTANT ELECTION OFFICIALS

Election Officials
 The Election Commission is assisted by a number of officials.
 At the state level, the election work is supervised by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State.
 The Chief Electoral Officer of the State is appointed by the Election Commission from amongst senior civil
servants proposed by the concerned State government.
 The Election Commission utilises the State government officers for election work, by designating them as
District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers, Returning Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration
Officers, and Assistant Returning Officers.
 During election time, they are available to
the Commission, more or less, on a full time
basis. Out of these, there are three main
officials who play very important roles in the
conduct of free and fair elections.
Returning Officer
 In every constituency, one Officer is
designated as Returning Officer by the
Commission in consultation with the
concerned State government. However, an
Officer can be nominated as Returning
Officer for more than one constituency.
―He receives and scrutinises the nomination papers of the candidates contesting elections.
―He allots election symbols on behalf of the Election Commission.
―He conducts smooth elections in the constituency(ies).
―He ensures counting of votes, and
―He declares the election results.
Presiding Officers
 Every constituency has a large number of polling booths. Every booth remains under the charge of an Officer
called Presiding Officer.
 He supervises the entire process in the polling booth and makes sure that every voter gets an opportunity to cast
vote freely and that there is no impersonation. After the polling is over, he seals all the ballot machines and
delivers them to the Returning Officer.
Polling Officer
 Every Presiding Officer has three or four officials, the Polling Officers, in his team. These officials make sure
that the elections take place smoothly at the polling booth allotted to them.
 They check the names of the voters in the electoral roll, put indelible ink on the finger of the voter, issue ballot
papers and ensure that votes are secretly cast by each voter.

THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IN INDIA

 The election process passes through numerous stages, which are as follows:
 1. Delimitation of constituencies undertaken by the Delimitation Commission.
2. Preparation and periodic revision of the electoral roll under the supervision of the Election Commission.
3. Following the President’s and Governor’s notifications, the Election Commission conducts elections in the
country.
4. The election schedule is announced and the dates for filling the nomination papers, their scrutiny,
withdrawals, polling, counting of the votes, and declaration of the election results are announced.
5. Allotment of election symbols to the candidates, and the political parties.
6. Election campaigns by the candidates and the political parties.
7. Re-poll, if necessary, in a constituency or in a part of the constituency is done
8. Countermanding of election is done when a duly nominated candidate belonging to a recognized political
party dies any time after the last date of withdrawals of the nomination papers and the commencement of the
polling.
9. The election disputes such as improper rejection of nomination papers of the candidate(s), use of unfair or
corrupt means during the elections, bribing and intimidating of voters, or the use of official machinery are
probed by the judiciary.
What Happens at a polling booth?
 On the day of the polling, the voters go to their respective polling booths and wait for their turn. On entering the
polling room, the voter reveals his identity to the first polling officer, and then to the second one.
 Another polling officer puts indelible ink on the first finger of left hand in the case of a male voter, and on the
right hand in case of the female voter. This is done to avoid impersonation.
 After the identification of the voter is done by the officials, the voter is given a ballot paper or is shown the
electronic voting machine (EVM) containing the names of the candidates along with their respective election
symbols.
Electoral Reforms
 The electoral system in India is based on universal adult franchise. It has helps voters not only in choosing their
representatives, but also in facilitating smooth and peaceful change of governments, replacing one political
party or a set of political parties by another.
 The electoral reforms have been engaging the attention of the Parliament, the Government, the Election
Commission, the Press and the people for a long time.
 Some measures were implemented in the past to remove glaring gaps in the law.
 There are certain issues such as:
(a) rigging of the elections - fake and bogus voting, impersonation,
(b) violence during elections,
(c) adverse role of money and muscle power,
(d) intimidation of voters especially the people of weaker sections,
(e) misuse of governmental machinery,
(f) booth capturing and criminalization in both elections and politics, that demand immediate attention.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN INDIA

 A political party is an organized body of individuals sharing common principles and cherishing common goals
regarding the political system. It operates and seeks political power through constitutional means to put its
policies into practice. It is a body of like-minded people having similar ideas on matters of public concern.
Functions of political parties:
―They nominate candidates during elections;
―They campaign to get support for their candidates in the elections;
―They put objectives and programmes before the voters through their manifestos;
―They form the government and enact and implement the policies;
―They form the opposition and keep a check on the government;
―They educate people and help in formulating and shaping public opinion; z they articulate peoples’ demands
and convey them to the government; and
―They become a link between people and governmental institutions.
Important Features of Party System in India
 The party system in India displays the following major characteristics:
 ―India has a multi-party system with a large number of political parties competing to get power.
―There has been a rise of a bi-nodal party system prevalent at both national and state/region levels. The bi-
nodal tendencies have the Congress and the BJP both at the center and in the states.
―Political parties are not hegemonic. Occasionally we see a certain party lining up with one national political
party and then moving to another at the time of elections.
―The regional political parties play an important role in the formation of governments at the Centre. These
regional parties support one national political party or the other and seek favours and ministerial berths.
―Election is now contested not among parties but coalition of parties. Nature of competition, alliance and
players differs from state to state.
―As a result of coalitional politics, ideologies have taken a rear seat.
―Parties are eager to focus on the single emotive issue/s to garner votes. Parties now look for short term
electoral gains rather than build lasting social coalitions.

TYPES OF POLITICAL PARTIES

 Election Commission classifies political parties for the allocation of symbols. They are classified into three
main heads: National Parties, State Parties, and Registered (unrecognized) Parties. The Election Commission
grants political parties the status of national parties on three bases:
1. It should be a recognized political party in four or more states.
2. It should have won at least 4 per cent of the seats in the last Lok Sabha elections or 3.33 per cent of the seats
in the assembly elections from the state.
3. All the candidates from the party should have got at least 6 per cent of the total valid votes in the elections.
The National Political Parties
 Since the last general elections held
in 2009 the recognized national
political parties in India are:
The Indian National Congress (INC)
 Created in 1885 in Bombay, the
Indian National Congress played a
prominent role in India’s freedom
struggle. After independence the
Congress arose as the principal
party of governance and ruled till
1967.
 The era came to be described as the
‘Congress System’. The dominance of the Congress subsided slowly. Now it relied on coalition of political
parties to get the power in the Centre.
 While it champions the policy of liberalization, privatization, globalization called “LPG” on the one hand; it
also works for the welfare of the weaker sections of society.
 It supports both agriculture based Indian economy as well as industrialization. It tries to reinforce grassroots
institutions at the local level and claims to play a vital role in international institutions, especially in the United
Nations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
 The party was founded in 1980 after it distanced itself from the erstwhile Janata Party. BJP is a prominent
political party not only at the Centre but also in some of the States.
 The BJP supports:
(a) nationalism and national integration,
(b) democracy,
(c) positive secularism,
(d) Gandhian socialism, and
(e) value–based politics.
 The party has formed governments in a number of States such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,
Karnataka and Uttrakhand. The party has complete two full five year terms at the Center.
The Communist Parties
 The important communist parties in India are the Communist Party of India (CPI), created in 1925 and the
Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPI M) which came emerged out of Communist Party of India in1964.
 With the time, the CPI(M) became more powerful than the CPI. The CPI (M) and the CPI had been in power in
West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.
 The Communist Parties are workers’ and peasants’ parties. These parties are based on the ideology of Marxism
and Leninism, and support socialism, socialist ownership of industries, agrarian reforms, rural upliftment and a
self-reliant economy.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP)
 The party founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984. The party presents itself as the party of the deprived sections of the
Indian society, particularly the poor, the landless, the unemployed and the Dalits.
 It propagate the teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Jyotiba Phule, Ramaswami Naicker and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The
party follows the principle of ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay! It ruled in Uttar Pradesh for two terms.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
 The Party is a splinter group of the Indian National Congress. In 1999 Sharad Pawar, P A Sangma and Tariq
Anwar founded the party.
 The party’s policies are almost same as that of the Congress. It has major voter base in Maharashtra. It has been
a coalition partner of the Congress led UPA since 2004.
All India Trinamool Congress (TMC)
 Founded in January 199, the All Indian Trinamool Congress (TMC) is led by Mamata Banerjee.
 To begin with, the TMC was concentrated in the West Bengal region only, but over the years it has spread
outside the state of West Bengal and after 2014 General Elections it became the 4th largest party in the Lok
Sabha.
Regional Political Parties
 The regional political parties are those political parties which receive a certain amount of votes or seats in a
State.
 Regional parties were founded to fulfill regional ambitions. They became fairly dominant in their respective
States and captured power in their respective States.
 Their increased political reputation helped the national political parties form coalition governments at the
Centre.
 A huge number of political parties are registered at the Election Commission. They are not recognized as
National or State parties.
 The number of regional political parties in India is quite large. Some of the major regional political parties in
India are:
―Assam Gana Parishad (Assam),
―Trinamool Congress (West Bengal),
―Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry),
―National Conference (Jammu and Kashmir),
―All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Tamil Nadu),
―Telugu Desam (Andhra Pradesh),
―Samajwadi Party (Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand),
―Shiromani Akali Dal (Punjab),
―Shiv Sena (Maharashtra).

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