EDUCATION HUB
ELECTORAL POLITICS
An election is a process through which people choose their representatives at
regular intervals.
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.
What is 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.
• Similarly, each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly
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.
• The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of
India.
→ 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.
• Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to
relatives from these families.
• 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.
