Election Process in India

Democracy and Football

There are rules for every game
● The rules of elections are given in the Constitution and the statutes
● Article 324 of the Constitution deals with the Election Commission
of India
● Representation of People Act, 1951 was passed to conduct elections
● Elections for Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies are held as
per FPTP system and in Rajya Sabha, a form of PR system is
followed.
Representation
Representation portrays politicians as servants of the people, and
invests them with a responsibility to act for or on behalf of those who
elect them.

The debate around representation was centred around ‘who should be

represented?’ during 19th and 20th century.

Should only the capable and politically ‘mature’ should vote? Variously
seen as men, the propertied, or a particular racial group.
● This debate was settled with the establishment of political
equality.
Mainly, four models of representation
1. Trusteeship Model
a. The representative acts as a trustee
b. Serving one’s constituents by exercise of own judgment and conscience
c. Assumes that politicians will act wisely on behalf of the people
2. Delegate model
a. Delegates act as a medium for the people
b. Frequent interchange of views between the politicians and the people
c. Assumes that the people know better
3. Mandate model
a. The first two models were developed before the advent of modern political parties
b. But individuals tend to be bound by the parties
c. Politicians act as not simply a representative of their constituencies but also as an
executor of the party policies
BJP Manifesto
Resemblance Model
The resemblance model suggests that only people who come from a
particu-
lar group, and have shared the experiences of that group, can fully
identify with

its interests.

Should Dalits be represented by only Dalits?

Should tribes only be represented by a tribal
representative?
It is detrimental to unity and integrity of the nation-Bhargav

If the people are not equal in terms of privilege, property or social

condition, does unity do any good?

If a prejudiced Brahmin is representing Dalits, what should we do with

the unity?
Power structure and intersectionality
Elections
Joseph Schumpeter in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) saw
democracy as a competitive struggle. Democracy is nothing more than
a political method of competitive elections
First Past the Post(FPTP) System/ Single Member Plurlity system

The first-past-the-post (FPTP) system is also known as the simple majority system. In this voting method, the
candidate with the highest number of votes in a constituency is declared the winner. This system is used in India
in direct elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. While FPTP is relatively simple, it does
not always allow for a truly representative mandate, as the candidate could win despite securing less than half
the votes in a contest.
Why FPTP?
● Simplicity
● Provides direct representation of constituencies, ensuring that each
geographic area has a dedicated representative
● Disproportionality
Second ballot system
● Followed in France
● Voters select a single candidate, usually marking his or her name
with a cross on the ballot paper. The winning candidate needs only
to achieve a plurality of votes (the ‘first past the post’ rule).
There is limited proportionality in Single member plurality

Proportionality is the degree to which the allocation of seats amongst

parties reflects the distribution of the popular vote.
Proportional System (PR)
PR is an electoral system designed to allocate seats in the legislature in
proportion to the number of votes each party receives.
● Voters typically cast their vote for a party rather than an individual
candidate.
○ The party then allocates seats to candidates from their list based on the
proportion of votes received
● Each district elects multiple representatives, which allows for
proportional allocation
● Reduced Wasted Votes
○ Fewer votes are wasted as most votes contribute to the election of a candidate,
increasing voter satisfaction and participation.
Few Models of PR
[Link] member proportional(MMP) system

● SMP for some seats, PR for the rest of the seats

● Germany, Italy, New Zealand
● Two votes: One for candidate, the other for the party
● A share of the seats are filled by party list system
● The parties can vote for one candidate and still choose to vote for a different
party to form a government

2. Party List system

● Electors vote for parties

● Parties issue list of candidates
● Entire country or region is treated as single constituency
● Belgium. Luxembourg
First General Election- The Gamble
First General Election
Democracy was the touchstone of Constituent Assembly

We are aiming at
democracy and
nothing less than
a democracy.
What did representation mean for the CA?

Did representation only mean the aggregate of

voter’s preferences or it meant that the Mill, on the other hand,
representative would echo the interests of the saw the representative
voters of their constituecies in the legislature ? more as someone who
In simpler terms, territorial
would first relay the
representation(preferences) or larger interests? voters' point of view into
the legislature
Members cited extensively Burke and Mill while
Burke saw representative
debating representation.
as a
statesman, concerned with
interests rather than mere
preferences and with the interests
of the entire nation rather than
the district;
Franchise a Fundamental Right?

● In the first drafts of Fundamental Rights Sub committee, franchise

was kept under Fundamental Rights.
● At later stages, it was removed from the FRs.
● Ambedkar protested,

The CA will consider matters

which are sent up to it by the
different committees. The main
thing will be franchise. This is a
fundamental right. Franchise
is the principal thing of the

constitution. 👊
 Lokanath Misra made a last ditch effort to include
an article relating to the franchise in the
fundamental rights. His proposed amendment in
the form of Article 8A - 'Right of Suffrage and
Election' had five clauses - on the right to vote for
those 21 and above, indirect elections on the basis
of adult suffrage, the right to recall, the cost of all
elections to be met by the state, and even in
uncontested elections, a candidate would only be
Loknath Misra declared elected on getting one-third of the total
vote
 1. Representing What?

What were the members seeking to represent,

the preferences(territorial representation) or
the interests of the people of India?
First View-Representation is about aggregate of Preferences

The people can not be present in the legislature.

● Therefore they pick up the ones who reflect their preferences and act as a
medium.
● Territorial constituency as the locus of representation
● Single member territorial constituency based on this view of
representation
● Based on the principle territorial representation:
○ Few members suggested that rural and urban constituencies be separated
○ Scale of representation: How can one member represent the preferences of 7,50,000
people
○ Loknath Misra 750 villages, each with a population of 1000, should elect 5 panchayat
members each
Second View- Representation Is About Interests of People

Attack on elections and that democracy can not only be equated with
elections.
● Criticism of Western democracy where the interests of the masses,
groups and sub-groups are not actually represented through
majoritarian
"the futureelections.
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"to
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 2. Representing Whom?
Irrespective of whether representation should mean only preferences/
interests of the people, any adequate mechanism must ensure that as
many as possible preferences or interests get represented, or as few as
possible preferences or interests do not find a voice in the legislature.
 North Cachar Hills has a 37,000
population. They will be swamped
by the other 63,000. When we are
talking about the coming of freedom
for India, these (the large
constituencies) will mean slavery to
the hill people.”

JJM Nichols Roy’s

Concern
Few deliberations around this
1. Separate electorate
a. A member suggested: “ Only if a candidate gets 35% of votes in a Dalit
constituency, then only he/she can become a representative.”
2. Proportional representation
a. Known to the CA as Hare System
b. PR does ensure that smaller parties also get representation, but it certainly breaks
the link between the electors and the representative.
The Commonality and the Irony
Members who advocated the plurality system as
well as most of those who opposed this electoral
system seemed to be working with the same view
of representation. To represent was to give
voice to the preferences of the elected.

If representation was about getting the

voices of the people a hearing, then why
should not the minorities worry about how
their voices would be heard?
Election Commission of India
● Part XV
● Article 324-329
● 324-Election Commission
● 325-Inclusion in Electoral Rolls
● 326- Universal adult suffrage
● 327- Power of Parliament to make laws with respect to legislature
● 328- Power of State Legislature to make laws with respect to
legislature
● Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters
Organisation
● Originally, one Election Commissioner. Since 1993, 3 members with
Chief EC and two ECs. Customarily held by retired IAS officers.
● Thousands of govt employees work with the ECI. The officials on
election duty are non-permanent in nature.
● Appointment:
Section 13 A RPA

Chief Electoral
Officer

District Election Officer(DEO)/Returning

Officer(RO)

Booth Level Officers(BLO)

Delimitation Commission
● Article 82
● Four Delimitation Commissions till now
Fourth Branch Institutions
● Institutions beyond executive, legislative and judiciary to protect
constitutional democracy.
● “Guarantor institutions” providing guarantees of constitutional
norms
● Constitutional independence and well regarded track record holding
complex elections in a diverse, fractious polity
Evolution

● 1970s and 1980s “dirty” elections

○ During Congress dominance, successive CECs did not exercise full powers
○ Excessive deference towards executive
● The dawn of the coalition era in Indian politics (1989-2014),
○ During which all union governments were either minority or coalition
governments, stimulated the rise of regulatory activism and embrace of these
powers, particularly under former CEC T. N. Seshan.
○ “Cleansing elections”
○ Model Code of Conduct was enforced strictly during his tenure
○ MCC is not backed by force of law but functions on the basis of moral credibility
○ Moral authority to “name and shame”
Trajectory

○ M S Gill
○ Transferring al district level officers before elections to ensure neutrality
○ 2000s, went against Vajpayee govt which wanted to appoint 2 additional
commissioners
○ Publication of track records of the candidates : PUCL v Union of India(2003)
○ Introduction of EVMs
Era of One Party Dominance- BJP’s Rise
Prof Sanjay Kumar
● Partiality in terms of scheduling elections
○ 2017 elections to Gujarat and Himachal PRadesh
● Biased enforcement of MCC
Representation of the People Act, 1950
● Procedural
○ Allocation of seats
○ Delimitation of constituencies
○ Reservation of Seats
○ Election Officers- deemed to be on deputation to Election Commission(EC)
■ Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)
■ District Elections Officer (DEO)
■ Electoral Registration Officers(ERO)
○ Electoral Rolls for Parliament, assemblies and councils
Representation of the People(RPA) Act, 1951
● Both procedural and operational
● Qualifications and disqualifications of the MPs and MLAs
● Structure and functions of the administrative machinery
● Conduct of Elections
● Election Expenses(Chapter VIII)
● Corrupt practices
Qualifications and Disqualifications: [Link] and [Link], 1951
Qualifications under Constitution
MP and MLAs

1. Should be a citizen of India

2. Age should be 25 years for member of Lok Sabha and Legislative
Assemblies and 30 years for members of Rajya Sabha and
Legislative Councils
Qualifications under RPA
● If it is a reserved constituency, a member should be from the
particular reserved community, whether within or outside the state
● Exceptions for autonomous districts, Lakshadweep and Sikkim
Disqualifications under constitution

1. If he/she is of unsound mind.

2. If he/she is an undischarged insolvent.

3. If he/she is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the

citizenship of a foreign state.

4. If he/she holds an office of profit.

Disqualifications under RPA
[Link] 8: Found guilty of election offences/corrupt practices.
● Conviction for any offence resulting in imprisonment for 2 or more
years. In Lily Thomas case, the SC held held the immediate
disqualification of the member.

2. Failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within time.

3. Having interest in government contracts, works or services.

4. If dismissed from government service for corruption or dis-loyalty to

the state.
Lily Thomas Case(2013) and Section 8(4) of RPA
Electoral spending
RPA

Section 76 of the RPA: puts spending limits to candidates

But there is no limit on spending by political parties.

History of Electoral Expenses
From as early as the independence movement, political parties like the
Congress had funded themselves from private sources.

With the rise of right parties like Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Jana
Sangh, which were backed by big business oriented industries and
companies, the dynamics changed.

In 1969, Mrs. Gandhi banned corporate donations.

Quid Pro Quo Donations
The ban on company donations swiftly abolished any legal sources of
large-scale political finance in what was then, and remains today, a poor
country.

DONATIONS PUSHED UNDER THE TABLE

The regulatory policy environment of the late 1960s and early 1970s
saw further restrictions of large business groups through developments
like the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969, Foreign
Exchange Regulation Act of 1973, and the nationalization of banking,
coal, petroleum, and general insurance in the early to mid-1970s.
Ban lifted on corporate donation in 1985 during Rajiv Gandhi

In 1985, the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government re-legalized

company donations to political parties, permitting contributions up to 5
percent of average net profits over the past three years and subject to
declaration in the company’s accounts.

But it was too little, too late.

There was no tax incentive for corporates to donate legally and, beyond
that, the system of trading contributions for regulatory favors had
become deeply engrained.
 In 1990, the minority coalition National Front government of Prime
Minister V. P. Singh established the Dinesh Goswami Committee to
investigate election finance reform.

In response to a PIL petition by Common Cause, the Supreme Court

ordered all political parties to file their annual income tax returns or
risk losing the exemption of party spending from candidate spending
limits. On paper, parties had already been required to file annual
income tax returns to maintain tax exempt status, but almost none had
regularly done so
Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013
Party financing regulations were again updated in 2013 when the
Electoral Trust scheme was introduced. This legislation allowed electoral
trusts to be set up to pool funds from donors to political parties. Section
182 of the Companies Act 2013 was also amended to raise the cap on
corporate giving from 5 percent of average net profit over the prior
three years to 7.5 percent
Electoral Bonds Scheme
Criminalisation
Paradox of Democracy in India
Democracy is to choose the best ones who would uphold the rule of law
and “throwing the rascals out”

Law making is a noble task in democracy.

Yet, the law breakers become law makers.

Pappu Yadav

There is no jail in Bihar that I have not

seen.
Asli Bahubali
● 42 Criminal cases
● In 2008, convicted of murder and given lifetime imprisonment
● Kidnapping, extortion, murder, arms act
[Link]
Muhammad Shahabuddin aka Shahabuddin AK
Marketplace of elections
People electing
Criminals
criminals
contesting
elections
Two phases of crime politics nexus
1. Criminals being away from politics. Politicians serving as
middlemen. During the first two decades after independence.
Criminals were hired guns, supari men. In return politicians gave
protection.
2. Breakdown of congress system. Breakdown of law and order in
many states. Criminals started entering politics

VERTICAL INTEGRATION
Two phases of crime politics nexus
1. Criminals being away from politics. Politicians serving as
middlemen. During the first two decades after independence.
Criminals were hired guns, supari men. In return politicians gave
protection.
2. Breakdown of congress system. Breakdown of law and order in
many states. Criminals started entering politics

VERTICAL INTEGRATION
2. Those politicians who had no links earlier also started to develop
criminal links.

3. Wholesale criminal organisations turning into political parties.

Political scientist James Manor cites Shiv Sena as such party which
gained widespread electoral success.

But there are other examples, Ranvir Sena in Bihar and Quami Ekta Dal
in Bihar.
Why do parties give tickets to criminals?

1. Winnability.

A criminal has 3x more chances to win an election.

Why do parties give tickets to criminals?

2. Money
● Breakdown of political finance regime during the 1970s
○ Rise of rent and mafia raj.
○ The line between violence and legitimate practices became blurred.
● Self financing of elections by criminals
○ Where elections are costly and rule of law is weak. parties are often motivated by politicians with money
○ Parties do not need to spend from their own coffers/ purse
○ Wealthy candidates are thus electorally more competitive
Then why do we vote for criminals?

Is it lack of political education?

Marketplace of elections
People electing
Criminals
criminals
contesting
elections
Robin Hood Image
1. Rauba, mas faz. He robs, but gets things done.
2. Community and ethnic inclination
a. Criminality as credibility- candidates portray their ability to protect the interests of
their community . Also the politics of dignity and self respect of the community.
b. For example Arun Gawli in Mumbai,
c. Abdul Latif in Gujarat
3. Caste, class and identity
a. Caste prejudices fuelled counter action by the lower castes.
b. Rise of communist movements
c. Identity driven movements
Electoral Reforms- Institutional and Operational

1. Reforms in Election Commission, Representation of People Act 1951

2. Reforms in issues of political corruption, electoral finance,
criminalisation etc.