ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES

ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES

Can we say that Indian elections are democratic? To answer this question, let us take a look at how elections are held in India. Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections are held regularly every five years. After five years the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands ‘dissolved’. Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days. This is called a general election. Sometimes an election is held only for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by the death or resignation of a member. This is called a by-election. In this chapter, we will focus on general elections.

You read about the people of Haryana electing 90 MLAs. You may have wondered how they did that. Did every person in Haryana vote for all the 90 MLAs? You perhaps know that this is not the case. In our country, we follow an area-based system of representation. The country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections. These areas are called electoral constituencies. The voters who live in an area elect one representative.

For the Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies. The representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MP. One of the features of a democratic election is that every vote should have equal value. That is why our Constitution requires that each constituency should have a roughly equal population living within it.

Similarly, each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. In this case, the elected representative is called the Member of Legislative Assembly or an MLA. Each Parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies. The same principle applies for Panchayat and Municipal elections. Each village or town is divided into several ‘wards’ that are like constituencies. Each ward elects one member of the village or the urban local body. Sometimes these constituencies are counted as ‘seats’, for each constituency represents one seat in the assembly. When we say that ‘Lok Dal won 60 seats’ in Haryana, it means that candidates of Lok Dal won in 60 assembly constituencies in the state and thus Lok Dal had 60 MLAs in the state assembly.

Figure: Gulbarga Lok sabha constituency

Figure: Gulbarga (kalaburagi) district in Karnataka

Activity:

1.  Why is the boundary of the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency not the same as the district boundary of Gulbarga (Kalaburagi)? Draw a similar map for your own Lok Sabha constituency.

2.  How many Assembly constituencies are there in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency? Is it the same in your own Lok Sabha constituency?

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

RESERVED CONSTITUENCIES

RESERVED CONSTITUENCIES

Our Constitution entitles every citizen to elect her/his representative and to be elected as a representative. The Constitution makers, however, were worried that in an open electoral competition, certain weaker sections may not stand a good chance to get elected to the Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies. They may not have the required resources, education and contacts to contest and win elections against others. Those who are influential and resourceful may prevent them from winning elections. If that happens, our Parliament and Assemblies would be deprived of the voice of a significant section of our population. That would make our democracy less representative and less democratic.

So, the makers of our Constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections. Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST]. In an SC reserved constituency, only someone who belongs to the Scheduled Castes can stand for election. Similarly only those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a constituency reserved for ST. Currently, in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes (as on 26 January 2019). This number is in proportion to their share in the total population. Thus the reserved seats for SC and ST do not take away the legitimate share of any other social group.

This system of reservation was extended later to other weaker sections at the district and local level. In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well. However, the proportion of seats reserved varies from state to state. Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates.

Activity:

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

VOTER’S LIST

VOTER’S LIST

Once the constituencies are decided,the next step is to decide who can and who cannot vote. This decision cannot be left to anyone till the last day. In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This list is officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters’ List.

This is an important step for it is linked to the first condition of a democratic election: every one should get an equal opportunity to choose representatives. Earlier, we read about the principle of a universal adult franchise. In practice, it means that everyone should have one vote and each vote should have equal value. No one should be denied the right to vote without a good reason. Different citizens differ from one another in many ways: some are rich, some are poor; some are highly educated, some are not so educated or not educated at all; some are kind, others are not so kind. But all of them are human beings with their own needs and views. That is why all of them deserve to have an equal say in decisions that affect them.

In our country, all the citizens aged 18 years and above can vote in an election. Every citizen has the right to vote, regardless of his or her caste, religion or gender. Some criminals and persons with the unsound mind can be denied the right to vote, but only in rare situations. It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on the voters’ list. As new persons attain voting age names are added to the voters’ list. Names of those who move out of a place or those who are dead are deleted. A complete revision of the list takes place every five years. This is done to ensure that it remains up to date. In the last few years a new system of Election Photo Identity Card [EPIC] has been introduced. The government has tried to give this card to every person on the voters list. The voters are required to carry this card when they go out to vote, so that no one can vote for someone else. But the card is not yet compulsory for voting. For voting, the voters can show many other proofs of identity like the ration card or the driving licence.

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES

NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES

We noted above that in a democratic election people should have a real choice. This happens only when there are almost no restrictions on anyone to contest an election. This is what our system provides. Any- one who can be a voter can also be- come a candidate in elections. 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. There are some other restrictions on criminals etc. but these apply in very extreme cases. Political parties nominate their can- didates who get the party symbol and support. Party’s nomination is often called party ‘ticket’.

Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’.

Recently, a new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of :

*  Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate;

*  Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family; and

*  Educational qualifications of the candidate.

This information has to be made public. This provides an opportunity to the voters to make their decision on the basis of the information provided by the candidates.

Educational qualifications for candidates 

Why is there no educational qualification for holding such an important position when some kind of educational qualification is needed for any other job in the country?

*  Educational qualifications are not relevant to all kinds of jobs. The relevant qualification for selection to the Indian cricket team, for example, is not the attainment of educational degrees but the ability to play cricket well. Similarly the relevant qualification for being an MLA or an MP is the ability to understand people’s concerns, problems and to represent their interests. Whether they can do so or not is examined by lakhs of examiners — their voters — after every five years.

*  Even if education was relevant, it should be left to the people to decide how much impor tance they give to educational qualifications.

*  In our country putting an educational qualification would go against the spirit of democracy for yet another reason. It would mean depriving a majority of the country’s citizens the right to contest elections. If, for example, a graduate degree like B.A., B.Com or B.Sc was made compulsory for candidates, more than 90 per cent of the citizens will become ineligible to contest elections.

Activity:

1.

2.  Why are the candidates required to give a detailed statement of their property?

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

ELECTION CAMPAIGN

ELECTION CAMPAIGN

The main purpose of election is to give people a chance to choose the representatives, the government and the policies they prefer. Therefore it is necessary to have a free and open discussion about who is a better representative, which party will make a better government or what is a good policy. This is what happens during election campaigns.

In our country such campaigns take place for a two-week period between the announcement of the final list of candidates and the date of polling. During this period the candidates contact their voters, political leaders address election meetings and political parties mobilise their supporters. This is also the period when newspapers and television news are full of election related stories and debates. But election campaign is not limited to these two weeks only. Political parties start preparing for elections months before they actually take place.

In election campaigns, political parties try to focus public attention on some big issues. They want to attract the public to that issue and get them to vote for their party on that basis. Let us look at some of the successful slogans given by different political parties in various elections.

*   The Congress party led by Indira Gandhi gave the slogan of Garibi Hatao (Remove poverty) in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971. The party promised to reorient all the policies of the government to remove poverty from the country.

*   Save Democracy was the slogan given by Janata Party under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan, in the Lok Sabha election held in 1977. The party promised to undo the excesses committed during Emergency and restore civil liberties.

*   The Left Front used the slogan of Land to the Tiller in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 1977.

*   Protect the Self-Respect of the Telugus’ was the slogan used by N.Rama Rao, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 1983.

In a democracy it is best to leave political parties and candidates free to conduct their election campaigns the way they want to. But it is sometimes necessary to regulate campaigns to ensure that every political party and candidate gets a fair and equal chance to compete. According to our election law, no party or candidate can:

*   Bribe or threaten voters;

*   Appeal to them in the name of caste or religion;

*   Use government resources for election campaign; and

*   Spend more than ` 25 lakh in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or ` 10 lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election.

If they do so, their election can be rejected by the court even after they have been declared elected. In addition to the laws, all the political parties in our country have agreed to a Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns. According to this, no party or candidate can:​​​​​​​

*   Use any place of worship for election propaganda;

*   Use government vehicles, aircrafts and officials for elections; and

*  Once elections are announced, Ministers shall not lay foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make any promises of providing public facilities.

Activity:

1. How was the election campaign in your constituency in the last Lok Sabha elections? Prepare a list of what the candidates and parties said and did?

2. Draw a cartoon here about the Model Code of Conduct for the guidance of political parties and candidates during elections.

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

POLLING AND COUNTING OF VOTES

POLLING AND COUNTING OF VOTES

The final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote. That day is usually called the election day. Every person whose name is on the voters’ list can go to a nearby ‘polling booth’, situated usually in a local school or a government office. Once the voter goes inside the booth, the election officials identify her, put a mark on her finger and allow her to cast her vote. An agent of each candidate is allowed to sit inside the polling booth and ensure that the voting takes place in a fair way.

Earlier the voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the     contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed. Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. Independent candidates too have their own symbols, allotted by election commission. All that the voter has to do is to press the button against the name of the candidate she wants to give her vote. Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place. A few days later, on a fixed date, all the EVMs from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each candidate are counted. The agents of all candidates are present there to ensure that the counting is done properly. The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared elected. In a general election, usually the counting of votes in all the constituencies takes place at the same time, on the same day. Television channels, radio and newspapers report this event. Within a few hours of counting,all the results are declared and it becomes clear as to who will form the next government.

Election result in Gulbarga

Let us go back to our example of Gulbarga. In 2014, a total of 8 candidates contested elections in that constituency. The total eligible voters were 17.21 lakhs. Of these 9.98 lakh voters had cast their votes. The candidate of the Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge secured about 5.07 lakh votes. This was 50.82 percent of the total votes polled. But since he had secured more votes than anyone else, he was declared elected a Member of Parliament from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency.

Activity:

A.  Identify the fair and the unfair electoral practices among the following:

       1. A minister flags off a new train in his constituency a week before polling day.

       2. A candidate promises that she will get a new train for her constituency if she is elected.

       3. Supporters of a candidate take the voters to a temple and make them take an oath that they will vote for him.

       4. The supporters of a candidate distribute blankets in slums in return for a promise for vote.

B.  Answer the following questions based on above given details from table.

      (i)  What is the percentage of voters who had actually cast their votes?

     (ii)  To win an election is it necessary for a person to secure more than half the votes polled?

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK