ELECTORAL POLITICS (Notes)

ELECTORAL POLITICS

Why do we need elections?

A rule of the people is possible without any elections if all the people can sit together and take all the decisions. Although, this is not possible in any large community nor is it possible for everyone to have the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore, in most democracies people rule through their representatives.

Define elections. What are the choices given to the voters before elections?

A mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish to do so is called elections. Therefore, elections are considered essential for any representative democracy.

Voters can choose who will make laws for them.

They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions.

They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law making.

What makes an election democratic?

Universal Adult Franchise: Everyone should be able to choose. Everyone should have one got and every vote should have equal value.

Multiparty System: There should be something to choose from. Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.

Regular Elections: The choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly after every few years.

Rule of Majority: The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.

Free and Fair Elections: Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.

Discuss the merits and demerits of political competition.

Merits-

The most obvious form is the competition among political parties. at the constituency level, it takes the form of competition among several candidates. If there is no competition, elections will become pointless.

Some good people who may wish to serve the country do not enter this arena. They do not like the idea of being dragged into unhealthy competition.

Demerits-

An electoral competition has many demerits. It creates a sense of disunity and factionalism in every locality. Different political parties and leaders often level allegations against one another. Parties and candidates use dirty tricks to win elections. Some people say that this pressure to win electoral fights does not allow sensible long term policies to be formulated.

Discuss the ways through which we can control our political leaders.

One way is to try and improve the knowledge and character of political leaders. The other and more realistic way is to set up a system where political leaders and rewarded for serving people and punished for not doing so.

The people decide this reward or punishment. This is what electoral competition does. Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties and leaders. They know that if they raise issues that people want to be raised, their popularity and chances of victory will increase in the next elections. But if they fail to satisfy the voters with their work, they will not be able to win again.

What do you understand by general and by elections?

Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections are held regularly after every five years. After five years, the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stand 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 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.

What is the purpose of electoral constituencies? Discuss the various types of constituencies.

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 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.

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 within it has 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.

Why have some constituencies been reserved?

Our constitution entitles every citizen to elect their 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. So, the makers of our Constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections.

In the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the scheduled tribes (as on 1 September 2012). This number is in proportion to their share in the total population.

This system of reservation was extended later to other weaker sections at the district and local levels. In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalitis 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.

Define Voters’ List and its importance.

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 commonly known as Voters’ List.

This is an important step for it is linked to the first condition of a democratic election: everyone should get an equal opportunity to choose representatives.

What do you understand by the principle of UAF?

The principle of Universal Adult Franchise 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.

What declarations a candidate has to make before filling the nomination form?

A new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration of-

Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate.

Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family.

Education qualifications of the candidate.

Define campaigning. List the various techniques of campaigning.

In our country, 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 televisions 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.

Mention some slogans adopted by the political parties to win 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 in the next Lok Sabha election held in 1977. The party promised to undo the excesses committed during Emergency and restore civil liberties.

The Left Front used to 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.T. Rama Rao, the leader of the Telgu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh assembly elections in 1983.

What are the restrictions imposed on the party by the election law during the campaigning?

According to our election law, no party or candidate can:

Bribe or threaten voters.

Appeal to them in the name of caste and religion.

Use government resources for election campaign.

Spend more than Rs. 25 Lakh in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or Rs. 10 Lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election.

What is the model code of conduct to be followed for election campaigns?

According to the Model Code of Conduct, no party or candidate can:

Use any place of worship for election propaganda.

Use government vehicles, aircrafts and officials for elections.

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.

Mention the malpractices during the election process.

Inclusion of false names and exclusion of genuine names in the voters’ list.

Misuse of government facilities and officials by the ruling party.

Excessive use of money by rich candidates and big parties.

Intimidation of voters and rigging on the polling day.

Write a short note on the Election Commission of India.

In our country, elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC). It 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, the CEC is not answerable to the President or the government.

Discuss the various powers of the Election Commission in India.

EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to the declaration of results.

It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it.

During the election period, the EC can order the government to follow some guidelines, to prevent use and misuse of governmental power to enhance its chances to win elections, or to transfer some government officials.

When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.

“The outcome of India’s elections speaks for itself.” Explain.

The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state level. In fact, in every two out of three elections held in the last 15 years, the ruling party lost.

In the US, an incumbent or sitting elected representative rarely loses an election. In India, about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.

Candidates who are known to have spent a lot of money on ‘buying votes’ and those with known criminal connections often lose elections.

Barring very few disputed elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted as people’s verdict by the defeated party.

What are the 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 an 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.