ELECTORAL POLITICS

Lesson - 1
WHY ELECTIONS?
 Example of Haryana

Since 1982- The State had been ruled by a Congress

party govt.

Chaudhary Devi Lal- opposition leader, led a

movement- ‘Nyaya Yudh’ (Struggle for Justice) & formed
a new party.

Election, 1987- Devi Lal won election based on his

promise to waive the loans of farmers & small
businessmen.

Once the election results were announced, the sitting

Chief Minister resigned

The newly elected MLAs of Lok Dal chose Devi Lal as

their leader & the Governor invited Devi Lal to be the
new Chief Minister. HE WAVED OFF THE OUTSTANDING
LOANS.
Elections can lead to changes in the policy
of the government.

If the people are unhappy with the working

of the existing govt. they can change the
government.

Party that bags the majority of the seats in

the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative
Assembly forms the government.
 Why do we need elections?
● Elections take place regularly in any
democracy.

● There are more than 100 countries in the

world in which elections take place to
choose people’s representatives.

The mechanism by which people can

choose their representatives at
regular intervals and change them
whenever they want to is called an
election.
In an election the voters make many choices:

They can choose who will make

1. laws for them.

They can choose who will form the

2. government & take major decisions.

They can choose the party whose policies will

3. guide the government & law making.
 What makes an election democratic?
Minimum conditions of a democratic
election include the following points:

Everyone
should be able This means that everyone should
to choose their have one vote & every vote should
own have equal value.
representative

Parties & candidates should be free to contest elections &

should offer some real choice to the voters.

There should be
something to
choose from
Elections must be held regularly after every
few years.

The choice
should be
offered at
regular intervals The candidate
preferred by
the people
should get
elected

Elections should be
conducted in a free &
fair manner where
people can choose as
they really wish
 Is it good to have political competition?

● Elections are all about political competition.

● This competition takes various forms.

● 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.
 CONSTITUENCY

Voters in a geographical
area who elect a
representative to the
legislative bodies.
 Creates a
sense of
disunity

Factionalism
Dirty tricks to
win election Demerits of
Electoral
Competition

Party
Allegation on politics
one another
 Issue with Political Competitions

Our Constitution makers opted for free competition in

elections as the way to select our future leaders AS IT
WORKS IN THE LONG RUN

In an ideal political system leaders know what is

good for the people & are motivated only by a desire
to serve them.

In reality, political leaders are motivated by a desire

to advance their political careers.
 Issue with Political Competitions

They want to remain in power or get power &

positions for themselves

Wish to serve the people as well, but it is

risky to depend entirely on their sense of
duty.

Sometimes they may not know what is

required to do so, or their ideas may not
match what the people really want.
 How do we deal with this in real life
situation?

One way- To try & improve the knowledge &

character of political leaders.

The Other & more realistic way- To set up a

system where political leaders are rewarded for
serving the people & punished for not doing so.
 Who decides this reward or punishment?

Simple answer- The People

Regular electoral competition provides

incentives to political parties & leaders.

If the leader fail to satisfy the voters with their

work they will not be able to win again.
WHAT IS OUR SYSTEM
OF ELECTION?
● Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha
(Assembly) elections are held
regularly after every 5 years.

● After 5 years the Lok Sabha or

Vidhan Sabha stands ‘dissolved’.

● General election- Elections are held

in all constituencies at the same
time, either on the same day or
within a few days.

● By-election election is held only for

one constituency to fill the vacancy
caused by death or resignation of a
member.
 In our country we follow an
area based system of
representation.
Electoral
Constituencies
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.
 National Level

Lok Sabha election- India is divided

into 543 constituencies.

The representative elected from each

constituency is- Member of Parliament
or an MP
 CONSTITUENCY

Voters in a geographical
area who elect a
representative to the
legislative bodies.
 State Level
Each state is divided into a specific
number of Assembly constituencies.

The elected representative is called

the Member of Legislative Assembly or
an MLA.

Each Parliamentary constituency has

within it several assembly
constituencies.
 Village Level

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’.

Each constituency represents one seat in the

assembly.
 Reserved Constituencies

● Some constituencies are reserved for people

who belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC) &
Scheduled Tribes (ST).

● In the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the

SC and 47 for the ST (as on 26 January 2019).

● No. is in proportion to their share in the total

population.

● This system of reservation was extended later

to other weaker sections at the district & local
level.

● In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) &

urban (municipalities and corporations) local
bodies are now reserved for Other Backward
Classes (OBC) as well.

● Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved in

rural & urban local bodies for women
candidates.
ELECTORAL POLITICS

Lesson - 2
 Voters’ List

● In a democratic election, the list of

persons eligible to vote is prepared
much before the election & given to
everyone.

● This list is officially known as Electoral

Roll and is commonly known as the
Voters’ List.

● Responsibility of the government to

get the names of all the eligible voters
put on the voters’ list.
 First condition of a democratic election:
everyone should get an equal opportunity to
choose representatives.

UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE

● Everyone should have one vote & each

vote should have equal value.

● No one should be denied the right to

vote without a good reason.

● All citizens deserve to have an equal

say in decisions that affect them.
● All the citizens aged 18 years & above can
vote in an election.

● Every citizen has the right to vote,

regardless of his or her caste, religion or
gender.

● Some criminals & persons with 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
5 years.

A new system of Election Photo Identity Card

[EPIC] has been introduced.

However, 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.
 Nomination of Candidates

Anyone who can be a voter can also become a

candidate in elections.

Requirement- The candidate should be a

minimum of 25 years age.

Political parties nominate their candidates who

get the party symbol & support.
Party’s nomination is often called party ‘ticket’.

Candidate has to fill a ‘nomination form’ & 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

1. the candidate

Details of the assets & liabilities of the

2. candidate and his or her family

Educational qualifications of the

3. candidate.
ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
 Election Campaign

Main purpose of election- Give people a

chance to choose the representatives, the
government & the policies they prefer.

Why campaign is conducted?- To have a free

& open discussion about who is a better
representative and in turn, which party will
make a better government.

In India, 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 & political parties mobilise their
supporters.

In election campaigns, political parties try to

focus public attention on some big issues & get
them to vote for their party on that basis.
Use of Slogan in Different Elections
Some of the successful slogans given by different
political parties in various elections:

Congress Garibi Hatao (Remove poverty) in the Lok

party led by Sabha elections of 1971.
Indira Gandhi

Janata Party led by

Save Democracy in the Lok Jayaprakash
Sabha elections of 1977. Narayan

The
Left Land to the Tiller West Bengal Assembly
elections held in 1977.
Front

‘Protect the Self-Respect of the N. T. Rama Rao, the

Telugus’ Andhra Pradesh leader of the Telugu
Assembly elections held in 1983. Desam Party
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

● Spend more than 25 lakh in a

constituency for a Lok Sabha election or
10 lakh in a constituency in an Assembly
election.
● If an Political Party does so, their
election can be rejected by the
court.

● In addition to the laws, all the

political parties in our country
have agreed to a Model Code of
Conduct for election campaigns.
 Code of Conduct

A set of norms &

guidelines to be followed
by political parties and
contesting candidates
during election time.
 1

Use any place of worship for election

propaganda.

Use government vehicles, aircraft & 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.
 Polling and counting of votes

The day when the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote is

called the election day.

The voting is done in the following manner:

1. Every person whose name is on the voters’

list can go to a nearby ‘polling booth’.

2. 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.

3. An agent of each candidate is allowed to

sit inside the polling booth & 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 &
symbols are listed.

Nowadays, electronic voting

machines (EVM) are used to record
votes.
 The machine
shows the names
of the candidates
& the party
symbols.

The voter has to

just press the
The candidate who button against the
secures the name of the
highest number of candidate she
votes from a How does wants to give her
constituency is EVMs work? vote.
declared elected.

Once the polling

is over, all the
A few days later, all the EVMs are sealed
EVMs are opened & the & taken to a
votes secured by each secure place.
candidate are counted.
 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 &

newspapers report this event.

Within a few hours of

counting, all the results are
declared
WHAT MAKES ELECTIONS
IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
 Unfair Practices in Elections

Newspapers, TV news channels often report

about the malpractices such as :

● Inclusion of false names & 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; and

● Intimidation of voters and rigging on the

polling day
Independent Election Commission

In our country elections are conducted by an

independent & 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.

Election Commission is independent & has a

wide-range of powers.
Powers of Election Commission of India

Takes decisions on every aspect of conduct & 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, it can order the government

to follow some guidelines, to prevent the use & 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 & not the government.
 Popular Participation

It is a way to check the truth of free and fair

elections.

1. People’s participation in the election is

measured by voter turnout figures.

Turnout indicates the percent of eligible

voters who actually cast their vote.
2. In India, large proportion of votes- the
poor, illiterate & underprivileged people
as compared to the rich and privileged
sections.

3. Common people in India feel that

through elections they can bring
pressure on political parties to adopt
policies and programmes favourable to
them.

4. The interest of voters in election related

activities has been increasing over the
years.
Acceptance of Election Outcome

● Outcome of the election and its

acceptance speak volumes of the
success of election.

● If elections are not free and fair,

only powerful would win so the
ruling party could never lose
elections and losing party would
never accept the result.

● However, In India, ruling parties

often lose elections and small
parties or coalition governments
are formed on a regular basis.
 The ruling parties routinely lose elections in
1 India both at the national & state level

In the US, an incumbent or ‘sitting’ elected

representative rarely loses an election. In
2 India, about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs
lose elections.
 INCUMBENT

The current holder of a

political office. Usually the
choice for the voters in
elections is between the
incumbent party or
candidate and those who
oppose them.
3 Candidates who are known to have spent a
lot of money on ‘buying votes’ & those with
known criminal connections often lose
elections.

4
Barring very few disputed elections, the
electoral outcomes are usually accepted as
‘people’s verdict’ by the defeated party.
CHALLENGES TO FREE AND
FAIR ELECTION
● To conclude, elections in India are free
and fair. The party that wins an election
& forms government does so because
people have chosen it over its rival.

● However, this does not hold true for

every constituency. Some candidates
manage to win through muscle and
power (unfair means).

● But overall, the general elections are

free and fair so far the people’s verdict
guide the result of the elections.

● There are very few exceptions to this rule

in history of 60 years in our country.
 Candidates & parties with a lot of money
enjoy a big and unfair advantage over
smaller parties.
1

Candidates with criminal connections have

been able to push others out of the
electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from
major parties.
2

Tickets are distributed to relatives from

their families.
3
 Elections offer little choice to ordinary
citizens as major parties are quite
similar to each other, both in policies &
4 practice

Smaller parties & independent

candidates suffer a huge
disadvantage compared to bigger
parties.
5