Electoral politics
One Shot Live Revision Series
Date Class 10th Live @ 6:00 PM Daily Class 9th Live @ 8:45 PM Daily
17 Sep 23 The rise of nationalism in Europe The French Revolution
18 Sep 23 Resources and Development India - Size and Location
19 Sep 23 Power Sharing What is democracy? Why democracy?
20 Sep 23 Development The story of village Palampur
21 Sep 23 Nationalism in India Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution
22 Sep 23 Forest and Wildlife Resources Physical Features of India
23 Sep 23 Federalism Constitutional Design
24 Sep 23 Sectors of the Indian Economy People as Resource
25 Sep 23 Gender , Religion and Caste Electoral politics
26 Sep 23 Water Resources Drainage
Electoral politics
Introduction
Why Elections Assembly election in Haryana [case study]
● Why do we need elections?
● what makes an election democratic?
● Is it good to have political competition?
Why is our system of elections?
Electoral Constituencies Reserved Constituencies Voters’ list
Polling and Counting votes Election campaign Nomination of candidates
What makes elections in India Democratic?
● Independent election commission
● Popular participation
● Acceptance of election outcome
Challenges to free and fair elections
Electoral politics
Why Elections
The state assembly election in Haryana in 1987
Chaudhary Devi Lal and his “Nyaya Yudh”
Electoral politics
Why do we need elections?
Is there a democratic way of selecting
Situation in the absence of election
representatives without election?
Situation in democracy
People require a mechanism by which
ஃ Elections
they can choose their representatives
● They 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.
Electoral politics
What makes an election democratic?
● Everyone should have the right to choose representative. It
means everyone has one vote and every vote has equal value.
● Political parties and candidates should be free to contest
elections and offer some real choices to the voters.
● The choices should be offered at regular intervals by
conducting elections after a certain period.
● The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
● Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where
people can choose representatives according to their wish.
Electoral politics
Is it good to have Political Competition?
The electoral competition has many demerits.
● It creates a sense of disunity and party politics.
● Parties level allegations against each other of using dirty tricks to win elections.
● Long-term policies cannot be formulated.
● Elections provide incentives to political
Then Why do we have elections? parties and leaders.
● Force leaders and parties to serve people.
Electoral politics
What is our system of elections?
● In India, Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha election
are held regularly after every five years
● General Election V/S By Election.
The country is divided into different areas for purpose of
Electoral Constituencies elections. These are called Electoral Constituencies. Every
voter, who lives in an area, votes for one representative.
● For Lok Sabha → Country is divided into 543 constituencies [MP]
● For Vidhan Sabha election, each state is divided into specific number of assembly constituencies [MLA]
● The same principle applies for Panchayat and Municipal elections. Each village or town is divided into
different wards that are like constituencies.
Electoral politics
Reserved Constituencies
● Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to
Why?
the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)
● A few seats in Lok Sabha (84 for SC and 47 for ST) are reserved
for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STS)
● In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban
(municipalities and corporations) local bodies are reserved for
Other Backward Classes (OBC).
● One-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local
bodies for women candidates.
Electoral politics
Voter’s list
The list of those who are eligible to vote is officially called the
Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters' List.
As new persons attain voting age, names are added to
A complete revision and updation
the voters' list and names of those who move out of a
of voters list is require.
place or those who were died are deleted.
EPIC [Election Photo Identity Card]
Electoral politics
Nomination of Candidates
No restrictions, Anyone who is a voter can also become a candidate in
Who can contest elections?
elections. The minimum age required to contest an election is 25 years.
Political Parties Nominate their candidate
The candidate has to fill a nomination form and
Party Ticket give some money as a security deposit.
Legal Declaration for by Candidate
● Educational qualification of the candidate
● The information provided has to be made
● Details of the assets and liabilities of the public in order to provide
candidates and his/her family.
● opportunity to the votes to make the
● Serious criminal case pending against the decision on the basis of the information
candidate, provided by the candidates.
Electoral politics
Election Campaign
Election campaign means the promotion (or propaganda) of the policies, offers
How
and promises that the candidates make to voters to fulfill, if they are elected.
Try to focus on public attention Popular slogans in Election campaigns.
Sometimes it is necessary to regulate election campaign
ஃ 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
Code of conduct Set of rules which political Parties have to follow during the elections.
● No party or candidate can use any place of worship for election propaganda.
● No candidate can use government vehicles, aircrafts and officials for elections.
● Once elections are announced, ministers shall not lay foundation stones of any project, take any big policy decision or
make any promise of providing public facilities.
Electoral politics
Polling and Counting of votes
Election The final stage of an election is the day, when the voters cast or 'poll' their vote
● Goes to polling booth
● The election official identify him/her, put a mark on the voter's
finger and allow him/ her to cast his/ her vote
Ballot Paper EVM (Electronic voting machines)
● Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place. A few days later, on
a fixed 18 date, all the EVMs are opened, and the votes secured by each candidate are counted.
● The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared elected.
Electoral politics
What makes elections in India democratic?
Fortunately, they are not on
Instances of unfair
such a scale so as to defect the
practices in elections
very purpose of the elections.
There are many factors which ensure that elections held in India are democratic.
Independent Election Acceptance of Election
Popular Participation
Commission Outcome
Electoral politics
Independent Election Commission
In our country, elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC).
Powers enjoyed by the Election Commission are
● It 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.
● During the election period, the Election Commission can order the government to follow
some guidelines.
● Government officers on election duty, work under the control of the Election Commission
and not the government.
● If election officials come to the opinion that polling was not fair in some booths or even an
entire constituency, they order a repoll.
Electoral politics
Popular Participation
● Increase in the voters turnout. Turnout indicates the per cent of eligible voters
who actually cast their vote.
● In India, the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as
compared rich and privileged sections.
● Common people in India attach a lot of importance to elections [Vote matters].
● The interest of voters in election related activities has been increasing [one out of
every seven voter is a member of a political party]
Electoral politics
Acceptance of election outcome
Free and Fairness of election Ruling party lose elections and losing party accepts the outcome
● The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the National and State Level.
● In the US, an incumbent' or sitting elected representative rarely loses an election. But 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 connection often lose elections.
● Except some disputed elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted by the
defeated party as 'people's verdict'.
Electoral politics
Challenges to free and fair elections
● 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 independent candidates.
● Some candidates with criminal records are able to secure party tickets from major parties.
● Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from
these families.
● Elections offer only little choice to ordinary citizens as both the major parties are quite
similar to each other in policies and practice
● Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger
parties in terms of money power and organisational support.
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For Upcoming sessions
One Shot Live Revision Series
Date Class 10th Live @ 6:00 PM Daily Class 9th Live @ 8:45 PM Daily
17 Sep 23 The rise of nationalism in Europe The French Revolution
18 Sep 23 Resources and Development India - Size and Location
19 Sep 23 Power Sharing What is democracy? Why democracy?
20 Sep 23 Development The story of village Palampur
21 Sep 23 Nationalism in India Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution
22 Sep 23 Forest and Wildlife Resources Physical Features of India
23 Sep 23 Federalism Constitutional Design
24 Sep 23 Sectors of the Indian Economy People as Resource
25 Sep 23 Gender , Religion and Caste Electoral politics
26 Sep 23 Water Resources Drainage
