Electoral Politics

Q1. What is universal adult franchise?

Ans. Everyone who is an adult (above 18 years in India) should have one vote and each vote
should have equal value. No one should be denied this right without a reason. Rich , poor,
educated, less educated, uneducated, male, female, everyone should have an equal
opportunity to choose their representative.
Q2. What is an election?
Ans. A mechanism by which people choose their representative at regular intervals and change
them if they wish to do so is called elections.
Q3. List some minimum conditions needed for a democratic election.
Ans. 1. Everyone should be able to choose- Everyone should have one vote and every vote
should have equal value.
2.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.
3. Choice should be offered at regular intervals- Elections must be held regularly after every
five years.
4.The candidate preferred by the people should be elected.
5. Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they
really wish.
These conditions are necessary to make an election democratic.
Q4. Is it good to have political competition? What are the demerits of electoral competition?
Ans. Yes, but competition has demerits. They are-
1.It creates a sense of disunity and factionalism in the country or locality.
2.Different political parties sometimes level allegations against one another.
3.Parties and candidates sometimes use dirty tricks to win elections.
4.The pressure to win sometimes does not allow sensible long-term policies to be formulated.
5.Some good people who wish to serve the country do not enter the political arena because of
this unhealthy competition.
In spite of the demerits, political competition in elections works better in the long run.
Q5. How to deal with political competition? How do we overcome the demerits of political
competition?
Ans. 1. To improve the knowledge and character of political leaders.
2.To set up a system where political leaders are rewarded for serving the people and punished
for not doing so.
3.Regular electoral competition should provide incentives to political parties and leaders.
4. Political parties should satisfy the voters with their work then only they can win again.
5. Service to the people should be the main reason for a party to win again and again, nothing
else should matter.
Q6. Why did our constitution makers give provisions for reserved constituencies?
Ans. 1. Our constitution makers 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
Legislature Assemblies. So, they choose to reserve some constituencies for the weaker
sections of the society.
2. They may not have the required resources, education and contacts to contest and win
elections against others.
3. Those who are influential and resourceful may prevent them from winning elections.
4. Our Parliament and Assemblies would be deprived of the voice of a significant section of our
population. This would make our democracy less representative and less democratic.
Q7. How are seats reserved in the Electoral System?
Ans. The number of seats reserved is in proportion to the share in the total population. This
proportion of reserved seats vary from State to State. Currently the number of seats reserved
in the Lok Sabha for Scheduled Caste is 84 and for Scheduled Tribe it is 47 seats.
Q8. How is the Electoral Roll or the Voters List prepared?
Ans.1. It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put
on the voters list.
2.As new persons attain voting age 18 years and above, names are added to the list.
3. Names of those who move out of a place or are dead are deleted.
4. A complete revision of the list takes place every five years to ensure it remains up to date.
Q9. How can a person become a ‘nominated candidate’?
Ans. 1. Political Parties nominate a candidate and is given a party symbol and the party
support. This is called getting a party ‘ticket’.
2. The nominated candidate has to fill up a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as
‘security deposit’.
3. A legal declaration has to be made by every nominated candidate about-
a. Any serious criminal cases are pending.
b. Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his/her family.
c. Educational qualification of the candidate.
4. The Supreme Court directive has made this legal declaration mandatory.
Q10.Discuss what happens during an election complain.
Ans. 1. There is a free and open discussion about who is a better representative, which party
will make a better government or what is a good policy for the country.
2. Two weeks period between the announcement of the final list of candidates and the date of
polling is given for campaigning.
3. Party candidates contact their voters, leaders address election meetings and parties
mobilize their supporters.
4. Newspapers and TV news are full of election related stories and debates.
5. Political parties try to focus public attention on big issues. They want to attract the public to
those issues and get them to vote for their party on that basis.
Q11. How are election campaigns regulated or state a few election laws that regulate
campaigning.
Ans. According to our election law, no party or candidate can –
a. Bribe or threaten voters.
b. Appeal to voters in the name of caste or religion.
c. Use government resources for campaigning.
d. Spend more than 25 lakhs in a constituency for Lok Sabha elections and 10 lakhs in a
constituency for State Assembly elections.
Q12. What is the model Code of Conduct for election campaigns?
Ans. 1. No party or candidate can use any place of worship for campaigning.
2. Use of government vehicles, aircrafts and officials are not allowed.
3. Once elections are announced, no ministers shall lay foundation stone of any project or take
a big policy decision or make promises of providing public facilities.
Q13. Explain how votes are counted and what happens on polling or election day.
Ans. 1. On election or poll day, every person whose name is on the voters’ list can go and to a
nearby polling booth situated usually in a local school or a government office.
2. Once inside, the voters enter the booth, an election official identifies him/her, puts a mark
on her finger and allows him/her to cast the vote.
3. An agent of each candidate is allowed to sit inside the polling booth and ensure that the
voting takes place in a fair way.
4. Earlier the voters used to indicate whom they wanted to vote by putting a stamp on the
ballot paper but now a days electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. All the
voters has to do is to press the button against the name of the candidate they want to give
their vote.
5. Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place.
6.After a few days all the EVMs from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each
candidate are counted.
7.The agents of all candidates are present there to ensure that counting is done properly.
8. The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared
elected.
9. In general elections, usually the counting of votes in all the constituency takes place at the
same day. TV, radio, newspapers report the event and within a few hours of counting, all
results are declared.
Q14. What are some of the allegations of wrong practices or unfair means that are put
during elections?
Or
What makes elections in India undemocratic?
Ans. 1. Inclusion of false names and exclusion of genuine in the voters list.
2.Misuse of government facilities and officials by the ruling party.
3. Excessive use of money by rich candidates and big parties.
4. Intimidation of voters and rigging on the polling day.
Q15.What makes elections in India democratic?
Ans. 1. In our country elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election
Commission.
2. The EC enjoys the same kind of independence like that of the judiciary.
3. The CEC- Chief Election Commissioner is appointed by the President of India but once
appointed, He/ She is not answerable to the President or the government. Even if the ruling
party or the government does not like what the EC does, it is impossible to remove the CEC.
4. The EC takes every decision on every aspect of conduct and control of elections.
5. Other ways to see if elections in India is democratic is to see people’s participation by voter
turnout figures, the social group of voters, the interest of voters and the acceptance of
election outcome.
Q16. Give arguments to prove that election outcomes in India has been free and fair.
Ans.1. The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state level.
2. In India, about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections, whereas, in USA, this is very
rare.
3. Candidates who spent a lot of money and with criminal connections often lose elections.
4. Barring a very few disputed elections, the outcome of elections is accepted by the people
and by the defeated party as ‘people’s verdict’.
Q17. What are some of the challenges faced by Indian elections?
Ans.1. 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 independents.
2.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.
3. Some families tend to dominate; political party’s tickets are distributed to relatives from
these families.
4.Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens for both the major parties are
quite similar to each other both policies and practice.
5. Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer huge disadvantage compared to bigger
parties.
These are some of the challenges faced by India as well as most democracies of the world.