This course material is designed and developed by Indira Gandhi National

Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi and Krishna Kanta Handiqui State
Open University (KKHSOU), Guwahati.
 Bachelor of Arts
POLITICAL SCIENCES (BAPS)

BAPS-4
Political Process in India

Block-1
INDIAN PARTY SYSTEM
UNIT-1 PARTY SYSTEM IN INDIA: FEATURES AND
TRENDS
UNIT-2 VOTING BEHEVIOUR AND ITS DETERMINANTS:
CLASS, GENDER, AND RELIGION
UNIT-3 ELECTION COMMISSION: CONSTITUTION AND
FUNCTIONS
UNIT-4 ELECTORAL REFORMS

1
UNIT-1 PARTY SYSTEM IN INDIA: FEATURES AND
TRENDS

Structure
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Origin of Party Systems
1.3.1 The Human Nature Theory
1.3.2 The Environmental Explanation
1.3.3 Interest Theory
1.4 Meaning and Nature
1.5 Functions of Political Parties
1.6 Principal Types of Party Systems
1.6.1 One Party System
1.6.2 Two Party Systems
1.6.3 Multi-Party Systems
1.6.4 Two Party vs. Multi-Party Systems
1.7 A Critique of the Party System
1.8 Whether Party-less Democracy is Possible?
1.9 Summary
1.10 Key Words
1.11 Exercise
1.12 Reference

1.1 OBJECTIVES

This introductory unit of the first bock of the new course in political process in India
at the Bachelor‘s Degree level tells you about the Indian party system, after going
through this unit, you should be able to:
 Recall the origin of party system;
 Explain the meaning and nature of political parties;
 Describe the functions of political parties;
 List out various types of party system;
 Evaluate the merits and demerits of various kinds of party systems; and

1
  Explain the drawbacks as well as indispensability of party system in a
democracy.

1.2 INTRODUCTION

The role of party system in the operation of democratic polity is now generally well
recognized by Political Scientists and politicians alike. Democracy, as Finer observes,
"Rests, in its hopes and doubts, upon the party system." In fact, as democracy
postulates free organization of opposing opinions or 'hospitality to a plurality of ideas'
and political parties act as a major political vehicle of opinions and ideas, party
system is the sine qua non of democracy. Without party, the electorate would be
highly diffused and atomized, and opinions too variant and dispersed. The existence
of party-system is, therefore, necessary to bring public opinion to focus and frame
issues for the popular verdict. It is, therefore, very useful and interesting for students
of Comparative Politics to understand the origin, meaning, various kinds and merits
and demerits of the party system.

1.3 ORIGIN OF THE PARTY SYSTEMS

Political Scientists have offered several explanations for the origin of the party
system. These explanations can be broadly clubbed under three categories as
discussed below:

1.3.1 The Human Nature Theory

Under this category, three kinds of explanations have been put forward for explaining
the origin of the party system. Firstly scholars like Sir Henry Main argue that what
causes parties to rise is the characteristic tendency of human nature towards
combativeness. In other words, human beings form parties to give organized
expression to their combative instinct.

The second category of explanation under the human nature theory identifies the
human temperament as the cause of the emergence of political parties. To put it
differently, the diverse temperaments of individuals lead them to form different
parties. For instance, while persons having liking for the established order join right
of the political divide, others opposing the existing order join left of the political
spectrum. In other words, those who do not support change in existing system form
one party, and those who want reforms and changes get together in another party.

Third explanation concerning the human nature of origin of parties runs in terms of
the charismatic traits of political leaders. Since the dormant masses need leadership to
articulate their latent feelings, formation of a political party depends upon the
availability of dynamic political leadership who can inspire masses to work towards
achieving the goals of a particular party.
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1.3.2 Environmental Explanation

In addition to the above-mentioned explanations, considerable data is available to

show the role of the socio-economic environment in the evolution of the party system.
The modern Democratic Party system, for instance, is the result of at least two
significant political developments: the limitation of the authority of the absolute
monarchy and the extension of the suffrage to virtually all the adult population. It is
thus not surprising to find the historic roots of the party system both in the struggle of
the legislature to limit the king's prerogative and in the development of groups within
the expanded electorate taking sides in the battle or demanding recognition of their
interests. By 1680 the public policy of Britain had become the joint concern of both
King and Parliament, and the terms 'Whig' and 'Tory' were commonly applied to
those who, respectively, attacked and supported royal policy.

1.3.3 Interest Theory

As usual, while the above-mentioned explanations are partly correct, no single

explanation is adequate or completely true. Combativeness, for instance, is only one
of the various motivations of human behaviour. Similarly, age is an uncertain element
as an indicator of political attitude and dynamic of political leader is not permanent.
In view of the inadequacies of the aforesaid explanations regarding the origin of the
party system, the "interest theory" is advanced as a widely recognized hypothesis.
This theory is based on the basic assumption that various parties are formed on the
basis of various interests. In other words, parties serve as convenient agencies for the
expression of individual and group interests. The nature, extent and degree of an
individual's political activities are motivated by the range of interests he develops.
These interests grow out of interaction of his/her personality with his/her cultural
environment. Birth, education of a chance experience may, thus, determine an
individual's interest' which, in turn, may determine party affiliations.

While the 'interest theory' recognizes the significance of economic interests in

influencing an individual or group's decision to join a particular part or combination
of parties, this theory does not agree with the Marxist assumption of economic
determinism and its concomitant dichotomy of social classes. In fact, to reduce social
tensions to two embattled groups of "haves" and have-Not‘s" all along the economic
line is to oversimplify a complex One may, therefore, argue that the human beings
tend to support and vote for the political party that hold the prospect of achieving
their desired economic as well as socio-cultural objectives.

1.4 MEANING AND NATURE

Political party is a group of people that seeks to get its candidates elected to public
offices by supplying them with a label-a "party identification"-by which they are
known to the electorate. This definition is purposefully broad so that it will include

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both familiar parties (Democratic and Republican in the US for instance) and
unfamiliar ones (Whig, Libertarian, Socialist Worker) and will cover periods in which
a party is very strong (having an elaborate and well disciplined organization that
provides money and workers to its' candidates) as well periods in which it is quite
weak (supplying nothing but only the labels to its candidates.

This definition suggests three political arenas in which parties may be found. A party
exists as label in the mind of voters, as an organization that recruits and campaigns
for candidates, and as a set of leaders who try to organize and continue the legislative
and executive branches of government.

A careful look at the above-mentioned meaning of political party shows it‘s certain
hallmarks that distinguish it from similar groups such as temporary organizations,
interest groups or factions, etc. For instance temporary political organizations like
Food Price Committee or Famine Resistance Committee, etc., are formed for the
single purpose of supporting or opposing a particular temporary issue. Political
parties, on the other hand, have some degree of permanence. Secondly, political
parties are the only associational groups that are both open to all and have very wide
interests. This is because of the fact that they concern themselves with problems of
government and cannot concentrate on specific matters. They are open to all, because
they try to enlist the support of as many members of the polity as possible. It is in this
context that a political party is different from interest and pressure groups which work
only for the advancement of the cause of those groups.

Thirdly, parties must have definite aims and objectives. The objectives are often a
mixture of ultimate and immediate purposes. Party programmes contain ideas about
law and government, ideas about the shape of political things to come and each party
seeks to focus its own brand of political ideas. Fourthly, recognition, of material
advantages that go with the securing of the power of government, forms a part of
party programme. In fact, as we see in India today more often than not political
parties give priority to capturing power through they do this in the name of ideology
like opposing communication. In this sense as well, political parties are different from
interest or pressure groups as the latter do not nurse the constituencies for competing
at the polls to form the government. A political party is thus a coalition of group
interests pursuing general political policies. Pressure groups, on the other hand, are
the living 'public' behind the parties. Like interest and pressure groups, and unlike
political parties, factions are also not organized for political purposes. But at the same
time they do not possess ally continuous stable organizations. Factions may thus be
characterized as a group of persons serving sectional interests within a political party
rather than aggregate interests which parties usually champion for winning elections.

As the idea of a common interest and national unity sustains the constitutional appeal
to the polls, the logic of party system rejects the Marxian doctrine of class struggle.
This implies that parties transcend class-barriers and sectional interests by mutual
4
recognition of rights in the sense that in spite of their differences, political parties do
not disagree on everything. On the basic features of the system to which they belong,
there must be a consensus. Political parties may thus be defined as a group consisting
of cross-sections of human beings, more or less stable and organized, with the
objective, in accordance with the constitution, of securing or maintaining for its
leaders the control of a government, and of giving to members of the party, through
such control, ideal and material benefits and advantages.

1.5 FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Parties contribute to democratic government through the functions they perform for
the political system. These functions call broadly be divided under six categories:
Firstly, political parties unite sectional interests, bridge the geographical differences,
and induce cohesion. In other words, various interests are aggregated through the
instrumentality of parties. This ensures both order and system maintenance.

Secondly, political parties contribute to democratic government by nominating

candidates for election to public office. In the absence of parties, voters would be
confronted with a, bewildering array of self-nominated candidates, each seeking a
narrow victory over others on the basis of personal friendships, celebrity status or
name. Parties minimize this danger by setting up their candidates in different
constituencies. They carry out campaigns to win elections. They also defray the cost
of contesting elections where the candidate is a poor person.

Again, political parties help democratic government by structuring voting choice

reducing the number of candidates on the ballot to those who have realistic chance of
winning. Parties that have won sizeable portions of the vote in past elections are
likely to win comparable portions of the vote in future ones also. This discourages
non-party or non-serious candidates for running for the office. This in turn focuses the
election on the contest between parties and on candidates with established records,
which reduces the amount of new information that voters need in order to make a
rational decision.

In addition, parties also help voters to choose candidates by proposing alternative

programmes of government action in the form of party manifestos. 'The specific
policies advocated in an election campaign may vary from candidate to candidate and
from election to election, the types of policies advocated by candidates of one party
nonetheless usually tend to differ from those proposed by candidates of other parties.
In the case of the US, for example, even though the neutrality of the names of major
political parties, namely, Democratic and Republican suggests that they are
undifferentiated in their policies, in reality; however, these parties regularly adopt
very different policies in their platforms.

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Besides, parties help co-ordinate the actions of public officials. A government based
on the separation of powers like that of the Unites States, divides responsibilities for
making public policy. The President and leaders of the House and Senate are not
required to cooperate with one another. Political parties are the major means for
bridging the separation of powers, of producing co-ordinate policies that can govern
the country effectively. Individuals of the same party in the presidency, the House,
and the Senate are likely to share political principles and thus to cooperate in making
policy. In a parliamentary political system, where the formation and continuance of
the real executive, i.e., the Council of Ministers, depends on the support of the
majority in legislature, political parties perform the task of disciplining the members
of the majority to keep them united for providing the life line support to the
government. This role of political parties has, in fact, made them informal
governments in democracies as the powers of the legislature has now been usurped, to
a great extent, by political parties. Though victory is certainly the first commandment
of a political party, in a democracy defeat of party also does not mean its demise. In
that case, a party functions as a critic and watchdog of the government's policy.
Political parties thus play an extremely significant role in democracies. While, on the
one hand, they have to maintain and strengthen the structure of democratic norms and
values; on the other, they have to secure maximal community mobilisation for social
and economic development. Political parties have thus to induce both political and
socio-economic development.

1.6 PRINCIPAL TYPES OF PARTY SYSTEMS

As political parties represent various opinions in a democracy, a variety of political

parties should characterise democratic system. In reality, however, number of viable
parties differs from country to country in accordance with legal requirements and
peculiar circumstances obtaining in a particular country. In Great Britain and the
United States, for example, a two-party system prevails, while in majority of
countries including India and France, multi-party system has come in to existence. On
the other hand, in authoritarian and Communist countries like China one-party system
operates. It, therefore, appears useful to examine the relative merits and demerits of
these types of party systems.

1.6.1 One Party System

The one party or single party system is found upon the assumption that the sovereign
will of the state reposes in the leader and the political elite. This authoritarian
principle found expression first in monarchies, later in dictatorships and more
recently in some democracies. As the dictatorship needs a monopoly of power for its
survival, it abolishes all political parties. Though elections are conducted even in such
a regime if only to show the facade of popular support, the voter's choice is limited to
only one candidate.

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There may be some variations in the single party system prevailing in different
countries, but some of the common features of dictatorial parties in these countries
make them unique. These features are: (1) Such party is an official party in the sense
that it has a monopoly and is led by the same persons who rule; (2) membership of
such a party is usually made an essential requirement for acquiring at least important
government jobs; (3) this kind of party supervises the governmental efforts to
ideologically indoctrinate peoples; and (4) it is characterized by its elite personality.
The essential function of one-party system thus is not to elicit decisions from the
mass electorate on the big issue of politics, but to ensure discipline and obedience
among the people. In its organization and methods, it is more like an army than a
political party.

Obviously, therefore, a one-party system becomes necessarily totalitarian. As the sole

operator of a political system, the party extends its authority everywhere. The general
policy is decided by the dictates of the party. Every word the party declares is, like
the Delphic oracle, taken to be true. The source of all laws is the party, and no aspect
of individual and social life is immune from its potential control. Not surprisingly a
single-party system involves the abolition of freedom of speech and expression, press
and association. Accordingly, the line of distinction between society and the state is
blurred and the latter completely swallows up the former. This type of party system
was found in Fascist Italy under Mussolini who assumed power in 1922 and
systematically destroyed all parties except his own Fascist Party. In Germany, Hitler
came to power in 1933 and destroyed all opposition. In 1934, the party purged itself
of scores of prominent members of the party by shooting them down under the
pretence that they were resisting arrest. Similarly, there was only Communist Party
rule in former USSR and there were several purges between 1936 and 1938 by the
Communist Party.

Single mass parties have, of course, come to power in some of the Afro-Asian states
in the post-colonial era these countries include Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Turkey and
Mexico, etc. In Turkey, for instance, the People's Republican Party operated from
1923 to 1946 without killing democracy. Tanzania under Julius Nyerere, who
founded African National Union, is another example of single-party democracy. In
that country, though TANU was the only recognized party, yet voters did have a
choice of candidates from within that party as in each constituency more than one
TANU candidate was allowed to contest. In Kenya, the government banned the only
opposition party, Kenya African People's Union in 1969, but allowed the members of
that party to compete in elections.

One can, therefore, divide one-party system into two sub types: (I) authoritarian one-
party systems: and (2) non-authoritarian one-party systems. On the whole, however,
the emphasis of a one-party system is proverbially on the side of authoritarianism. It
proclaims its own brand of philosophy and a peculiar way of life to which the whole

7
society is forced to conform. As Barker observes, "The democratic criticism the one-
idea State is not a criticism of its object ..... It is a criticism of its whole process of
life." In fact, the monopolization of legality that I empower a party to be the sole
custodian of truth spells a grave danger for civilization itself

1.6.2 Two Party Systems

A two-party system is one where only two parties, despite the presence of other
parties, have substantial support of the electorate and expectation of forming the
government. Under this system, the majority of the elected candidates at a given time
belong to any one of the two major parties which form the government, while the
other party remains in the opposition. In such a system, there may exist more than
two parties, but actual or likely transfer of power takes place between two giant
parties only. The United States and the United Kingdom provide good examples of
two-party system. In the former, the Democratic and Republican parties are two giant
parties. In the UK, the transfer of power takes place between the two major parties,
the Labour and the Conservative.

There are, of course, certain differences between the American and British party
systems. While the American parties are not ideologically very much different from
each other-they are broker-bargaining parties to the point that each party achieves a
basically similar political consensus-the British parties, though also pragmatic, are,
generally speaking, ideologically distinct from each other. Recognizing these
differences the two party systems may be divided into (a) indistinct two-party system
in the US, and (b) distinct two-party system in Britain.

1.6.3 Multi-Party Systems

A multi-party system is one in which more than two major parties exist, who struggle
with each other for power but no party can alone secure absolute majority to rule. In
countries like India and several countries on the Continental Europe, such a system
exists, though in a variety of forms.

One can discern two kinds of multi-party systems from the point of view of stability
of government: (a) unstable multi-party-systems; and (b) working multiparty systems.
As its name indicates, the former does not provide stability. India today provides one
of the best examples of this, where recurring 'hung' Parliaments due to plethora of
parties has caused political instability at the union level since 1996. France under the
Third and Fourth Republics provides another example of this kind of party system,
where governments formed by coalition of parties rose and fell with dismaying
regularity. Italy provides yet another example, where hardly any party since the
Second World War has been able to win a majority of the seats in the Italian
Parliament.

8
The working multi-party systems, on the other hand, behave like two-party system
and thereby tend to provide stability to government, even though they have more than
two major political parties. Former West Germany, before the rise of the Social
Democratic Party as the government party, had characteristics of a two-party system
as two of the three major parties, working together, provided the government and the
Social Democrats remained in the opposition. In Norway, Sweden, Belgium and
Israel also the existence of various parties have not caused instability.

1.6.4 Two Party vs. Multi-Party Systems

Democracy has functioned as successfully in multi-party systems as in two-party

systems. There are, however, certain relative advantages and disadvantages of a
particular system. To begin with, the supporters of multi-party system argue that : (a)
it more effectively corresponds to the division of public opinion especially in a plural
society like India; (b) it represents and satisfies the aspirations of diverse interest
groups; (c) under this system, a voter can choose among more parties and candidates
than available under the two-party system; (d) it reduces the fear of absolutism of the
majority; and filially (e) it is more flexible because under this system groups can be
freely organized, can unite and separate in accordance with the exigencies of the
circumstances.

In theory the multi-party system, has much in its favour, in practice not so much. As
we see in India today, inability of any single party to command absolute majority and
consequent inevitability of forming coalition government led to the crisis of stable
government in India. The members of the Council of Ministers instead of working
under the leadership of the Prime Minister seek guidance from their party bosses and
even a single Member of Parliament tries to blackmail the government by threatening
to withdraw its support. Not surprisingly, the government does not find enough time
to devote attention to the task of governance as it remains busy with keeping its
partners in good humour even at the cost of national interest. The major party is also
forced to abandon its electoral pledge to cobble a majority in the lower house of
legislature. The Cabinet in consequence comes to represent, not a general body of
opinions, but a patchwork of doctrines leading to a gap between the electorate arid the
government.

Notwithstanding all these attempts, such a government falls sooner than later as it is
kept hostage by disparate elements trying to extract maximum pound of flesh from
the government. Once the government finds it impossible to concede there absurd
demands, the dissident party withdraws support from the government as the Congress
Party (1997) and All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazliagam (AIADMK) (1999)
have done in India in recent years forcing elections at the cost of great loss to the
nation. Government instability and multi-party systems are thus twins. Again, as there
are several parties vying with one another, there is no organized opposition and it is
riot possible to predict which parties are going to constitute the government after the
9
fall of the predecessor. Finally, the multi-party system intensifies the complexity of
choice. The general mass of electorate is bewildered by the presence of a multitude of
parties. Laski, therefore, concludes that the multi-party system "is fatal to government
as a practical art."

On the other hand, the supporters of two-party system argue that it enables the people
to Choose their government directly at the polls as voter is not perplexed by a
multiplicity of candidates and he ‗can simply opt between the two. Secondly, it
provides unity of policy in the government since the party in power does not have to
depend upon ally other. This facilitates effectiveness of the government. Thirdly, two
parties hold each other in check and prevent either from being too extreme, since each
party shall try to win over the supporters of the other and to appeal to independent
voters. Fourthly, as democracy is supposed to be guided by the public opinion, the
two-party system provides an ideal condition for debating the issues between two
opposite camps. Laski, therefore, observes, "a political system is more satisfactory,
the ‗more it is able to express itself through the antithesis of two great parties."

But the two-party system has to pay certain price for the stability provided by it. This
system implies that there are only two schools of thought in a country. In reality,
however, there is always a variety of opinions and ideas present in process of political
thought and discussion. This is seldom recognized in a two-party system. Certain
artificiality is thus inevitably introduced into this system leading ' to the establishment
of vested interests in public opinion which is best illustrated by the American spoils
system. In addition, the two-party system brings about the decline of legislature and
paves the way for cabinet dictatorship. The party in power backed by a solid majority
inside the legislature reduces the latter to its play-thing.

In view of the above-mentioned advantages and disadvantages of the multi-party and

two-party systems, it is not prudent to lay down a general rule concerning the
desirability of a particular type of party system in all countries. As such the merits
and demerits of the various party systems need to be seen in the context of various
social, economic and historical forces at work in a given country. The whole world
need not be patterned according to English or American way of life. In fact, what is
most crucial in this regard is the nature of political culture. If the splintering process
in the multi-party structure operates within a broad framework of normative and
institutional consensus, the party structure is not likely to experience enormous strain
as we find in tile case of Scandinavian countries.

1.7 A CRITIQUE OF THE PARTY SYSTEM

In recent years the party system has become the object of much criticism almost
everywhere. Firstly, under this system the perpetual struggle for political power turns
the legislature into a battle field and in the process national interests are ignored.
Secondly, it encourages insincerity as specious issues are often raised to divert public
10
attention. Thirdly, parties tend to become autonomous in the sense that principles and
national interests are subordinated for the sake of winning elections. Fourthly, parties
unnecessarily extend national political issues to local elections. Fifthly, the practice of
rewarding party members, known as the spoils system in the US, constitutes a
dereliction from principles. Sixthly, "party spirit is accused of debasing the moral
standards", as scruples are sacrificed at the altar of party interest. Seventhly, as parties
have to mobilize funds for contesting elections, they have to reward the donors after
winning the elections leading to corruption. Finally, parties are often run by leaders
and their small cliques in the name of masses thereby frustrating the will of the
people for better government.

1.8 WHETHER PARTYLESS DEMOCRACY IS POSSIBLE?

The aforesaid criticisms notwithstanding political parties are indispensable in modern

democracies. If democracy is regarded as a government by the people, then political
parties must be accepted as a necessary institution. Parties act as the major political
vehicle of opinions and ideas by framing issues for popular verdict. Parties also
bridge economic and geographic gaps of sectionalism and seek a compromise on
public policy. Besides, parties are eminent educators as they bring down political
issues to the common people. The party system also ensures responsibility as the
opposition parties keep a constant vigil on the government. Parties are thus the only
means through which the people, who are ultimate political sovereign, can control the
government. The party system alone provides a method of securing a change of
government by constitutional and peaceful means. That is why, despite the strong
disliking of the framers of the American Constitution, party system emerged in the
US within a few years of its operation. The talk of party-less democracy advocated by
Indian leaders like Jay Prakash Narayan is nothing but an utopia.

1.9 SUMMARY

A political party is an organization through which individuals and groups work to

secure political power and, if successful, to translate those policies and programmes
into reality. They have come into existence due to several factors that include human
distinct of combativeness, their temperamental differences, dynamic leadership,
social and political changes like limitations imposed on the monarchy and extension
of adult suffrage as also divergent interests of the people.

There are three principal kinds of party systems, namely, single party system, two-
party system and multi-party system. While one-party system is generally regarded
anti-democratic, bi-party and multi-party systems have their respective advantages
and disadvantages. What is crucial therefore is the political culture of a country that
determines the suitability of a particular kind of party system for that country. While
the party system has certain drawbacks, it is essential for the working of a democracy
as parties stand between the electorate and the government.
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1.10 KEY WORDS

Political Party: A group operating to secure the control of a government.

Party System: A political configuration that exists in a country as a result of legal

requirements and long term influence on number and strength of parties.

Totalitarian System: Where a single party rules at the cost of individual freedom
and democracy.

Political Culture: The sum-total of attitudes, beliefs, norms and values of the people
towards the political system and political issues.

1.11 EXERCISE

1. What is human nature theory?

2. What is interest theory?
3. Explain the Meaning and Nature of political theory.
4. What are the different functions of political parties?
5. What is one party political system?
6. What is multi-party system?
1.12 REFERENCE
 N. Menon and A. Nigam, (2007) ‗Power and Contestation: India since 1989‘,
London, Fernwood Publishing, Halifax and Zed Books.
 R. Vora and S. Palshikar (eds.) ‗Indian Democracy: Meanings and Practices‘,
New Delhi, Sage.
 Shah, G (ed.) ‗Social Movements and the State‘, New Delhi, Sage
Publications.
 P. deSouza and E. Sridharan (eds.) ‗India‘s Political Parties‘, New Delhi, Sage
Publications.
 A S. Ganguly, L. Diamond and M. Plattner (eds.) ‗The State of India‘s
Democracy‘, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.
 M. Duverger, political parties (New York: Wiley. 1954)
 Jean Blondel, an Introducrion to comparative government (London:
Weidenfed and Nicolson, 1969)
 S. E. Finer, comparative government (London: Allen Lane, The Penguin
Press, 1970)
 H. Eckstein and David E. Apter, comparative politics, (London, 1963)
 Roy C. Macridis and Bernard Brown, comparative politics (Dorsey, 1964)
 Amal Ray and Mohit Bhattacharya, political theory: ideas and institutions
(Calcutta : The world press,1994), chapter- 27

12
UNIT-2 VOTING BEHAVIOR AND ITS
DETERMINANTS: CASTE, CLASS,
GENDER AND RELIGION
Structure

2.1 Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Historical Background
2.3.1 Elections: Meaning and Nature
2.3.2 Electorate: Meaning and Nature
2.3.3 Elections and Electorate in India
2.3.4 Elections in India
2.3.5 General Overview
2.4 Who Can Vote?
2.5 Who Can Stand For Election?
2.6 Election Commission of India
2.6.1 Electoral Reforms
2.6.2 Psephology in India
2.7 Determinants of Voting Behaviour in India
2.8 Voting and Electoral Representation in India
2.9 Voting Behaviour in India: Recent Trends
2.10 Summary
2.11 Exercise
2.12 Reference
2.1 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
 Explain what is voting behavior
 Understand the meaning of elections and electorate
 Trace the evolution of election in India
 Understand the importance of Election Commission of India
 Appreciate the various determinants of voting behavior in India
 Analyse the recent trends in voting behavior in India

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2.2 INTRODUCTION

This unit will try to understand the interrelation between the perceived social base of
political parties and their reflection in electoral arena, which is the study of voting
behavior. Indian society is extremely complex having interplay of various factors –
caste, religion, class, education, employment, rural, urban, governance, multiparty
system – which influence the voting behavior pattern of the citizen. Though it is
extremely difficult to point out one or two factors which affects determines voting
behavior in India but political party affiliation is a broad indicator of voting behavior.
Psephology as a discipline of voting behavior analysis tries to understand the
determinates of voting behavior in India primarily through National Election
Survey(NES) conducted by Lokniti-Centre for Studies in Developing
Societies(CSDS), New Delhi.

2.3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

2.3.1 Elections: Meaning and Nature

Elections are the most important direct means of achieving political goals,
expectations, or experience. It is as a device for controlling political leaders that
elections fulfill their most important function; it is by their effectiveness in doing so
that their utility must in the last resort be judged. If they are effective, then the whole
political culture is thereby transformed. Elections become a non-violent way of
solving a difficulty common to all political systems - how to organize the succession
from one group of men holding authority to another. There can be no government by
consent without the ritual of voting; and the right to vote periodically opens up
countless indirect methods of expressing wishes and grievances at other times. Since
elections are a device for expressing choice, we must assume that the participants are
capable of making meaningful decisions. Before they can do this, they must have
access to the necessary information, they must be willing to absorb it, and they must
be able to draw conclusions about it. Few people are sufficiently interested in politics
to follow or discuss current affairs regularly. Fewer still are accurately informed, or
rethink their position in the light of this information from one election to the next.
Election is a process whereby the relation between the political parties and the
citizens get formalized and it acts as a linkage mechanism. While democracy clearly
involves things other than voting - such as a free press and civil rights - elections are
still its fundamental and defining feature. In the case of India, there is perhaps little
need to argue why one should take interest in elections. Since her independence in
1947, parliamentary democracy has been the central political mechanism governing
India. Elections are conducted at the various levels of the federal structure in India.
There is a nation-wide election that returns representatives of the people to the Lok
Sabha and a state level election for the State Legislative Assemblies and at the
grassroots level there are elections for local bodies like the three-tiered Panchayati
Raj system in rural areas and municipal governments in urban areas.
14
Electoral systems, the set of rules that structure how votes are cast at elections and
how these votes are then converted into the allocation of offices, have the potential to
play a significant role in influencing a country‘s political system. Proportional
Representation (PR) systems provide a closer relationship between the distribution of
votes and seats (any party can gain seats only in proportion to the percentage of votes
that it gains. There will not be any difference between the percentage of votes and the
percentage of seats. Thus only parties with more percentage of voter support can
come to power. In PR system majority means more than 50% of votes); non-PR or
majoritarian systems (as is practiced in India which is based on single member
constituencies known as ‗first-past-the-post‘ [FPTP]) are more likely to produce
single-party governments and something approaching a two-party system.

2.3.2 Electorate: Meaning and Nature

While the word ‗voter‘ stand for citizens casting their vote, the word ‗electorate‘
means a more meaningful actor whereby the ‗voter‘ is added with a consciousness of
the significance of his role in the ‗voting‘ process – i.e. ‗voting in‘ or ‗voting out‘ a
particular political force. Electorate is a loaded term signifying a conscious
autonomous actor in the day of election.

The ability to register one‘s existence through such a physical presentation of one‘s
body (and vote) at the ballot box is the ultimate validation of one‘s identity as a
citizen, above everything else in a more appealing and dignified mode. The vote is
felt to possess both symbolic power, in expressing people‘s self-respect and self-
worth, and instrumental power, in helping to ward off potential attacks by the state
upon that self-worth. The vital importance of such power for dignity and survival,
along with the appealing formal equality of the vote‘s operation and the sense of
dutiful participation as citizen-subjects which it affords, together generate that deep
felt sense of ‗something sacred‘ which gives a moral and emotional core to the ritual
elements of the election and draws India‘s voters irresistibly towards it. To call them
sacred therefore is not to imply that there is anything ―religious‖ about them, but to
signify inviolability. For at their best, elections facilitate moments of political ―anti-
structure‖ and allow for different political imaginaries to be configured.

The electoral culture in the broad sense of the term is the part of overall political
culture which refers nation‘s faith and confidence in people‘s mandate, propensity in
democratic way of finding solution to the various problems before the nation, the
involvement of the people in electoral system as well as electoral behavior and the
way of looking at election. The electoral culture generates a set of electoral trends; it
encourages electoral process and motivates an electoral philosophy as a democratic
way of life. India‘s electoral culture is based on mass oriented issues, character and
issue oriented leadership as well as circumstantial compulsions.

15
2.3.3 Elections and Electorate in India

The cutting edge of the interface between society and politics is election. Election is a
process whereby the relation between the political parties and the citizens get
formalized and it acts as a linkage mechanism. In fact, the minds of the people in
general are reflected or represented in the results of the elections. With the continuous
operation or mobility of political system, people hover around the methods which are
in vogue for expression of popular sentiments. As a thriving democracy India has
acclaimed fame mostly for its ability to hold continuous free and fair elections since
1951 at national, state and local levels under the supervision of the Election
Commission of India. While democracy clearly involves things other than voting -
such as a free press and civil rights - elections are still its defining feature.

The emphasis on the individual voter‘s inadequacy for his responsibilities is one
frequently-voted criticism of the electoral process. But the voter, too, has his
complaints, as he perceives how little influence he has on the way he is governed. It
illustrates a problem common to all advanced well established democracies – Eastern
or Western. The gap between those who take the decisions and those who have to
carry them out is becoming wider everywhere, partly because of the growing
centralization of power, whether political or economic, but also because of the
increasing reliance on ‗technocrats‘ who command skills which the ordinary man
does not understand. The distance between the citizen- however generously the
constitution may define his rights- and the real source of power appear to be getting
greater and greater all the time. More and more power seems to be concentrated into
the hands of the manager, the planner, the party boss, the trade union leader. But there
is a peculiarly Indian dimension to this international problem. India has a liberal
democratic political system where elections after a specified period determine the
political destiny of the ruling class or authority. In contrast to the West, the notion of
party-loyalty is extremely weak in India as a result of which electoral behavior is not
stable in India. And since parties swim in a society characterized by multiple loyalties
– caste, religion, tribe, kin and lineage, a person‘s party preference does not
determine his final choice. The behavior of the majority of the electorate is
determined by factors other than party-identification., i.e. – social location

Every year National Voters‘ Day (NVD) is observed on 25th January, a practice that
was initiated in 2011 to commemorate the foundation day of the Election
Commission of India and also to enhance the participation of the voters, especially
the youth, in the democratic process. The Election Commission‘s objective behind
National Voters‘ Day is to increase enrolment of voters, especially of the newly
eligible ones, by using this occasion to make universal adult suffrage a complete
reality, and thereby enhance the quality of Indian democracy. The Commission‘s
objective through NVD is to increase enrolment of voters, especially of the newly
eligible ones, to make universal adult suffrage a complete reality. The day is also

16
utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the
electoral process.

2.3.4 Elections in India

The Indian freedom struggle culminated in Indian independence in 1947. Elections in

India became a regular feature from 1952 onwards. The spirit of freedom and
autonomous decision making in independent India is reflected by cross section of
Indian citizen through the act of voting which is also known as adult franchise. Every
citizen above 18 years of age is eligible to vote and exercise his or her choice in these
elections. This is called universal adult franchise. Elections in India have provided
many different kind of results reflecting the changing nature of party system in India
– from one party dominant system(Congress era from 1947-1977) to coalition politics
(1990-2014) to a second one party dominant system era(2014 till date). These
electoral verdicts reflect the growing uncertainty among citizen as voter regarding a
perfect political system in India.

2.3.5 General Overview

The cutting edge of the interface between society and politics is election. Election is a
process whereby the relation between the political parties and the citizens get
formalized and it acts as a linkage mechanism. In fact, the minds of the people in
general are reflected or represented in the results of the elections (poll verdicts). With
the continuous operation or mobility of political system, people hover around the
methods which are in vogue for expression of popular sentiments. As a thriving
democracy India has acclaimed fame mostly for its ability to hold continuous free and
fair elections since 1952 at national, state and local levels under the supervision of the
Election Commission of India. While democracy clearly involves things other than
voting - such as a free press and civil rights - elections are still its defining feature. In
the analysis of Indian parliamentary representative democracy the extent of freedom
of the individual self brings to the fore two points- (i) the significance of the act of
voting and (ii) the promise and its fulfillment before and after the vote by the
proposed and actual representatives. These two points underscore the significance of
the role of electorate (a person - a conscious person, who takes part in directly
electing his/her representatives) and the direction of the electoral behaviour (the way
in which electorates elect representatives in the context of the prevailing socio-
political and economic milieu).

India appears unique in the South Asian region as a country characterized by vast
poverty and widespread illiteracy, nevertheless managing to maintain the civil
liberties and democratic politics bequeathed to it by an enlightened colonial power, in
spite of a two-year long hiatus of ‗Emergency Rule‘. The literature on Indian
elections notes swings in electoral fortune from election to election, identifying most
of them as critical or realigning to focus attention on specific time points when large

17
segments of the electorate significantly and enduringly changed their propensity to
support one or another political party. The I977 election, rather than being one in a
string of realigning elections, needs to be seen as the critical breaking point between
two periods of stability for both the Congress and opposition. In the Indian context,
however, the factional nature of the opposition concedes a significant electoral
advantage to the Congress Party, a concession which does not exist in the two-party
American system. The two consecutive term of the coalition government at the centre
led by Congress (UPA I & UPAII [2004-2014]) brings home the point. The result is a
political system characterized by ‗contained volatility‘. The system is contained by
high levels of repeat voting and partisan stability. Volatility is not the result of shifts
in voter loyalties between parties. Instead, as with more established democratic
systems, volatility is largely to be found in the mobilization of the young and those
previously standing outside of the political mainstream. For India, the dynamic
impact of this mobilization has been dramatic and frequent.

2.4 WHO CAN VOTE?

Elections in India are based on the principle of universal adult suffrage that any
citizen over the age of 18(before 1989 the age limit was 21) can vote in an election.
During the period of British rule, women were enfranchised on the same terms as
men under the Government of India Act of 1935; following independence, the Indian
Constitution, adopted in 1949 and functional in 1950, established adult suffrage. The
right to vote is irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. Only those who are
deemed unsound of mind, and people convicted of certain criminal offences are not
allowed to vote. There has been a general increase in the number of people voting in
Indian elections. In 1952 61.16 percent of the electorate voted. By 2009, the turnout
for the general election was 58.93 per cent. There have been even more rapid
increases in the turnout of women and members of the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes, who had tended to be far less likely to participate in elections, and
voting for these groups has moved closer to the national average.

2.5 WHO CAN STAND FOR ELECTION?

Any Indian citizen, man or woman, who is registered as a voter and is over 25 years
of age, is allowed to contest elections to the Lok Sabha or State Legislative
Assemblies. For the Rajya Sabha the age limit is 30 years. Nominations must be
supported at least by one registered elector of the constituency, in the case of a
candidate sponsored by a registered Party and by ten registered electors from the
constituency in the case of other candidates. Returning Officers, appointed by the
Election Commission, are put in charge to receive nominations of candidates in each
constituency, and oversee the formalities of the election.

18
2.6 ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

The Election Commission of India is one of the pillars of Indian democracy. Election
Commission of India is a permanent Constitutional body. The Election Commission
was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950 under
Article 324. Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India. It was
with the coming of T.N. Seshan as CEC (1990-1996) that Election Commission
started to gain attention among the political parties. It is said that prior to
Seshanisation of the Election Commission of India, it was used as a doormat by the
political parties participating in elections. Seshan introduced Model Code of Conduct
for political parties participating in the elections and introduced Electoral Voting
Machines (EVMs) in place of paper ballot for all elections in India to curb the
politicization of ballot in polling booths. Election Commission of India and State
Election Commission of India are responsible presently for the free and fair conduct
of elections all over the country.

2.6.1 Electoral Reforms

Electoral reforms refer to the changes and suggestions made by the Election
Commission to ensure conditions for peaceful polling. The electoral reforms in India
have mostly been directed to the political parties and candidates like ensuring model
code of conduct, filling of assets, formalizing EVM for polling, etc and are thus
political in nature aiming at procedural and technical changes. Dinseh Goswami
Committee May 1990 and Indrajit Gupta Committee May 1995 reports are considered
milestones in these variants of reforms. National Commission to Review the Working
of the Constitution, headed by Justice Venkatchaliah in its report (Jan 8, 2001)
recommended that ―no major constitutional amendment is required‖ for electoral
reforms. However many recommendations of NCRWC have already been
implemented by this time. The Supreme Court of India in May, 2002, directed the
Election Commission to make all information about the contesting candidates
available to the voter compelling the contesting candidates to submit an affidavit
regarding the details only of his/her property including the property of his wife/her
husband before submission of nomination paper.

2.6.2 Psephology in India

Psephology, i.e. science of voting behavior is a new sub field in the study of politics.
The modern history of academic voting research began in 1940 at Columbia
University, where a team of social scientists assembled by Paul Lazarsfeld pioneered
the application of survey research to the study of electoral behavior. The results of the
1940 Columbia study were published in The People‘s Choice: How the Voter Makes
up His Mind in a Presidential Campaign. A second panel study conducted by the
Columbia team in Elmira, New York, in 1948 provided the basis for an even more
influential book, Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign
19
(Berelson, et al: 1954). Together, these two volumes defined a set of questions and
research methods that have had a variety of profound effects on subsequent work in
the field. The most ambitious attempt by contemporary scholars to integrate analyses
of public opinion, electoral behavior, party politics, and public policy is Robert
Erikson, Michael MacKuen, and James Stimson‘s (2002) volume, The Macro Polity.
Scholarly interest in the study of elections in India almost accompanied the first
exercise of Universal Adult Franchise in 1952. Foreign scholars like David Elkins
(1977), Myron Weiner (1965), Paul Brass (1993) and others have taken keen interest
in studying electoral politics in India. Among the Indian scholars the prominent are
Rajni Kothari (1971), V.M. Sirsikar(1973), Iqbal Narain(1973), Bangendu Ganguly
and Mira Ganguly(1975), Basheerduddin Ahmed(1978), B. B. Jena (1989), Subrata
Mitra(1999), Yogendra Yadav(1999;2004), Nirija Gopal Jayal(2006), Sanjay
Kumar(2013).

After reviewing the available literature in India, Iqbal Narain in their book, Election
Studies in India grouped the psephological studies in India broadly under the
following heads – (i) Macro/Micro level generic studies which were usually based on
secondary sources, particularly the newspapers, though supplemented sometimes by
personal interviews (ii) Macro-level aggregate data analysis which was done mostly
by foreign scholars (iii) Voting behavior studies, though numerous are still to go a
long way (iv) Specific foci studies which are only few covering such topics as
nomination process, campaign strategy and styles, Muslim votes, SC/ST voters and
the like. B.D. Graham finds that Indian election studies have two kinds of theories:-
(a) Enlightenment theory which maintains that old barriers like caste and religion are
falling down (b) Transactional theory which maintains that Electorates are governed
by coalition of leaders and also sub-leaders than by political parties.

While election studies have proliferated over the years, they have failed to equip us
with any expertise either in the anticipation and prediction of electoral outcomes or in
understanding electoral processes in general. Their contribution in enabling us to
arrive at any precise formulations about the political behaviour of the Indian
electorate has been marginal. This is dismaying as a huge quantum of scarce national
resources has been involved in the whole enterprise of election studies. It is not
argued here that election studies should be abandoned altogether. While their
predictive capability is limited, they may still provide a cumulative, long-term view
of the processes of politicisation of the electorate and of the development of India‘s
political system. The election and voting behavior studies have also been quite weak
in methodological dimension. There has also been limited use of anthropological
method. Another important limitation of election studies in India is that in most cases,
election-studies are handled by ad-hoc units hurriedly set up on the eve of election. In
this connection, it is observed that election studies are in serious danger of becoming
hurriedly carried out survey by people not fully immersed in the study of Indian
democracy. Altogether the lacunae of psephological studies at substantive theoretical

20
and methodological levels are, however, the byproducts of the weak-grounding of
Indian political scientists‘ in analytical political theory and the use of research
methods and techniques. Iqbal Narain and others made some vital recommendations
for future improvement. These recommendations are :- (a) the studies of election
politics and voting behavior should be related to the socio-economic political contexts
on the one hand and to the political system on the other. (b) Voting behavior studies
should be conducted within the framework of election politics only. (c) As no single
method can be exclusively relied upon, the psephologists should seriously consider
the issue of blending two or more methods. In this context one is reminded of Alan.
R. Ball‘s apt opinion: ―Within the complex arena of voting behavior three approaches
stand out: first the party identification model, second: the rational choice approach,
third: the sociological approach…All the approaches have to struggle with
methodological problems, especially those of defining concepts; and the societies
they analyse are not static‖

2.7 DETERMINANTS OF VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN INDIA

From the literature on electoral behavior in India, one can find the following factors
as major determinants of voting behavior in India(with reference to the social location
of the individual):-

(a) Party-identification: - Party-identification acts as one of the main factors

in attributing a behavioural tendency for voting patterns in India.

(b) Issues: - By forming an identification of issues with local constituency the

candidature or the party aims at gathering support from voters.

(c) Immediate Gains: - Myopic voters with a short time horizon will tend to
favour those candidates that can offer immediate incentives.

(d) Candidate: - A ―good‖ candidate has considerable chance of winning

elections in India. Personality, credibility and performance of the candidate
are taken into account by the Indian voter.

(e) Policy-programme: - Promise of policy is more important even than a

candidate to a vote before the elections.

(f) Anti-Incumbency Wave: - Anti-incumbency factor is a major determinant

in many elections in India that refers to the fact of ruling parties routed
routinely in most of the states assembly polls forcing governing coalitions to
replace incumbents with fresh candidates.
21
(g) Charismatic Leadership: - Populism and Personalism are being
encouraged to influence voters. Charisma of leader is used to a large extent to
garner support from the people. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Behari
Vajpayee, Jyoti Basu are the example of this point.

(h) Religion: - The influence of religion on voting behavior has become

important in India as the religious groups act as ―vote-banks‖.

(i) Caste: - In India, considerable importance is assigned to caste based

voting. The local voter assumes greater weight to caste-issues. There has been
politicization of castes in India. Caste groups also act as ―vote-banks‖ like
Lingayats and Okkalingas in Karnataka(assembly poll results of 2013 was
influenced highly by these groups), Yadavs, Rajputs, Jats, Thakurs,
Bhumihars and Kurmis in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

(j) Region: - The post 1977 electoral politics notices state-specific electoral
verdicts with growing emphasis on problems and issues at the regional level.
When caste no longer remains traditional vote-bank, the ―regional
identification‖ dominates the voters‘ mind in India today.

(k) Local Elites: - Local elites play a dominant role in identification of voters
choice as they act as a means of coercion for the individual at the village.

(l) Ideology: - Often ideology plays a role in voter‘s mind. Recent elections in
India, however, find expression in the decline of ideology, particularly in the
coalition-era.

(m) 3-M’s Power (Money-Mafia-Ministerial):- The increasing role of the

violence and crime related behavior with regard to party-connections with
money, mafia and ministerial power has led to the emergence of
criminalization of politics which overtly or covertly influence the voting
behavior.

(n) Media-Wave: - ‗Fringe-voter‘ under the impact of media-wave sometimes

decides the fate of elections as the mass media, particularly in our times of

22
 24x7 news channels, has the capacity to bring matters to the attention of the
public or to conceal them – a process referred to as ‗agenda setting‘ .

(o) Class: - The class factor, i.e. the economic interest sometimes exerts
influence upon the Indian voter to make a choice.

(p) Marginal Individual Voter: - Today, caste-group or class-group influences

are playing a smaller role in India elections. It is the individual who is the
centre of political mobilization. Re-election or election of parties or
candidates crucially depends on how they can integrate the ―marginal voter‖
into the political sphere.

2.8 VOTING AND ELECTORAL REPRESENTATION IN INDIA

Voting behavior is a field of study concerned in the ways in which people tend to vote
in public election and the reasons why they vote as they do. The study of the factors
or situations which inspire and influence the voter to exercise his right to vote in
favour or against a particular candidate is called voting behavior. More than the level
of turnout, what is most striking about the Indian elections is the pattern of political
participation that defies commonsensical expectations and academic theories alike in
at least three respects. First, turnout in the Indian elections defies the general trend,
especially in older democracies, of decline over time. In the last five decades the
overall pattern is that of stable and even increasing turnout in elections. Second, the
turnout tends to go up as one goes down the tiers of democracy. As noted above, the
turnout in the local and state elections tends to be substantially higher than that in the
national elections. Finally, the turnout is not lower among citizens at the lower end of
the social and economic hierarchy; if anything, the reverse is true, since a poor, low
caste person is more likely to vote here than an upper caste, upper class person. Also,
the rural electorate votes more than their urban counterparts; voting in the tribal areas
has caught up with the rest of the country; and the gap between the turnout of men
and women has reduced substantially in the recent years.

In view of the above mentioned socio-economic factors analysed as major

determinants of electoral behavior in India, one commentator wrote – ―Our data
revealed the lack of trust in political agents and a general level of dissatisfaction the
outcome of the political process‖. The electoral culture in the broad sense of the term
is the part of overall political culture which refers nation‘s faith and confidence in
people‘s mandate, propensity in democratic way of finding solution to the various
problems before the nation, the involvement of the people in electoral system as well
as electoral behavior and the way of looking at election. The electoral culture
generates a set of electoral trends; it encourages electoral process and motivates an

23
electoral philosophy as a democratic way of life. India‘s electoral culture is based on
mass oriented issues, character and issue oriented leadership as well as circumstantial
compulsions.

The dependence on the government to provide basic amenities and improve their
livelihood opportunities perhaps makes Indian voters give greater weight to
household economic considerations. An implication of these findings is that political
parties cannot be complacent about or indifferent to the economic perceptions of the
people. While social cleavages and party identifications continue to matter, economic
perceptions also do have an effect on voting decisions. At least this is true of the
normal Lok Sabha election that India went through in 2009. What is becoming
important in the context of recent national and state level elections in India is the
emergence of ‗Family‘ in a big way to determine the voting behavior of the Indian
electorate. For example the increasing presence of Rahul Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and
Akhilesh Yadav in Indian electoral space leads one to wait and see the effect of this
‗Family-determinant‘s‘ new role in shaping Indian electoral behavior. Voting
decisions are based on retrospective evaluations of the economic condition.

2.9 VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN INDIA: RECENT TRENDS

Against the backdrop of the changes in last two decades in Indian politics, states have
emerged as the principal component of political choices. Divergences in the nature of
party competition in the states have generated a distinct pattern of politics unique to
the state and each state has taken its exclusive route in evolving its own language of
competitive politics. The evidence is clear enough to demolish the claims that dalits
are a homogeneous category and that they vote for any single party. It can be very
well argued that dalits behave like any other social constituency of this country. In
civil society struggles, dalits may be behaving as a collective homogeneous unit but
in electoral arena, dalit voting behaviour is often if not always, determined by logic
and dynamics of the party system. The Maoist call for boycotting the elections but
incidentally, it is not only the Maoists who have given the call for boycotting the
present elections. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and other militant
groups in Assam, and the Hurriyat and several secessionist outfits in Jammu and
Kashmir, also urge the electorate in their states to boycott the polls. But instead of
leaving the choice to the electorate, in their determination to bring it about at gun-
point, like the Maoists, they have also tried to subvert the electoral process itself by
killing candidates, targeting the polling booths, destroying the equipment, threatening
the poll officials. However with the 2014 national elections for the 16th Lok Sabha
and the state assembly elections after that in India points that the voting behavior
reflects an attempt to find stability in Indian politics – by chosing one particular
political party in the Centre and in the states.

In India, though not explicitly expressed, Republic Day has been the only day
commemorating her citizens. Now National Voters Day can also claim to shoulder
24
that privilege. It is not enough to dedicate a day for the citizens but more important is
to work for their cause but surely dedication is the beginning of involvement. Such a
formalized attempt on the part of Election Commission of India must have a hidden
agenda – to start social reform as an addition to electoral reform measures. The very
slogans of the NVD for the past three years is worth noting – ‗greater participation for
stronger democracy‘, ‗proud to be a voter-ready to vote‘ and my vote my right my
vote my might‘. They create both an emotional aura and provide weightage to
individual voter going beyond the standard approach of the political party‘s - the vote
bank approach of our society. While at one extreme a growing apathy towards politics
is growing fast among the new generation with inclusion of ‗none of the above‘
(NOTA) choice in the Electronic Voting Machine, at other extreme this apparently
innocent measure of the Election Commission is to create a fresh and new awareness
and interest in political process among the citizens particularly the youth. Election
reflect political verdict of society regarding the character of the management of the
state. In India, over the years, politics became a bad or amoral word in public imagery
and consequently growing apathy was noted in electoral participation. It is only by
creating a web of public vigilance that the image of politics can be elevated. That the
recent trends in the analysis of electorate and electoral behavior in India point to that
direction is the silver lining in the future course of Indian society and politics.

2.10SUMMARY

India is the largest functioning democracy of the world where regular free and fair
elections are held involving 130 core of people across central, state, and local levels
under the supervision of the Election Commission of India. One level of election is
related to other level of election. As a whole this constitutes a network of election
politics in contemporary India and is a basic framework of India‘s democratic regime.
Thus it is very important to understand the reasons for which people participate in
exercising their vote and the various factors determining their choice on the day of
election. The study of the factors or situations which inspire and influence the voter to
exercise his right to vote in favour or against a particular candidate is called voting
behavior. Every year National Voters‘ Day (NVD) is observed on 25th January, a
practice that was initiated in 2011 to commemorate the foundation day of the Election
Commission of India and also to enhance the participation of the voters, especially
the youth, in the democratic process.

2.11 EXERCISE

1. What is the meaning and nature of election?

2. Who can vote in India?
3. Who can stand in election in India?
4. What is an Electoral reform?
5. Explain the Determinants of Voting Behaviour In India.

25
 6. What are the Recent Trends of Voting Behaviour in India?

2.12 REFERENCE

1. Jayal, Niraja Gopal (2001). Democracy and the State, Welfare, Secularism
and Development in Contemporary India, OUP.
2. Kaviraj, Sudipta(2009) ‗Politics in India‘, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi
3. Kohli, Atul (2004) (ed.) ‗The Success of India‘s Democracy‘, New Delhi,
Cambridge University Press.
4. Kothari,R (1970) ‗Caste in Indian Politics‘, Delhi, Orient Longman.
5. M. John, (ed) (2008) ‗Women in India: A Reader, Penguin , India
6. P. Brass, (1999) ‗The Politics of India since Independence, New Delhi,
Cambridge University Press and Foundation Books.
7. P. Mehta and N. Jayal (2010) (eds.) ‗The Oxford Companion to Politics in
India‘, New Delhi, Oxford University Press.
8. Z. Hasan (2002) (ed.) ‗Parties and Party Politics in India‘, New Delhi: Oxford
University press

26
UNIT-3 ELECTION COMMISSION: CONSTITUTION
AND FUNCTIONS
Structure

3.1 Objectives
3.2 Introduction
3.3 Background
3.4 Electoral Laws, Systems and Processes
3.5 The Constitutional Aspect of Election Commission
3.6 Structure of Election Comission of India
3.6.1 Removal from office
3.7 Functions of Election Commission of India
3.8 Parliamentary Elections
3.8.1 Lok Sabha Election
3.8.2 Rajya Sabha Election
3.9 Elections to State Legislatures
3.10 Constituencies and Reservation of Seats
3.11 Electoral Process
3.12 Drawbacks of Indian Electoral System
3.13 Political Parties and Elections
3.14 National Parties in India
3.14.1 Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
3.14.2 Indian National Congress (INC)
3.14.3 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
3.14.4 Communist Party of India (CPI)
3.14.5 Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM)
3.15 Regional Parties in India
3.15.1 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
3.15.2 Asom Gana Parishad
13.15.3 Shiromani Akali Dal
13.16 Political Parties and Women
3.17 Summary
3.18 Glossary
27
 3.19 Exercise
3.20 Reference
3.1 OBJECTIVES
After completing this Unit, you should be able to:

 Discuss electoral laws, systems, and processes in place;

 The Constitutional Aspect of Election Commission
 Explain how political parties functions—their evolution and ideological base;
 Describe the representation in national and state elections, and women‘s
participation; and
 Analyse limitations of electoral systems and factors inhibiting women‘s
representation in political parties.

3.2 INTRODUCTION

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority

responsible for administering election processes in India. The body administers
elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state Legislative Assemblies, state
legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice President of the
country. The Election Commission operates under the authority
of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the
People Act. The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an
appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a
given situation in the conduct of an election. Being a constitutional authority, Election
Commission is amongst the few institutions which function with both autonomy and
freedom, along with the country‘s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service
Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

3.3 BACKGROUND

Since independence in 1947, constitutional parliamentary democracy has been the

central political mechanism governing India. The parliamentary system is committed
to hold regular, free and fair elections which give opportunity to citizens in the
country to choose their representatives and thus contribute in the composition of the
government. Elections are conducted at various levels of the federal structure in India.
These include elections to elect members of the Lok Sabha (Lower House or House
of People), Rajya Sabha (Upper House or Council of States), State Legislative
Assemblies (Vidhan Sabhas or Lower House of the People in the States) Legislative
Councils (Vidhan Parishad or Upper House of People of States) and of, the President
and Vice-President of India. Elections are also held for local bodies such as
municipalities, municipal corporations and Panchayati Raj. One level of election is
related to other level of election. As a whole, this constitutes a network of election

28
politics in contemporary India and is the basic framework of India‘s democratic
regime.

Political parties are an established part of modern mass democracy, and the conduct
of elections in India is largely dependent on the behaviour of political parties.
Although many candidates for Indian elections are independent, the winning
candidates for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections usually stand as members of
political parties, and opinion polls suggest that people tend to vote for a party rather
than a particular candidate. Parties offer candidates organisational support, and by
offering a broader election campaigns, looking at the record of the incumbent
government and putting forward alternative proposals for government, help voters
make a choice about how the government is run. India has a multiparty system, where
there are a number of national as well as regional parties. Some of them have their
origin traced back to pre-independence era and the others are formed more recently as
an outcome of the evolution of the Indian political system.

3.4 ELECTORAL LAWS, SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

Elections are conducted according to the constitutional provisions, supplemented by

laws made by Parliament. The major laws are Representation of the People Act, 1950,
which mainly deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls, and the
Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals, in detail, with all aspects of
conduct of elections and post election disputes. The Supreme Court of India has held
that where the enacted laws are silent or make insufficient provision to deal with a
given situation in the conduct of elections, the Election Commission has the residuary
powers under the Constitution to act in an appropriate manner (Gill, 2009).

Elections for the Lok Sabha and every State Legislative Assembly have to take place
every five years, unless called earlier. The President can dissolve Lok Sabha and call
a general election before five years, if the government can no longer command the
confidence of the Lok Sabha, and if there is no alternative government available to
take over. So far, sixteen general elections have been held in India, with the last one
(sixteen ) taken place in 2014. Governments have found it increasingly difficult to
stay in power for the full term of a Lok Sabha in recent times, and so elections have
often been held before the five-year limit has been reached.However, the current
Government, of Bharatiya Janta Party formed its majority in the country.

3.5 THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASPECT OF ELECTION COMMISSION

The biggest revolution since the Indian Independence was the adoption of universal
adult franchise for elections to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of the
States. For a newly independent country, with a population size of almost 42 crores
with deep-rooted poverty and mass illiteracy, had the biggest challenge of governing
the country. However the makers of the constitution had enough conviction of
29
adopting the adult voting system of not less than 21 years, which was subsequently
lowered to 18 years (subs. by the Constitution, 61st Amendment Act, 1988) during
Rajiv Gandhi tenure. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution declares that India is a
democratic republic. This implies that all citizens who are eligible to vote will have
the right to participate in election. We all know that India is the largest democracy in
the world and has a parliamentary form of government. Therefore the party securing
the majority of seats in Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly either on its own or with
the support of other parties forms the Government. Since 1950 this rule and practice
is going on uninterrupted except for a brief period of 1975 to 1977. This type of
governance has become the most acceptable norm in the larger world today but for
some exceptions. To vote in the election is the cherished and fundamental right of
each and every citizen of the country.

Election Commission of India is a permanent Constitutional Body. The Commission

celebrated its golden jubilee in 2001. Article 324 to 329 of the Indian Constitution
deals with election matters. But Article 324 is exclusively dedicated to the Election
Commission only. This reads as follows:

Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election

Commission:

1. The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral

rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections of the Parliament and to the
Legislature of every State and of the elections to the offices of President and
Vice-President held under this Constitution shall be vested in a Commission.
2. The Election commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner
and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President
from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner
and other Election Commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law
made in that behalf by Parliament is made by the President.
3. When any other Election Commissioner is so appointed, the Chief Election
Commissioner shall act as the Chairman of the Election Commission.
4. Before each general election to the House of the People and to the Legislative
Assembly of each State, and before the first general election and thereafter
before each biennial election to the Legislative Council of each State having
such Council, the President may also appoint after consultation with the
Election Commission such Regional Commissioners as he may consider
necessary to assist the Election Commissions in the performance of the
functions conferred on the Commission by clause (1).
5. Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of
service and tenure of the office of the Election Commissioners and the

30
 Regional Commissioners shall be such as the President may by rule
determine:

Provided that the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office
except in the like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court
and the conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be varied
to his disadvantage after his appointment: Provided further that any other Election
Commissioner or a Regional Commissioners shall not be removed from office except
on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

6. The President, or the Governor of a State, shall, when so requested by the

Election Commission, make available to the Election Commission or to a
Regional Commissioner such staff as may be necessary for the discharge of
the functions conferred on the Election Commission by clause (1).

Until 1989, the Election Commission consisted of the Chief Election Commissioner
only. On 16 October 1989 two Election Commissioners were appointed by a
Presidential notification. In less than three months, however the notification was
revoked and the Election Commission reverted back to its old position from 2 January
1990. The Supreme Court, in this regard, gave its decision that it was the sole
discretion of the Executive only to decide upon the necessity of having other election
commissioners and that the termination of the services of the two election
commissioners was therefore held valid (Dhanoa vs. union of India, AIR 1991).
Again, in October 1993 two election commissioners were appointed by an ordinance
given the same position and status as the Chief Election Commissioner. It was also
decided that the Commission will thereby act as a body which shall take decisions
unanimously or by majority. The ordinance was challenged by the then CEC T.N.
Shesan before the Supreme Court. But the apex court gave its verdict in the favour of
the ordinance. The ordinance was assented by the President on 4 January 1994 with
retrospective effect from 1 October 1993.

Article 325 lays down that there shall be one general electoral roll for every territorial
constituency for election to either House of Parliament or to the either House of a
State Legislature. No person is to be ineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll on
grounds of religion, race, caste or sex, nor can anyone claim to be included in any
special electoral roll for any such constituency on any such ground.

Article 327 vests legislative power in Parliament to make laws relating to all matters
concerning elections to either House of Parliament or to the House of either House of
a State Legislature, including the preparation of the electoral rolls, the delimitation of
constituencies and all other matters necessary for securing the due constitution of
such House or Houses.

31
Article 328 confers powers on State Legislatures to make laws relating to elections to
the House, or either House of a legislature of the States, including the preparation of
electoral rolls.

Article 329 seeks to bar Courts in the interference of electoral matters. This reads as
follows:-

(a) The validity of any law relating to the delimitation of

constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies, made or
purporting to be made under article 327 or article 328 shall not be
called in question in any court.

(b) No election to either House of parliament or to the House or either

of the Legislatures of a State shall be called in question except by an
election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as
may be provided for by or under any law made by the appropriate
legislature.

Under article 323(b) election petitions are at present heard by the High Court under
the Representation of people Act, 1981 with a right of appeal to the Supreme Court.
Special Election Tribunals having been abolished.

3.6 STRUCTURE OF ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

The current commission was established in 1950 when it had a Chief Election
Commissioner appointed. Membership increased on 16 October 1989 to three with
the increase of two Commissioners was appointed to the commission. That
commission ceased on 1 January 1990 when The Election Commissioner Amendment
Act, 1989 superseded the earlier the commission; it continues in operation. Decisions
by the commission are by at least a majority vote. The Chief Election
Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners who are usually retired IAS
officers draw salaries and allowances as per with those of the Judges of the Supreme
Court of India as per the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election
Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992.
The commission secretariat is based in New Delhi which includes the Election
Commissioners, Deputy Election Commissioners (usually IAS officers) Directors
General, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries and Under Secretaries.
Administration is generally by state with the Chief Electoral Officer of the State, who
is an IAS officer of Principal Secretary rank. At the district and constituency levels,
the District Magistrates (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral
Registration Officers and Returning Officers perform election work.

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3.6.1 Removal from office

The Chief Election Commissioner of India can be removed from office as can be a
judge of the Supreme Court of India: a two-thirds majority resolution passed by
the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) outlining the grounds of
misbehavior or incapacity. Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the
President of India on the advice of the Chief Election Commissioner. A Chief
Election Commissioner has yet to be impeached. In 2009, just before the 2009 Lok
Sabha Elections, Chief Election Commissioner N.Gopalaswami sent a
recommendation to President Prathibha Patil to remove Election
Commissioner Navin Chawla, who was soon to take office as the chief election
commissioner and to subsequently supervise the Lok Sabha Election, a potential
conflict of interest considering his partisan political party behavior. The President
rejected advisory recommendation. Subsequently, after Gopalswami's retirement the
next month, Chawla became the chief election commissioner and supervised the 2009
Lok Sabha Elections.

3.7 FUNCTIONS OF ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

The fundamental pursuit of democracy is elections at regular intervals. Holding

periodic, free and fair elections are essentials of a democratic system and a part
fundamental aspect of the Constitution. The Election Commission is regarded as
India's guardian of elections. Starting with the 1971 5th Lok Sabha elections, the
commission has issued for each election advisory Model Code of Conduct guidelines
to be adhered to by political parties and candidates although there is no constitutional
statutory power or obligation to do so. Instances of violation of the code by various
political parties with complaints being received for misuse of official machinery by
the candidates has happened. The code does not have any specific statutory basis but
only a persuasive effect. It contains the rules of electoral morality.
In 1989, political parties were required to register with the commission. Avoiding
confusion is the objective of the registration with the commission.
The commission has the power to designate political party insignia and is prohibited
from allowing the same insignia by two different parties regardless of differing
locations. It set limits on poll expenses. The commission is responsible for
maintenance of the electoral rolls and establishing the schedules of elections.
The commission is empowered with prohibiting dissemination or publication of
voting trends that seek to influence voters by opinion polls or exit polls.
To curb the growing influence of money during elections, the Election Commission
has made many suggestions and changes in this regard. The commission has
appointed IRS officers of the Income Tax Department as Election Observers
(Expenditure) of all elections and has fixed the legal limits on the amount of money

33
which a candidate can spend during election campaigns. These limits have been
revised over time. The Election Commission, by appointing expenditure observers
from the Indian Revenue Service, keeps an eye on the individual account of election
expenditure. The commission takes details of the candidate's assets on affidavit at the
time of submitting nomination paper, who is also required to give details of their
expenditure within 30 days of the declaration of results. The campaign period has also
been reduced by the commission from 21 to 14 days for Lok Sabha and Assembly
elections to cut down election expenditure.
In an attempt to decriminalise politics, the Election Commission has approached
the Supreme Court to put a lifetime ban on convicted politicians from contesting
elections.
The main functions of the Election Commission may be outlined as the following:--

(a) To prepare electoral rolls for the elections and its timely revision after every
census and before every general election to the Lok Sabha and State
Assemblies. One thing here is noteworthy that for the last three years from
2011 to 2013 the Election Commission has been waging a spiral campaign in
the educational institutes for the registration of new voters who have
completed 18 years of age on the January. Therefore 25th of January is being
celebrated as the Voter‘s Day all over the country. The campaign has also paid
rich dividends in the recently concluded Assembly elections in 2012 in eight
States, namely U.P, Punjab, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand,
Manipur and Tripura. During these elections voter‘s turnout remained a solid
60 to 70 per cent.
(b) To supervise the machinery of elections throughout the country for a fair and
free election.
(c) To notify the dates and schedules of elections so that nominations papers are
filed and properly scrutinized before the actual election takes place.
(d) To appoint officers for inquiring into disputes relating to electoral
arrangements.
(e) To request the President of India or the Governor of a State to provide
adequate staff necessary for the smooth conducting of the election.
(f) To cancel polls in the event of mass rigging or any other irregularities.
(g) Recognition of political parties as National, State or any level, and to allot
election symbol thereof.

34
 (h) To advise the President or the Governor on the matter of disqualification of a
Member of Parliament or a State Legislature.

3.8 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Parliament is the supreme legislative body in India. It is bicameral with a lower house
called as House of People or Lok Sabha, and an upper house called as Council of
States or Rajya Sabha.

3.8.1 Lok Sabha Election

Under the constitution of India, the total number of elected members of the Lok
Sabha shall not exceed 550. Currently, it consists of 543 elected members, who are
chose directly from single member territorial Parliamentary constituencies, that is to
say, each constituency elects one member to the Lok Sabha. Thus, the whole of the
country is divided into 543 territorial Parliamentary Constituencies. The Constitution
also provides for nomination, by the President, of two members belonging to the
Anglo-Indian community, if that community is not adequately represented in the Lok
Sabha. Elections to the Lok Sabha (and also to Vidhan Sabhas) are carried out using a
firstpast-the-post electoral system. The country is divided into different geographical
areas, known as the constituencies. Different political parties contest the election,
though there is no ban on independent candidates for contesting the election. During
election, different political parties put up their candidates and people can cast one
vote each for a candidate of their own choice, to elect their representatives. The
candidate, who gets the maximum number of votes, wins the election and is elected.

3.8.2 Rajya Sabha Election

The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly, rather than by the citizens at
large. Rajya Sabha members are elected by each State Vidhan Sabha using the single
transferable vote system. Unlike most federal systems, the number of members
returned by each State is roughly in proportion to their population. At present, there
are 233 members of the Rajya Sabha elected by the Vidhan Sabhas, and there are also
twelve members nominated by the President as representatives of literature, science,
art and social services. Rajya Sabha members can serve for six years, and elections
are staggered, with one third of the assembly being elected every 2 years.

3.9 ELECTIONS TO STATE LEGISLATURES

Being a federal country that India is, the Constitution gives the States and Union
Territories significant control over their own government. The Vidhan Sabhas
(Legislative Assemblies) are directly elected bodies set up to carry out the
administration of the government in the 25 States of India. In five States, there is a
bicameral organization of legislatures, with both an Upper and Lower House (Vidhan
Parishad or Legislative Council and Vidhan Sabha or Legislative Assembly). Two of
35
the seven Union Territories, viz., the National Capital Territory of Delhi and
Pondicherry, have also Legislative Assemblies.

Elections to the Vidhan Sabhas are carried out in the same manner as for the Lok
Sabha election, with the States and Union Territories divided into single-member
Assembly constituencies, and the first-past-the-post electoral system used. The
Assemblies range in size, according to population. At present there are about 4000
members in the Legislative Assemblies. The largest Vidhan Sabha is for Uttar
Pradesh, with 425 members; the smallest Pondicherry, with 30 members.

Vidhan Parishads consist of representatives chosen by the members of the Vidhan

Sabhas and local authorities, and also by graduates and teachers in the State having
such Parishads. The Governor of the State also nominates certain members to give
representation to art, science, literature, social service and co-operative movement.
The elections to these Parishads are held under the system of proportional
representation by means of a single transferable vote.

3.10 CONSTITUENCIES AND RESERVATION OF SEATS

The country has been divided into 543 Parliamentary Constituencies, each of which
returns one MP to the Lok Sabha, the lower House of Parliament. The size and shape
of the parliamentary constituencies are determined by an independent Delimitation
Commission, which aims to create constituencies which have roughly the same
population, subject to geographical considerations and the boundaries of the States
and administrative areas.

There are also provisions to ensure the representation of scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas, with reserved
constituencies where only candidates from these communities can stand for election.
The number of these reserved seats is meant to be approximately in proportion to the
number of people from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in each State. There are
currently 84 seats reserved for the scheduled castes and 47 reserved for the scheduled
tribes in the Lok Sabha.Significantly, there is no reservation for women in the
Parliamentary and Vidhan Sabha elections, despite the fact that women are
underrepresented and inspite of nearly constituting half of the country‘s population.
An attempt to reserve one-third of the seats for women candidates was made with the
successful passage of the Women‘s Reservation (the 108th Constitutional
Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on March 8, 2010. However, its passage from
Lok Sabha still remains a stiff challenge.

3.11 ELECTORAL PROCESS

The electoral process in India takes at least a couple of months for state assembly
elections with the duration increasing further for the General Elections.Publishing of

36
Electoral Rolls is a key process that happens before the elections and is vital for the
conduct of elections. Though the Schedule for Holding the Election is announced by
the Election Commission of India well in advance, the actual process begins by a
formal declaration, i.e., Notification, by the Election Commission calling upon a
constituency to elect its representative. The Filling of the Nomination by those
desiring to contest elections follows this. Candidates are given a week to put forward
their nominations. The day immediately after the nomination is fixed for theScrutiny
of Nominations by the Returning Officer of the constituency concerned and if the
nomination is not found to be in order it can be rejected after a summary hearing.
This is followed by Withdrawal of Candidates, if any, from the contest within two
days from the date of scrutiny. The next stage of election before the voting takes
place is that of Campaigning. This is the time when the political parties put forward
their candidate and arguments with which they hope to persuade people to vote for
their candidates and parties.

The official campaign lasts at least two weeks from the drawing up of the list of
nominated candidates, and officially ends 48 hours before polling closes. During the
election campaign, the political parties and contesting candidates are expected to
abide by a Model Code of Conduct evolved by the Election Commission based on a
consensus among political parties. The model code lays down broad guidelines as to
how the political parties and candidates should conduct themselves during the
election campaign. It is intended to maintain the election campaign on healthy lines,
avoid clashes and conflicts between political parties or their supporters and to ensure
peace and order during the campaign period and thereafter, until the results are
declared. Once an election has been called, parties issue Manifestos detailing the
programmes they wish to implement if elected to government, the strengths of their
leaders, and the failures of opposing parties and their leaders. Slogans are used to
popularise and identify parties and issues, and pamphlets and posters distributed to
the electorate. Rallies and meetings where the candidates try to persuade, cajole and
enthuse supporters, and denigrate opponents, are held throughout the constituencies.

Of late, the Election Commission had granted all the recognized National and State
parties, free access to the state owned electronic media, the All India Radio (AIR) and
the Doordarshan to do their campaigning. The total free time is fixed by the Election
Commission, which is allotted to all the political parties keeping in view, their
performance during the last election in the state. However, this does not mean that
political parties do not spend anything on their election campaign. The political
parties and the candidates contesting election spend large sums of money on their
election campaign, but there is a legal limit on how munch a candidate can spend on
his/her election campaign. The final stage of election is polling. With regard to
polling, the earlier practice had been to have single day polling, but the recent
practice has been to opt for phased polling in which polling takes place on more than
one day with a gap of couple of days between the two days of polling. This facilitates

37
the movement of security forces from one place to another, which is engaged in
managing the law and order situation during the polling.

If a duly nominated candidate belonging to a recognized party dies at any time after
the last date of nomination and before the commencement of polling, the Election
Commission orders Countermanding of Elections. This is not just a postponement of
polling. The entire election process, beginning from nominations is initiated afresh in
the concerned constituency. On the other hand, if at the time of polling, a booth is
captured by some antisocial elements or polling is disturbed by violence of any kind,
the Election Commission may order holding of Re-Poll in either the entire
constituency or particular booths.

3.12 DRAWBACKS OF INDIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM

There has been universal appreciation of the Indian electoral system. People have
hailed the manner in which elections have been conducted in India. However, there
are weaknesses in the system. It has been seen that in spite of the efforts of the
Election Commission to ensure free and fair election, there are certain drawbacks in
our electoral system. The role of unaccounted money in elections has become a
serious problem. The political parties collect funds from companies and business
houses, and then use this money to influence the voter to vote in their favour. The
business contributions are mostly in cash and are not accounted. Many other corrupt
practices are also adopted during election such as bribing, intimidation of voters,
providing transport and conveyance of voters to and fro the polling stations. The
reports of liquor being distributed in poor areas are frequent during election. Earlier
criminals used to support the candidates by intimidating the voters at a gunpoint to
vote according to their direction.

Now they themselves have come out openly by contesting the elections leading to
criminalization of politics. On the other hand, in a number of cases political parties
are giving tickets on the consideration whether the candidate can muster the support
of numerically larger castes and communities and possesses enough resources. Even
the electorates often vote on caste and communal lines. Communal loyalties of the
voters are also used at the time of propaganda campaign. Not all political parties have
equal opportunity in respect of access to resources. The party in power is always in
advantageous position then the opposition parties. There is widespread allegation that
the party in power accomplishes misuse of government machinery. Thus our electoral
system, from the selection of candidates, to the manner in which funds are raised and
spent in election campaigns, is in dire need of significant changes. The Election
Commission has made changes in several areas to respond to some of the concerns.

38
3.13 POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTIONS

As any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among the
Indian society and regions, and their core values play a major role in the politics of
India. India has a multi-party system, where there are a number of national as well as
regional parties. The representatives of the political parties who have been elected
through the elections run both the executive branch and the legislative branch of the
government. Through the electoral process, the people of India choose which
majority in the lower house a government can be formed by that party or the
coalition. Significantly, elections to local bodies (panchayats and municipalities) are
not fought on party basis.

3.14 NATIONAL PARTIES IN INDIA

National parties are political parties which have pan-India influence and participate in
different elections all over the country. It is not necessary that a national party will
have equal strength in all the states; it varies from State to State. A party is
recognized as a national party by the Election Commission on the basis of a formula.
The political party which has secured not less than four percent of the total valid
votes in the previous general elections at least in four States is given the status of a
national party. Therefore, the number of national parties has been changing. In the
year 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress, Communist Party of
India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Bahujan Samaj Party, Nationalist
Congress Party, and Rashtriya Janata Dal were national parties.

3.14.1 Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was formed as a separate party in 1980 after the fall of
the Janata Dal‘s government (headed by Morarji Desai) in 1979. BJP is the successor
of the Bhartiya Jan Sangh (BJS), which merged itself into the Janata Party for the
General Election in 1977 (first general election after the emergency era) in which
Janata Party swept the General Elections and Congress suffered a heavy defeat and
was out of power for the first time since independent Indian parliamentary system
came into being in 1950. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first president of the BJP.
Since its formation, BJP has shown a progression in popularity and now BJP is one of
the major political forces of India. BJP won just two seats in 1980 general elections
and emerged as the single largest party on Hindutva plank for the first time in the
1996 General election. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the prime minister.
However, the BJP led government could not prove the majority in the Lok Sabha and
Vajapyee was obliged to resign.

BJP was able to form the Government in alliance (BJP lead alliance NDA) with other
political parties during the 1998 and 1999 General Elections. After the 1999 General
Elections, BJP‘s alliance (NDA) was able to provide a stable government for a full

39
parliamentary term of 5 years. In 2004 general elections, BJP led alliance (NDA)
could not win a clear majority and BJP‘s independent tally of parliamentary seats
were 138. In 2009 General Elections again, BJP and its allies could not perform well
and BJP managed to get only 116 seats. On December 2009, Nitin Gadkari took over
as the president of BJP, succeeding Rajnath Singh after that Amit Shah became the
president of BJP. In 2014 general elcetions BJP contested 282 seats, it emerged as the
single majority party with the leadership of Narendra Damodardas Modi who is
current Prime Minister of India.

3.14.2 Indian National Congress (INC)

Indian National Congress (INC) is one of the oldest parties in India. Its membership
base makes it the world‘s largest political party. It is also known as Congress party. It
was founded in 1885 as an organization to lead the independence movement of India.
Various congress leaders in the preindependence era had played a pivotal role in the
Indian Independence Movement. In the history of independent India, Congress party
has been the dominant force. After independence, INC was established as a major
political party and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the President of INC, was elected as the
first Prime Minster of India in 1952. Under his leadership, INC won other two
elections in succession (1957 and 1962). After Pt. Nehru‘s death in 1964, Lal
Bahadur Shastri took over as the leader of congress party and after his death; Indira
Gandhi became the next president of Congress in 1966. In 1967, INC was split into
two parties. One faction of which was led by Indira Gandhi and the other was led by
K. Kamaraj. Later the faction led by Gandhi was recognized as INC. In 1975, Indira
Gandhi declared a National Emergency in the face of growing opposition. It curtailed
the power of courts and unleashed a police state. After the emergency was lifted in
1977, more congress factions were formed and joined hand with other political
parties. The faction which remained with Indira Gandhi was called Congress (I). In
1977 General Elections, Janata Party won by a substantial margin and formed the
government. The Janata Party coalition government could not stay for long due to
infighting and next General Elections were held in 1980, in which Congress party
won the elections with a huge margin and returned to power.

After the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi took over and led the
Congress party to a large victory in 1984. In the next General Election 1989, Indian
National Congress was defeated and in 1991 election campaign, Rajiv Gandhi was
also assassinated and P V Narasimha Rao took over as the party president. In the last
three decades, the INC has seen huge up and downs. General elections in 1999 saw
the INC tally to an all time low. Since then, it has tried to reinvent itself as one of the
major political forces in Indian Politics. In the 2009 General Elections, INC
performed well and won 206 seats.

3.14.3 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

Founded in 1984 by Kanshi Ram, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has evolved into a fast

40
growing political force in the Indian politics. The BSP champions the cause of those
sections which belong to low castes, deprived groups and minorities. In fact, these
sections of Indian society (the Bahujan Samaj) form the majority of the Indian
population. The BSP believes that this ‗samaj‘ should be freed from the exploitation
of the upper castes by forming their own government. The BSP acquired the status of
a national party in 1996. BSP‘s influence lies in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Punjab. In 1995 and 1997, BSP was a partner in the coalition
governments in Uttar Pradesh. In the UP state assembly election in May 2007, BSP
emerged as a single majority party and formed government on its own, with President
Mayawati taking position as Chief Minister. In the 2009 General Elections, BSP did
marginally better than 2004 General Elections by winning 21 seats.

3.14.4 Communist Party of India (CPI)

Next to the Congress, the Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest in India. Apart
from its presence in Kerala, West Bengal, and Tripura, CPI has its pockets of
influence in states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Orissa, Pondicherry,
Punjab, etc. also . The communist movement began in the early twenties and the
Communist Party was founded in 1925. The communists participated in the national
movement, though often they had serious differences with the Congress. The
communists assert that people should be economically equal and society should not
be divided into classes of rich and poor. Workers, peasants and other toiling people
who do most of the productive work for society, should be given due recognition and
power. The communists were the main opposition in the Lok Sabha throughout the
Nehru Era. In the first Lok Sabha they had 26 members, in the second and the third
Lok Sabha; they had 27 and 29 members, respectively. In 1957, the CPI won absolute
majority in the Kerala Assembly and formed the first Communist government in
India. In the early sixties, especially after the Chinese aggression of 1962, there were
serious differences among the members of the Communist Party. As a result, the
party split into two. Those who broke away from CPI formed the Communist Party of
India (Marxist), also called CPM, in 1964.

CPI is a member of the Left Front also, which supported the UPA government (post
2004 elections) from outside (without participating in it), but withdrew support on the
basis of difference of opinion on several issues.

3.14.5 Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM)

The CPM has its strong base in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. It has registered its
presence in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa and Punjab as well.
In the first general election, CPM contested 59 seats out of which it won 19 seats,
with a national vote percentage of 4.28. CPM performed poorly in the General
Elections of 2009 and was reduced to a level of 16 from its earlier tally of 43 in 2004
elections. Prakash Karat is the current General Secretary of CPM.

41
3.15 REGIONAL PARTIES IN INDIA

Regional or State parties are political parties which, participate in different elections
but only within specific region or State(s). For example, Aam Adami Party, Shiv Sena
participates mainly in Maharashtra, Telegu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Akali Dal in
Punjab, and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) in Tamil Nadu and there are other
such regional parties. A regional party may gain a majority and rule a particular state.
If a party represents more than four states then such parties are considered as national
parties.

3.15.1 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

DMK and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)AIADMK has
strong presence in Tamil Nadu and is one of the major political parties of Tamil Nadu
state. AIADMK was founded by then celebrity film star, M G Ramachandran (MGR)
in 1972 as a breakaway faction from DMK. In 1977, AIADMK came to power
ousting DMK from power. They won the 1980 elections despite their poor
performance and retained power until 1987. In the post MGR era,

initially there was some crisis about the leadership, later J Jayalalitha took over the
party in 1991 and the crisis abated as they won the elections comfortably in 1992.
They lost the next state elections to DMK in 1997 and won again in 2002. In the 2004
General Election, AIADMK lost all the seats in Tamil Nadu. Later in the 2006
assembly elections, AIADMK lost elections and DMK returned to power. In the 2009
General Elections, AIADMK won nine seats. In the 2011 assembly elections in Tamil
Nadu, where corruption was a major issue, the AIADMK led alliance won with a
thumping majority against the DMK led alliance.

3.15.2 Asom Gana Parishad

Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) came into being in 1985 as a result of 6-year long
agitation by All Assam Students Union (AASU) demanding to stop illegal
immigrants to Assam from neighbouring countries and the historic Assam Accord of
1985. The AGP was formed under the leadership of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. AGP
won the state election with a huge margin and Mahanta became the chief minister of
Assam at a very young age. The party has gone through various splits and re-
grouping of factions and is one of the major political forces in Assam. In the 2009
General Elections, AGP contested in an alliance with BJP and won one seat. Chandra
Mohan Patowary is the current President of AGP.

13.15.3 Shiromani Akali Dal

Founded by Sardar Samukh Singh Chubbal in 1920 as a religious body, Shiromani

Akali Dal (SAD) has a strong presence in Punjab. Later under the stewardship of
Sardar Tara Singh, SAD attained political recognition. SAD has seen various splits
42
and reorganizations within the party over the period of last four decades or so. The
faction led by Sardar Prakash Singh Badal is the one which has most prominent
influence in Punjab politics and retains the original name of SAD. Post the win in
2007 Punjab State Assembly, SAD head the state government with support from the
BJP. In the 2009 General Elections, SAD contested in an alliance with BJP as an
NDA partner. It won four seats out of 10 contested. The current SAD President is
Sardar Prakash Singh Badal.

13.16 POLITICAL PARTIES AND WOMEN

In recent years, political parties in India have come alive to the strengths of the
women‘s movement and of increased female voter turnout during elections. National
as well as regional political parties across the country have also had women leaders in
top party positions. From Indira Gandhi to Sushma Swaraj, Brinda Karat, Sonia
Gandhi, Jayalalitha, Mayawati, and Sheila Dikshit, to Uma Bharti, Vashundhara Raje,
and Mamata Banerji, India‘s women leaders are the epitome of powerful women
reaching the highest echelons of governance. Nonetheless, political parties have not
necessarily given adequate number of positions to women in their hierarchies.

Despite being conscious of women as a constituency which is reflected in their

election manifestos, most parties resort to tokenism and symbolism when it comes to
the representation of women The idea of 33% reservation for women in parliament
and state assemblies has been actively endorsed by most of the majorpolitical parties.
This raises the expectation that many more women would be nominated to contest the
elections. However, such stances have not so far translated into more nominations of
women candidates during elections. In the inner party structures, in the decision-
making levels and the posts within the party, women are even less represented in
most political parties. Women have a very low representation. They have an almost
negligible involvement in the actual decision-making bodies and rarely influence the
more significant party policies. Most often they are relegated to the ‗women‘s wing‘
of the party where they are required to deal with what are considered to be ‗women‘s
issues‘ such as dowry and rape cases and sometimes on more general concerns like
price rise which are considered to affect ‗housewives‘. Most of the women‘s wings of
political parties have very little power and have hardly any say in the decisionmaking
and important policy matters. While traditionally women‘s wings should have been
stepping-stones for women into mainstream politics, few members of women‘s wings
have risen through the ranks of party workers.

Most of the women fighting elections belong to the established political families or
are proxy candidates. When selecting candidates, political parties want strong and
‗established‘ leaders. Women are given tickets only if they have an ‗exceptionally
strong‘ chance of winning. Political parties assert that it is difficult to get sufficiently
qualified women candidates. However, the real reason for the low political
representation of women in the formal political structures and decision-making levels
43
seems to lie in the compulsions of competitive elections and the quest for power by
the political parties in a multiparty democracy. Increasingly the compulsions of the
political parties to field ‗select‘ women candidates is due to narrow majorities,
precarious coalitions and hung parliaments that have made power rather than
representation the determining factor. While women are mobilized to vote by all the
parties, at the stage of distributing tickets for standing for elections, the number of
women drops dramatically. At this stage, political parties are driven more by power
considerations with an eye on the ‗winnability‘ of the candidates from the angle of
prospective government formation. Women are considered to have less chances of
winning, which is not necessarily true. In fact, this winnability factor is more a
presumption than anything else. In India, where most people vote for parties rather
than individuals, it follows that if successful parties field women they will win. One
way to get substantial women representation in the House is that parties should
reserve one-third tickets for women irrespective of whether they win or lose.

3.17 SUMMARY

In this Unit, we learnt that the three-member Election Commission of India is the
overall in-charge of conducting free and fair elections in India. The Election
Commission recognizes political parties and appoints officials to conduct and
supervise elections. The electoral process begins with the issue of notification by the
President. The Election Commission releases the schedule for election and, issues the
model code of conduct to be followed during elections. During the election campaign,
political parties and their candidates release their respective Election Manifestos. A
large number of public meetings and door-to-door campaigns are organized and the
electronic media, TV and Radio etc. are used to win the people‘s confidence. On the
polling day, the Election Commission ensures that voters cast their votes in free and
fair manner. The candidate who secures the highest number of votes in a constituency
is declared elected. There has been universal appreciation of the Indian electoral
system, but it is still faced with problems like use of money and muscle power, and
other corrupt practices. To avoid all this, certain electoral reforms have been
introduced from time to time.

Under the multi-party system in India, there are a number of national as well as
regional parties. While, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) , Indian national Congress are
the main national parties, the traditional regional parties have been the All India Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK)
in Tamil Nadu, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Telegu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Akali
Dal in Punjab, etc. Both the executive branch and the legislative branch of the
government are run by the representatives of the political parties who have been
elected through the elections. Through the electoral process, the people of India
choose which party forms a majority in the lower house, thereby forming the
government by itself or through a coalition. National as well as regional political

44
parties across the country have had women leaders in top party positions.
Nevertheless, the plain truth is that political parties have always chosen to privilege
male political aspirants over women in our country—in inner party structures,
decision-making levels and the posts within the party, women are less represented in
most political parties.

3.18 GLOSSARY

Political Party: A political party is an organized body of people who share certain
common principles and goals regarding the political system of a country. The main
purpose of political parties is to acquire and retain political power. Political parties
that run the government are called the ruling party. In a coalition government, there
may be more than one ruling party. Those who sit in the opposition, criticize, and
analyze the performance of the ruling party / parties generally or on specific issues
are called opposition parties.

3.19 EXERCISE

1. Explain the role of election commission of India? Do you think that the
parliamentary elections are necessary in the country like India?
2. Discuss the process of elections to state legislatures and constituencies and
reservation of seats.
3. Analyze the national parties and regional political parties in India with
reference to women politicians from respective political parties?

3.20 REFERENCE

 Austin, G. (2001).The Indian Constitution Cornerstone of a Nation, New

Delhi: Oxford University Press.
 Election Commission of India, Government of India.http://eci.nic.in/eci/
eci.html. Accessed 1st Jan, 2014.
 Frankel, R Francine (2000).Contextual Democracy: Intersections of Society,
Culture and Politics in India, in Francine R Frankel, Transforming India:
Social and Political Dynamics of Democracy, Oxford.
 Gill, M.S. (2009).The Electoral System in India, Election Commission of
India.
 Jayal, Niraja Gopal (2001). Democracy and the State, Welfare, Secularism
and Development in Contemporary India, OUP.
 Kaviraj, Sudipta(2009) ‗Politics in India‘, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi

45
 Kohli, Atul (2004) (ed.) ‗The Success of India‘s Democracy‘, New Delhi,
Cambridge University Press.
 Kothari,R (1970) ‗Caste in Indian Politics‘, Delhi, Orient Longman.
 M. John, (ed) (2008) ‗Women in India: A Reader, Penguin , India
 P. Brass, (1999) ‗The Politics of India since Independence, New Delhi,
Cambridge University Press and Foundation Books.
 P. Mehta and N. Jayal (2010) (eds.) ‗The Oxford Companion to Politics in
India‘, New Delhi, Oxford University Press.
 Z. Hasan (2002) (ed.) ‗Parties and Party Politics in India‘, New Delhi: Oxford
University press

46
UNIT-4 ELECTORAL REFORMS
Structure

4.1 Objectives
4.2 Introduction
4.3 Role of Elections in Democracy
4.4 Election Machinery
4.5 Electoral System and Process
4.6 Election in India: An Exercise on Massive Scale
4.7 Voting Pattern
4.8 Electoral Reforms
4.9 Important Step Taken by the Election Commission for Electoral Reform
4.10 Changes in the Electoral System
4.10.1 Restructuring the Election Commission
4.10.2 Eradicating the evil influences of Money and Muscle Power
4.11 Summary
4.12 Exercise
4.13 Reference
4.1OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you should be able to:

 Explain the role of election in democracy
 Explain Election Machinery
 Describe different Electoral System and Process
 Different voting pattern and
 Electoral Reforms

4.2 INTRODUCTION

Election is a device through which a modern state creates among its citizens a sense
of involvement and participation in public affairs. A good electoral system is the
bedrock of genuine representative government. Much depends on how the system
operates in practice, whether competent and honest administrators free from political
bias conduct elections efficiently and impartially. The absence of general confidence
in the verdict of the ballot may destroy the faith of public in the democratic process.
Stressing the importance of electoral process, Pollock observed, ―Unless public
47
elections are conducted with accuracy and efficiency, not only the public services are
discredited but the whole democratic system is endangered.‖

India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government, and

at the heart of the system is a commitment to hold regular, free and fair elections.
These elections determine the composition of the government, the membership of the
two houses of parliament, the state and union territory legislative assemblies, and the
Presidency and vice presidency.

4.3 ROLE OF ELECTIONS IN DEMOCRACY

Nowadays, elections have emerged as an instrument of choice all over the democratic
world. Elections serve as the basic mechanism for both electing and replacing ruling
elites and for providing a regular and systematic succession in government. They help
to determine how a country is governed and at the same time select who will exercise
state power. Elections are also the principal mechanisms by which citizens hold
governments accountable, both retrospectively for their policies and more generally
for the manner in which they govern. Elections reinforce party activities and intensify
political awareness of the people. They educate voters and grant legitimacy to
government.

Although elections are considered as one of the core institutions in democratic

politics, their misuse is not uncommon. Elections produce different outcomes in
different systems of government. Leaders of all kinds, from military dictators to
civilian autocrats, recognize the power and importance of elections in obtaining
legitimacy to govern. Military or civilian leaders willing to run the country through
undemocratic means, use elections as a tool for their continuation in power. These
leaders make major efforts to manipulate elections.

However, in spite of all the shortcomings and inconsistencies of an electoral system,

elections can decide important matters in any polity. Only elections establish that
legitimate political power flows from below. Elections, then, are essential for
democracy, but only when they are free and fair and devoid of irregularities and
malpractices. Electoral malpractices not only negate the voting right of the people but
also hamper the effort to institutionalise democracy.

Electoral corruption is a major type of political corruption. It thrives in a society in

which the degree of political and administrative morality is low. The necessity of a
transparent electoral system is one of the most important prerequisites for present day
democratic practice in both developed and developing countries. Electoral corruption
negatively influences the consolidation of democracy. Governments, claiming to be
democratic, manipulate elections to cling to power. Electoral malpractices are the
main source of misunderstanding between the ruling and opposition parties in many

48
states and have often led to political crisis. In India, Jammu and Kashmir is the classic
example in this regard.

4.4 ELECTION MACHINERY

Democratic practices are sustained and strengthened through elections. The authority
vested with the conduct of elections should, therefore, be competent, effective,
independent and impartial. The makers of the constitution of India had given the
country an unified authority, Election Commission (EC), independent of the central
and state governments, for organising elections to the Union and state legislatures.
The powers of the EC are essentially administrative and marginally adjudicative and
legislative. Its triple powers have so far been exercised without ever being objected to
by the judiciary. It was initially envisaged to be a single member Commission. The
EC was enlarged in October 1993 with the appointment of two ECs (Election
Commissioners). The President appoints the CEC (Chief Election Commissioner) and
ECs. The Tarkunde Committee in 1975 and the Goswami Committee in 1991
suggested that the President should make appointment to the EC on the advice of a
Committee comprising the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Prime
Minister, and the Chief Justice of India.

In the first three decades after independence, EC‘s role was peripheral because there
was little malpractice and violence. Towards the end of eighties, Mandal and Mandir
issues emerged on the political scene and the politics of consensus collapsed.
Politicisation on caste and communal lines took the centre-stage. Electoral process
was vitiated and the violence, rigging, intimidation of voters and misuse of
governmental machinery became common. The situation called for prompt reforms in
the electoral process. However, despite expression of serious concern by politicians
of all hues, no substantial reform was affected. The EC had no option but to resort to
the use of its constitutional and legal powers in the interest of free, fair and peaceful
election. It has fought many battles in the apex courts of the country against forces
inimical to the healthy democratic development. The EC unhesitatingly ordered
repolls at polling stations and whole of constituencies if the original poll was vitiated.
Elections were countermanded because of booth capturing, rigging and violence on a
massive scale, in several constituencies over the years. The model code of conduct is
being strictly enforced by the EC. The election law is also being implemented
effectively for disciplining the candidates and parties. The effective enforcement of
election law and model code of conduct by the EC had salutary effects in the conduct
of elections since 1990s. The credit for improving the functioning of election
machinery in the country is mainly attributed to T.N. Seshan, former CEC.

4.5 ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND PROCESS

Elections are part of a larger political process, which includes nominations,

campaigning, and the actual voting. In brief, all those means whereby a person
49
becomes a member of an elected assembly can be termed as the electoral process.
W.J. Mackenzie has laid down four conditions for free and fair election, namely, an
independent judiciary to interpret electoral law; an honest competent, non-partisan
administration to conduct elections; a developed system of political parties, well
enough organised to put their policies, and teams of candidates before the electors as
alternatives between which to choose; and a general acceptance throughout the
political community of certain rules of the game, which regulate the struggle for
power. No developing countries can claim to meet these conditions fully. However,
India comes closest to meeting them in comparison to others. It can rightly boast of
an independent judiciary and a non-partisan election administration. Although India
cannot claim to have a developed system of political parties, there is a general
acceptance of certain rules of the game, which has gained deeper roots with time.

Elections have acquired a central place in the Indian political system. The campaigns
are marked with intense political debates, symbolic processions and increasing use of
electronic technology by major political parties. Visual symbols acquire greater
importance in India due to widespread illiteracy. Voters identify the candidate with
the help of the symbols allotted to them. Issues in form of slogans become critical at
times like garibi hatao (remove poverty) in 1971, loktantra bachao (save democracy)
in 1977, stable government in 1980, corruption in terms of Bofors scandal in 1989,
mandal-mandir controversy in 1991. Argument over ideology or policy issues are
debated during campaigns as all parties make almost similar promises to eradicate
poverty and unemployment, combat corruption, preserve national unity, etc. Despite
poverty and illiteracy the people have displayed maturity of judgement through their
native intelligence and common sense in choosing, and also changing the government
according to their choice.

4.6 ELECTION IN INDIA: AN EXERCISE ON MASSIVE SCALE

Elections are the great public ceremonies of Indian life. In India, the elections are
massive spectacles mobilising millions of people into the political process. They are,
thus, not only great festivals providing entertainment and excitement for virtually the
entire population but have also acquired what Albinski and Pettit have termed as ―a
sacramental or commemorative aspect‖ and has become ―a conspicuous symbol of
nationhood and social purpose.‖ In the words of Morris Jones and Biplab Das Gupta,
―Elections in India provide the occasion for the widest degree of popular
participation; they constitute the most important single arena for genuine competition
between political groups; they are the principal agency through which recruitment to
a significant part of the political elite is affected.‖ The elections tend to be complex
events in India since they involve individual and collective decisions and directly
affect the total political and social process. Unlike most of the new states in the
developing countries, elections in India have been central, not peripheral to the
system.

50
4.7 VOTING PATTERN

The General Election is considered as a sacred process that not only ratifies the
principle of democracy generally but it strengthens the pillars of Indian democracy as
well. The voting pattern shows that the percentage of female voters who cast their
votes has significantly increased from 46.63 per cent in the third General Election to
55.64 per cent in 1999 election. A look at the results of the last five General Elections
reveals that there is a decline in the performance of the national parties taken together
both in terms of total number of seats won as well as their vote share. Regional
parties gained at the cost of national parties during this period. This is one of the
factors that have contributed to federal coalition governments in the recent past. All
the regional parties put together could get only 27 seats in 1989 elections. They
improved their tally to 51 in 1991 and 129 in 1996. But there was a decline in seat
share to 101 in 1998 and subsequently an increase 158 in 1999. There was a
corresponding increase in their vote share also. In 1989 their vote share was 9.28 per
cent of the total valid votes polled. But it increased 26.93 per cent in the 1999 polls.
National Parties always got a higher percentage of seats compared to their vote share.
Regional parties and independents were the losers who could get lesser percentage of
seats compared to their vote share.

Elections are political processes, which provide a link between the society and the
polity and between the traditional social systems and evolving political structures.
Therefore, the elections must be analysed within the context of the total political and
social system. Elections perform different roles in different political systems. They
may contribute to political development in some, to political decay in others. They
may sometimes be used as veiled disguises for authoritarianism. In established
democracies, there are institutional procedures for system maintenance and also the
instruments for support building, interest aggregation, peaceful and orderly transfer of
power, recruitment and training of leaders, and above all for an increasing
democratisation of the political system. Thus, the elections are devices for legitimacy,
identification, integration, communication, political education, participation,
socialisation, mobilisation, conflict resolution, political choice, and political control.
Elections induct an element of accountability into a political system and make it
possible for the citizens to exercise a genuine and meaningful degree of political
choice and control. This, in turn, makes the system itself a democratic and effective
instrument of governance.

4.8 ELECTORAL REFORMS

The need of electoral reforms was felt quite early in India. The various committees
and commissions appointed by the parliament, government and opposition parties
have made attempts in this regard. First such major effort for electoral reforms was
made in 1971, when a Joint Parliamentary Committee on Amendments to Election

51
Law was appointed under the chairmanship of Jagannath Rao, which submitted its
report in 1972.

In 1974, Jayaprakash Narayan as president of the Citizens for Democracy (CFD) set
up a committee under the chairmanship of Justice V.M. Tarkunde for electoral
reforms. This committee popularly known as Tarkunde committee was asked to
suggest measures to combat among other things the various forms of corrupt practice
like the use of money and muscle power, misuse of official machinery and the
disparity between the votes polled and the number of seats won, etc. Tarkunde
committee submitted its report in February 1975. On the basis of this report, J.P.
launched the people‘s movement against corruption and for electoral reforms and
presented the People‘s Charter to the presiding officers of both Houses of Parliament
on March 6, 1975. Urging the Parliament and assemblies to be more responsive to
popular aspirations, the charter demanded that the unanimous recommendations of
the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms be implemented without
delay.

The Janata Party after assuming power in 1977 constituted a cabinet sub-committee
on electoral reforms headed by the then Union Home Minister Charan Singh. At the
same time, the CEC S.L. Shakdhar made significant suggestions on various issues
ranging from election expenses to booth capturing. An agreement to reduce voting
age from 21 to 18 years was also reached. But the Janata Party government fell before
it could initiate any electoral reform.

The National Front government under V.P. Singh in January 1990 formed another
committee on electoral reforms headed by the then Law Minister Dinesh Goswami.
The committee did laudable and prompt work and submitted its report in May 1990.
On the basis of the proposals therein, the government introduced four bills in the
Parliament to give effect to its recommendations. But this government also fell before
these bills could be enacted.

The Narasimha Rao government convened a special session of the Parliament to get
two bills; the Constitution Eighty- Third Amendment Bill 1994 and the
Representation of the People Second Amendment Bill, 1994, passed. However, the
bills were withdrawn before introduction. The United Front coalition government
succeeded in getting the Representation of the People Second Amendment Act
enacted in July 1996. The important provisions of the act are as follows:

1) Candidates will not be allowed to contest more than two seats at a time.

2) Non-serious candidates will be deterred from contesting parliamentary and

assembly elections through a ten-fold increase in the security deposit from Rs. 500 to
Rs. 5000.

52
3) Elections will not be countermanded because of the death of a candidate. In the
case of a candidate of a recognised political party, the party will have the authority to
nominate a replacement within seven days. No such replacement will be allowed in
the case of an independent.

4) The campaign period is reduced from 21 days to 14 days.

The reforms though minimal to begin with can pave the way for more through and
comprehensive overhauling of the electoral machinery and process. The following
measures can be suggested for electoral reform.

Cry for electoral reforms have been debated right from the beginning of the first
general election of Lok Sabha in 1951. However the issue gained momentum in the
1990‘s. And with the beginning of the 21st century this has become the central
agenda of the Indian political system in general and for the Election Commission in
particular. There are various issues involved in electoral reforms. These issues can be
outlined broadly as the following:--

1. Change in the First-past-the-post-system,

2. Decriminalization of politics,
3. Funding of elections,
4. Regulation of political parties,
5. Audit and finances of political parties,
6. Conduct and better management of elections,
7. Review of anti-defection law,
8. Simultaneous elections for Union and State legislatures,
9. Allowing of negative polling,
10. Making false declarations in election affidavits an offence,
11. Use of common electoral rolls in the Union and state elections,
12. Decrease number of registered parties,
13. Increase the amount of security deposits,
14. Not allowing candidates to contest from more than one constituency in an
election,
15. Ban on exit/opinion poll results till the final voting is over for the last phase,

Over the last 10 years the demand of electoral reforms have increased manifold. Since
2004 the Congress led coalition government is doing the business at the centre. The
next general election is going to happen in 2014. In between the Election Commission
has done some marvelous job by registering the young voters between the ages of 18-

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19 in their respective colleges. This year 2013 the Commission has celebrated the
third Voter‘s Day on 25th of January. It is also believed that the Commission is going
to use SMS alert system in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in 2014.The system uses
coded messages to track data of officials on election duty. The system will also help
the Commission to monitor a particular booth and information such as time when
polling started and voting percentages.

The first and foremost concern of electoral reform is the very basis of our political
representation-process itself. First-past-the-post-system has many loopholes. Multi-
cornered contests have become a norm in India rather than an exception due to the
increase in the number of smaller and regional parties. There are several instances of
victory in assembly elections by a margin less than 100-200 votes. Apart from this
anomaly, in most cases, a candidate wins election by securing just 30-35 per cent of
the total number of votes polled. Hence he/she can not be deemed to be a choice of
popular mandate; nor should he be. To overcome this limitation, this system should
be replaced with a two-stage electoral process. In this process, second round of
election should take place between the two highest polled candidates, until one of
them getting more than 50 per cent of total votes polled.

Criminalization of politics is perhaps the most potent danger our democracy is

currently facing. It is very pertinent to ask why tainted person is allowed to contest
election; what to talk of making him a minister or giving him a responsible position.
On January 12, 2013 the Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath once again
raised the demand for a complete ban on contesting elections for those persons
against whom heinous crime charges are framed or convicted in a court of law. The
very issue came to the fore after a remark made by the Supreme Court that why
preferential treatment is accorded to convicted MPs and MLAs as against an ordinary
citizen held guilty on a similar count. ―The Commission‘s view regarding barring
criminals from contesting is one of the oldest in the country as early as 1998. About
15 years back, The Commission made the proposals to the government,‖ the CEC
said. He further added, ―Not only should those who are convicted, those facing
serious criminal charges on heinous affairs also be barred from contesting election.
We have been pursuing and hoping for action.‖ On July 15, 1998 the Commission
proposed that for preventing persons with criminal background from becoming
legislators against whom charges have been framed by a Court for an offence
punishable by imprisonment of five years or more. To ensure that the candidates were
not framed in politically motivated cases, the Commission suggested that only those
cases in which charges were framed six months prior to an election should be taken
into account for that election. As per Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, a
candidate is disqualified and debarred from contesting polls if convicted and handed a
prison sentence of two years or more. The ban would remain in force from the date of
conviction to six years after release from the prison. However if he files an appeal
within three months of his conviction, he can still contest an election. The proposals

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for de-criminalization of politics were reiterated by the EC in November 1999, July
2004 and October 2006.

Recently the issue of funding of elections has also gained momentum. Almost all
parties are agreed on increasing the spending limit by a candidate in an election. BJP,
BSP and CPI (M) have demanded an increase in the ceiling by referring to the
inflation and its impact. On April 17, 2012 the CEC S Y Quraishi said it can be
considered only after bringing in financial transparency and internal democracy in
political parties. On April 01, 2013 BJP endorsed the Commission effort in its
electoral reforms process including making public all donations to political parties. It
also maintained that it will abide by any change in rules the poll panel seeks on the
issue. "BJP has always been in favour of electoral reforms and always follows rules.
Our candidates will be ready to make public their balance sheets, income tax returns
and other financial documents as well as donations and gifts to the party," party
spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters. The poll panel has expressed
differences with the government's suggestion that this matter be referred to the Law
Commission. The EC wants that it be made mandatory that political parties declare all
donations, irrespective of the amount of contribution. The EC had earlier asked the
government to modify declaration Form 24A under Representation of People's (RP)
Act. The Law Ministry had said it had referred the matter to the Law Commission
which is looking into amendments required for electoral reforms.

Regulation of Political Parties is another reform which the Commission is vehemently

crying for. It is being pleaded that the number of registered political parties be
decreased so that the smaller parties, in the case of fractured mandate, are not able to
bargain the bigger parties for parochial or narrow political gains. This is also to be
noted that smaller parties are more vulnerable to ‗ideological shifts‘. The election
commission should be given powers to de-recognize smaller political parties on the
basis of their performance. Another move to achieve this goal would be to increase
the minimum number of primary members that are needed to form a political party. It
is also being proposed to increase the security deposit amount to put a check on the
number of non-serious candidates contesting union and state assembly elections. The
third demand in the series is to stop a candidate contesting election from more than
one constituency simultaneously in one election. Further it is also being proposed to
use common electoral rolls in the union and state elections. One serious attempt by
the Commission to reform the electoral process is to make a person ineligible for
contesting election for a minimum of five years if he files false declarations in an
election affidavit.

Of late the demand for negative voting or no-voting has gained serious support in the
arena of civil society at large. This will allow a voter to express his dissent by
rejecting all the candidates contesting in his constituency if he finds none of them
suitable to be elected. Currently a large number of people do not go to the polling

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booth because of their disenchantment with the candidates put up by the political
parties. This is reflected in the falling poll percentages. Democracy in India will be
strengthened if people participate in large numbers in the electoral process and have a
choice to reject all the candidates instead Moreover the noteworthy demand is that an
elected representative should be called back if he is unable to perform his duties as
MLA or MP. After a certain interval the recall process should start. The nearest
defeated candidate during the last election should be declared as the official
representative of his electoral constituency if the elected representative is unable to
garner a certain percentage of support in his constituency in the repoll. Currently
elections in India are held through EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) process. In the
EVM there is no option of negative or no-voting. However Rule 49-O of the Conduct
of Selection Rules, 1961 states that‖

if an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of
voters in Form 17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required
under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decides not to record his vote, a remark to this effect
shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the
signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.‖
The procedure prescribed under this rule is such that the decision and identity of the
elector not voting for any candidate is known to those present in the polling station
including the political agents. The Election Commission has thus made a proposal to
the government to amend the rules so as to provide for a ‗none of the above‘ button
on balloting unit of the EVM after the name of the last candidate on the list. This will
enable an elector to exercise the option of not voting in secrecy, by pressing the ‗none
of the above‘ button. This is the latest and most sought for reform the public is
demanding. Recently during the various state assembly elections in 2012 and 2013
the civil society has raised this question vehemently. Sooner or later this demand has
to be incorporated in the electoral reform process. The apathy and self-centered
approach by the majority of representatives towards their constituencies after winning
the election has indeed augmented the demand. People at large feel cheated by their
elected representatives.

Election Commission is also demanding ban on publication of exit/opinion poll

results till voting is over for all phases. To ensure free and fair elections in India, the
election commission holds them in different phases so that the available security staff
is effectively deployed. Publishing the result of opinion poll on the earlier phases will
have an impact on the voting pattern in the subsequent phases. Similarly, the opinion
polls that are conducted before the election also influence the voting pattern. Hence
there is a need to put a ban on the publication of the results of the exit/opinion polls
conducted by various media agencies till all the phases of elections are over.

There is also a demand of online voting. But the then CEC S.Y. Quraishi rejected the
idea by saying that ―Voting online, technologically is child's play for us. We are an IT

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super power Let's accept that. But we do not see that happening in the near future.
Your safety and your integrity is our concern. Someone points a gun at you and asks
you to vote for you. We hope that your laptop cannot protect you from that. Secondly,
we don't even trust you. Somebody comes and gives you Rs 5,000 and asks you to
vote for him. Till we are able to control that, that (online voting) cannot happen,‖ he
said.

4.9 IMPORTANT STEP TAKEN BY THE ELECTION COMMISSION FOR

ELECTORAL REFORM

Electronic voting machines

The Election Commission had tried to bring improvements in election procedures by
the introduction of EVMs. It was thought that these would reduce malpractices and
improve efficiency. It was first tried out on an experimental basis in the state
of Kerala for the 1982 Legislative Assembly Elections. After a successful testing and
the legal inquiries, the commission took the decision to begin the use of these voting
machines. Election Commission organised an open hackathon on 3 June 2017, to
attempt hacking of Electronic Voting Machine used by the commission in various
Indian elections. The NCP and CPI (M) were the only two parties that registered for
the event but none of them participated. Functioning of EVMs and VVPAT machines
were demonstrated to the teams.

Postal voting
Postal voting in India is done only through the "Electronically Transmitted Postal
Ballot Papers (ETPB)" system of Election Commission of India, ballot papers are
distributed to the registered eligible voters who return the votes by post. Postal votes
are counted first before the counting of votes from the EVM. Only certain categories
of people are eligible to register as postal voters. Employees working in the union
armed forces and state police as well as their wives, and those working for
the Government of India who are officially posted abroad can register for the postal
vote; these are also called the "Service voters". People in preventive detention can use
postal vote. Prisoners cannot vote at all.

Electors with disabilities

The Election Commission of India came under severe criticism when

an RTI application filed by activist Dr Satendra Singh revealed the commission's ill-
preparedness to safeguard electors with disabilities in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
There were many violations of the Supreme Court order from 2014 to enfranchise
persons with disabilities.

Electors / Voters having one among the 21 disabilities as mentioned by the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 are termed as voters with disabilities. In addition,
if a person who has reduced mobility and/or motor function and/or physical
coordination due to age, temporary ailment, pregnancy and other disease, and needs
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to be facilitated to get registered and to vote are termed as electors / voters with
reduced mobility and physical functions.

An eligible person with disability or reduced mobility / physical functions can get
enrolled in electoral roll by filling Form 6 inclusive of information about one‘s
disability online at www.nvsp.in and uploading the necessary documents.

One can also enrol at voter enrolment centres or the offices of Electoral Registration
Officers / Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, which will be accessible for
persons with disabilities and reduced mobility / physical functions, by filling Form 6
in two copies which are available free of cost atsuchcentres / offices
and annexingcopies of the relevant documents. In case of any assistance /
facilitation of communication required in filling the form, the same would be
provided at both offices. The forms can also be sent by post to Electoral Registration
Officer / Assistant Electoral Registration Officer.

Vote Verifier Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)

A very important step in the direction of electoral reform has been taken by the
Election Commission. On April 9, 2013 it informed the Supreme Court that it has
approved improvised version of EVMs to additionally maintain paper records of
votes. It told the court that these EVMs could be used in elections after proper
amendments to the election rules and a consensus among the political parties. The
commission submitted before a bench led by Justice P Sathasivam that trial of Vote
Verifier Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in EVMs has been done and approved by the
technical committee of experts too. The machines could be used in elections after the
Centre approves it and provides funds for its manufacturing. The Commission said
that 13 lakh VVPAT machines costing Rs 1,692 crore would be needed for
parliamentary polls. "The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, will have to be amended
since the rules approve only two units in an EVM, control unit and ballot unit. The
VVPAT system has a third unit where a paper trail would follow each time a button is
pressed. This paper receipt would then be deposited in a separate box attached with
the machine.‖

Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

One very active role in the direction of electoral reforms is being played by active
citizens through the process of Public Interest Litigation (PIL). In this regard two
PILs concerning the Representation of People‘s Act (RPA) have been filed in the
Court. The RPA, in a nutshell, ―provides for the conduct of elections to the Houses of
Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the
qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt
practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision
of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.‖ Sections
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8.1(a) through 8.1(n) of the RPA list down the disqualification criteria of an elected
representative. A quick look at the criminal charges, which about 640 MPs/MLAs
boast of on their pre-election affidavits, reveals the overlap between the charges and
the aforementioned criteria to be significant. If the wheels of the Criminal Justice
System – as applicable to elected representatives – could move faster, a not
insignificant number of these MP/MLAs could be disqualified, were they to be
convicted of the charges that are listed against them. If you are an elected
representative, you can park your derriere in the House even if you have been
convicted. How? Just appeal to a higher court and get a stay on the sentence or the
conviction.

Case 1: This has been challenged, with Fali Nariman leading the charge. Pursuant to
a PIL filed by the NGO Lok Prahari concerning Section8 (4) of the RPA 1951, senior
constitutional expert Fali S Nariman has said that this discriminatory provision was
the first hurdle in the fight against criminalization of politics and ought to be struck
down on the ground that it was in conflict with equality of law guaranteed under the
Constitution (Article 14 of the Constitution provides for equality before law – it is
time the elected representatives make their acquaintance with the Constitution again).
―The Supreme Court put the question to the Centre on 10Jan, 2013, seeking a detailed
response from the Union government on the constitutional validity of Section 8(4) of
Representation of People Act which allows for special treatment for lawmakers‖.

Case 2: In another parallel development, a bench of Delhi High Court comprising

Justice Sanjay Kishen Kaul and Justice Indermeet Kaur, heard the arguments of a PIL
that has alleged that INC and BJP have ―violated the Representation of People‘s Act
(RPA) 1951 and Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) by taking donations
from government companies and foreign sources, which is prohibited under both the
legislations.‖ Dr. EAS Sharma (former secretary to the Government of India) and
Association for Democratic Reforms [ADR] are the petitioners in this particular case.
As this ADR press note states:

a) INC and the BJP have violated Section 29B of the Representation of People‘s Act
1951, which categorically prohibits them to take donations from government
companies and from any foreign source

b) The donation of huge sums of money made by the Vedanta Group (being a foreign
company) to major political parties like INC and BJP is in clear violation of the FCR
Act of 1976 and the FCR Act of 2010.

c) The donation of huge sums of money by the public sector undertakings [who are
also State within Article 12 of the Constitution] to the political parties is in violation
of Section 293A of the Companies Act.

The Delhi High Court, after hearing the petitioners, has asked the Home Ministry and
Election Commission of India (ECI) to file their responses within 2 weeks. The Court
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has also said that the two political parties, INC and BJP, will be called upon to
respond only after going through the responses of the Home Ministry and ECI.

Final Thoughts: The current Electoral system holds too many hidden contradictions
in its folds for it to be deemed stable and consistent. The most stunning contradiction
of it all being, the power to make effective changes and modifications rests with the
very same people who stand to lose the most (private gains, private wealth, private
power) were such changes to be effected. In light of these contradictions, PILs like
these are good news for the citizens, irrespective of which political party one
supports; after all, the problem of corrupt and criminal MPs & MLAs, as also of the
ills the current political funding mechanisms lead to, is not restricted to only one
political outfit. The sooner these reforms take place and mal practices cleaned up, the
better it will be for our democracy and the country

4.10 CHANGES IN THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

An electoral system must be truly representative. However, there is a wide gap

between the votes polled and seats won in present system where no single party has
ever won a majority of votes in any Lok Sabha election but has been able to capture
absolute and even two third majority several times. Over the years, the system has
come under severe criticism. Opinions have been expressed to change it to a system
of proportional representation. L.K. Advani and C.P. Bhambhri advocated
proportional representation way back in 1970; the Tarkunde committee recommended
a variant of the German system in 1975. Former CECs S.L. Shakdhar and L.P. Singh
have argued for a combined system of voting in which 50 per cent of the seats in the
Lok Sabha and state assemblies would be filled by direct voting and the remaining on
the basis of proportional representation. Tarkunde committee had also suggested
combining the present Indian system with a German list system.

4.10.1 Restructuring the Election Commission

One of the basic proposals of those advocating electoral reforms since long had been
that of making Election Commission a multi-member body. The Tarkunde and
Goswami committees advocated three members EC. Most of the CECs have opposed
it on the ground that quick decisions are sometimes required in electoral matters,
which may be impeded by multi-member commission. With the 1993 Constitution
Amendment Act and the 1995 Supreme Court judgement, multi-member commission
has become an accomplished fact. However, the manner in which the ECs are
appointed and the provision of majority decision under Art. 324A raise the suspicion
that the executive may appoint as many ECs as would constitute a majority and would
thus control the commission‘s decision. A statutory requirement of consulting the
Chief Justice of India and the leader of the opposition prior to the appointment of the
CEC and ECs can ensure a non-partisan character of the EC. A ban on all post-

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retirement appointments by the government will eliminate the tendency and
possibility of the CEC and ECs pleasing the government by going out of way.

4.10.2 Eradicating the evil influences of Money and Muscle Power

To check the increasing influence and vulgar show of money, law should fix
reasonable ceiling on election expenses and strict compliance of such law should be
enforced as was done during T.N. Sheshan‘s tenure as the CEC. State funding of
elections, which has been recommended by all the committees on electoral reforms,
should be introduced to curb the menace of money in elections. To prevent growing
criminalisation and violence there is an urgent need to implement the EC‘s proposal
of keeping out persons with proven criminal records from electoral context. Model
code of conduct should be enforced strictly. Gradually, ways and means must be
found to implement the voters‘ right to recall as well as the right to reject candidates.

The electoral process cannot be cleansed merely by legal measures. The electoral
process is influenced and determined by the political culture of the political system,
which cannot be reformed by legislative acts. The enlightened citizens who are
prepared to uphold political norms and punish those who violate them can be an
effective instrument for clean electoral politics. Bolstering the intermediary political
and civic institutions, whose collapse has accelerated electoral malpractices, can also
be effective in removing the ills of electoral process. However, the strong political
will and people‘s initiative is needed to get rid the electoral of from several defects
from which it is suffering.

4.11 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have discussed the role of election in ensuring people‘s participation
in the political system and strengthening democracy. Election can also weaken
democracy, if polls are not free and fair. Therefore, our constitution makers have
provided for impartial election machinery, free from executive control to conduct
elections for Union and State legislatures and President and Vice-President. Elections
in India are an exercise on massive scale involving millions of voters, poll personnel,
security men etc.

Elections in India have been marred by the evil influences of money and muscle
power. This has led to criminalisation of electoral politics. Earlier criminals used to
lend outside support but now they themselves have entered in the electoral arena and
have become not only members of the house but even have become ministers. Thus
we have new phenomena in Indian politics ‗tainted ministers.‘ To check the rot,
several committees and commissions have been appointed for electoral reforms.
These committees have suggested several measures; some of them have been adopted
also. But still a lot has to be done to stem the rot. However, law alone cannot clean
the electoral system. Vigilant public opinion is also required. People have to be

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sensitised about the malaise of the electoral process. Only then, free and fair poll can
be conducted, which will lead to strengthening of democracy in India.

4.12 EXERCISE

1. Critically examine the role of election in democracy and evaluate the role of
Election Commission of India in conducting free and fair poll.
2. What are electoral reforms?
3. Discuss the various efforts made for electoral reforms.
4. What are the Important Steps Taken By The Election Commission For
Electoral Reform?
5. What is the role of Role of Elections In Democracy?
4.13 REFERENCE

 Kaviraj, Sudipta(2009) ‗Politics in India‘, Oxford University Press, New

Delhi
 Kohli, Atul (2004) (ed.) ‗The Success of India‘s Democracy‘, New Delhi,
Cambridge University Press.
 Kothari,R (1970) ‗Caste in Indian Politics‘, Delhi, Orient Longman.
 M. John, (ed) (2008) ‗Women in India: A Reader, Penguin , India
 P. Brass, (1999) ‗The Politics of India since Independence, New Delhi,
Cambridge University Press and Foundation Books.
 P. Mehta and N. Jayal (2010) (eds.) ‗The Oxford Companion to Politics in
India‘, New Delhi,Oxford University Press.
 Z. Hasan (2002) (ed.) ‗Parties and Party Politics in India‘, New Delhi: Oxford
University press

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