Electoral Politics

"In democracy it is neither possible nor necessary for people to govern directly. The most common form of democracy in our times isfor the people to govern through their representatives. In this chapter we will look at how these representatives are elected."

1.0Why elections?

Assembly election in Haryana

"The time is after midnight. An expectant crowd sitting for the past five hours in a chowk of the town is waiting for its leader to come. The organisers assure and reassure the crowd that he would be here any moment. The crowd stands up whenever a passing vehicle comes that way. It arouses hopes that he has come.

This newspaper report is about the "State assembly election in Haryana in 1987. The State had been ruled by a Congress party led government since 1982. Chaudhary Devi Lal, then an opposition leader, led a movement called 'Nyaya Yudh' (Struggle for Justice) and formed a new party, Lok Dal. His party joined other opposition parties to form a front against the Congress in the elections. In the election campaign, Devi Lal said that if his party won the elections, his government would waive the loans of farmers and small businessmen. He promised that this would be the first action of his government.

Chaudhary Devi Lal The people were unhappy with the existing government. They were also attracted by Devi Lal's promise. So, when elections were held, they voted overwhelmingly in favour of Lok Dal and its allies. Lok Dal and its partners won 76 out of 90 seats in the State Assembly. Lok Dal alone won 60 seats and thus had a clear majority in the Assembly. The Congress could win only 5 seats. Once the election result was announced, the sitting Chief Minister resigned. The newly elected Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Lok Dal chose Devi Lal as their leader. The Governor invited Devi Lal to be the new Chief Minister. Three days after the election results were declared, he became the Chief Minister. As soon as he became the Chief Minister, his government issued a Government Order waiving the outstanding loans of small farmers, agricultural labourers and small businessmen.

His party ruled the state for four-years. The next elections were held in 1991, But this time his party did not win popular support. The Congress won the election and formed the government.

2.0Why do we need Elections?

Elections take place regularly in any democracy.

• There are more than one hundred countries in the world in which elections take place to choose people's representatives.
• A rule of the people is possible without any elections if all the people can sit together every day and take all the decisions. This is not possible in any large community. Nor is it possible for everyone to have the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters Therefore in most democracies people rule through their representatives.
  
  Election Process

3.0What are Elections?

It is a mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish to do so. This mechanism is called elections.

Elections are considered essential in our times for any representative democracy. In an election the voters make many choices:

• They can choose who will make laws for them.
• They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions.
• They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law making.

4.0What makes an Election Democratic?

Elections can be held in many ways. All democratic countries hold elections. But most nondemocratic countries also hold some kind of elections. There are certain conditions which make an election democratic:

• Everyone should be able to choose. This means that everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.
• There should be something to choose from. Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.
  
• The choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly after every few years.
• The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
• Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.

These might look like very simple and easy conditions. But there are many countries where these are not fulfilled. In this chapter we will apply these conditions to the elections held in our own country to see if we can call these democratic elections.

5.0Is it good to have Political Competition?

Elections are thus all about political competition. This competition takes various forms. The most obvious form is the competition among political parties. At the constituency level, it takes the form of competition among several candidates. If there is no competition, elections will become pointless.

(a) Disadvantages

• It creates a sense of disunity and factionalism in every locality.
• Political parties and candidates often level allegations against each other.
• Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections.
• They often make false promises and try to deceive the public.
• Afraid of dirty attacks, many good people do not like to contest elections.

Regular electoral competition provides an incentive to political parties and leaders. They fully know they stand the chance of winning the elections if they serve and satisfy their voters. But if they fail in this task, they will not be able to win the next elections. Political competition may cause some ugliness and divisions yet ultimately it puts pressure on the political parties and their leaders to serve the people for their own survival.

Our Constitution makers were aware of these problems. Yet they opted for free competition in elections as the way to select our future leaders. They did so because this system works better in the long run. In an ideal world all political leaders know what is good for the people and are motivated only by a desire to serve them. Political competition is not necessary in such an ideal world. But that is not what happens in real life. Political leaders all over the world, like all other professionals, are motivated by a desire to advance their political careers. They want to remain in power or get power and positions for themselves. They may wish to serve the people as well, but it is risky to depend entirely on their sense of duty. Besides even when they wish to serve the people, they may not know what is required to do so, or their ideas may not match what the people really want.

(b) Advantages

• This competition allows the voters to judge for themselves which party would serve them better.
• Without this competition, no candidate shall ever feel himself responsible to his voters because he had not come to ask for their votes.
• But political competition has many defects which must be removed to make political competition a more viable system.

6.0What is our System of Elections?

Can we say that Indian elections are democratic? To answer this question, let us take a look at how elections are held in India. Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections are held regularly after every five years. After five years the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands 'dissolved'. Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days. This is called a general election. Sometimes election is held only for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member. This is called a by-election.

(a) Electoral Constituencies

That is why our Constitution requires that each constituency should have a roughly equal population living within it. Similarly, each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. In this case, the elected representative is called the Member of Legislative Assembly or an MLA. Each parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies. The same principle applies for Panchayat and Municipal elections. Each village or town is divided into several 'wards' that are like constituencies. Each ward elects one member of the villager or the urban local body. Sometimes these constituencies are counted as 'seats', for each constituency represents one seat in the assembly. For Example, when we say that 'Lok Dal won 60 seats' in Haryana, it means that candidates of Lok Dal won in 60 assembly constituencies in the state and thus Lok Dal has 60 MLAs in the state assembly.

(b) Reserved Constituencies

So, the makers of our Constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections. Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST]. In a SC reserved constituency only, someone who belongs to the Scheduled Castes can stand for election. Similarly, only those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a constituency reserved for ST. Currently, in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes. This number is in proportion to their share in the total population. Thus, the reserved seats for SC and ST do not take away the legitimate share of any other social group. This system of reservation was extended later to other weaker sections at the district and local level.

In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well. However, the proportion of seats reserved varies from state to state. Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates.

(c) Voters List

• Once the constituencies are decided, the next step is to decide who can and who cannot vote. This decision cannot be left to anyone till the last day.
• In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This list is officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters List.
  
  Voters

• Everyone should get an equal opportunity to choose representatives. In practice it means that everyone should have one vote and each vote should have equal value. No one should be denied the right to vote without a good reason.
• Different citizens differ from one another in many ways: some are rich, some are poor, some are highly educated, some are not so educated or not educated at all; some are kind, others are not so kind. But all of them are human beings with their own needs and views. That is why all of them deserve to have an equal say in decisions that affect them.
• In our country, all the citizens aged 18 years and above can vote in an election. Every citizen has the right to vote, regardless of his or her caste, religion, or gender. Some criminals and persons with unsound mind can be denied the right to vote.
• It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on the voters' list. As new persons attain voting age names are added to the voter's list.
• Names of those who move out of a place or those who are dead are deleted. A complete revision of the list takes place every five years. This is done to ensure that it remains up to date.
• In the last few years, a new system of Election Photo Identity Card [EPIC] has been introduced. The government has tried to give this card to every person on the voters list. The voters are required to carry this card when they go out to vote, so that no one can vote for someone else.
• But the card is not yet, compulsory for voting. For voting, the voters can show many other proofs of identity like the ration card or the driving licence.
  

(d) Nomination of Candidates

• Anyone who can be a voter can also become a candidate in elections. The only difference is that in order to be a candidate the minimum age is 25 years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter. There are some other restrictions on criminals etc. but these apply in very extreme cases.
• Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and support. Party's nomination is often called party 'ticket'.
• Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a nomination form' and give some money as 'security deposit'.
• Recently, a new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of: (i) Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate. (ii) Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family; and (iii) Education qualifications of the candidate.

This information has to be made public. This provides an opportunity to the voters to make their decision on the basis of the information provided by the candidates.

7.0Educational Qualification for the Candidates

In some countries, educational qualification is quite necessary for the voters and the candidates. They hold the view that when some kind of qualification is quite necessary for holding any job, it should also be there for the voters especially the candidates who would hold such important post of responsibility.

But many people, especially those of the developing countries, do not agree with the above view because of the following reasons:

• It is argued that educational qualifications are not relevant to all kinds of jobs. A cricket player should be judged by his ability to play cricket and not by his qualification.
• The voters are the best judge to choose the educated candidate or an experienced man who has the ability to understand people's concerns, problems etc.
• It is also argued that if a graduate degree (B.A, B.Sc., B.Com.) is made compulsory for candidates, more than 90 percent of the voters would become ineligible for, contesting an election.

8.0Election Campaign

(i) The main purpose of election is to give people a chance to choose the representatives, the government and the policies they prefer. Therefore, it is necessary to have a free and open discussion about who is a better representative, which party will make a better government or what is a good policy. This is what happens during election campaigns. (ii) In our country such campaigns take place for a two-week period between the announcement of the final list of candidates and the date of polling. During this period the candidates contact their voters, political leaders address election meetings and political parties mobilise their supporters. But election campaign is not limited to these two weeks only. Political parties start preparing for

Election Campaign elections months before they actually take place. (iii) In election campaigns, political parties try to focus public attention on some big issues. They want to attract the public to that issue and get them to vote for their party on that basis. Let us look at some of the successful slogans given by different political parties in various elections.

• The Congress party led by Indira Gandhi gave the slogan of Garibi Hatao (Remove poverty) in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971. The party promised to reorient all the policies of the government to remove poverty from the country.
• Save Democracy was the slogan given by Janata Party in the next Lok Sabha election held in 1977. The party promised to undo the excesses committed during Emergency and restore civil liberties
• The Left Front used the slogan of Land to the Tiller in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 1977.
• 'Protect the Self-Respect of the Telugus' was the slogan used by N. T. Rama Rao, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 1983.

9.0Model Code of Conduct

(a) Principles of Model Code of Conduct

The different political parties have agreed to follow certain principles during an Election Campaign. According to our election law, no party or candidate can:

• Bribe or threaten voters.
• Appeal to them in the name of caste or religion.
• Use government resources for election campaign; and
• Spend more than ₹25 lakh in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or ₹10 lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election. If they do so, their election can be rejected by the court even after they have been declared elected. In addition to the laws, all the political parties in our country have agreed to a Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns.

According to this, no party or candidate can:

• Use any place of worship for election propaganda.
• Use government vehicles, aircrafts, and officials for elections; and
• Once elections are announced, Ministers shall not lay foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make any promises of providing public facilities.

(b) Polling and counting of votes

• The final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or 'poll' their vote. That day is usually called the election day.
• Every person whose name is on the voters' list can go to a nearby 'polling booth', situated usually in a local school or a government office.
• Once the voter goes inside the booth, the election officials identify her, put a mark on her finger and allow her to cast her vote.
• An agent of each candidate is allowed to sit inside the polling booth and ensure that the voting takes place in a fair way.
• Earlier the voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed.
• Electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. Independent candidates too have their own symbols, allotted by election commission. All the voters have to press the button against the name of the candidate whom one wants to give vote.
• Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place. A few days later, on a fixed date, all the EVMs from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each candidate are counted. The agent of all candidates is present there to ensure that the counting is done properly.
  
  EVM Machine
  
  Ballot Box
• The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared elected. In a general election, usually the counting of votes in all the constituencies takes place at the same time, on the same day- Television channels, radio and newspapers report this event. Within a few hours of counting, all the results are declared, and it becomes clear as to who will form the next government.

10.0Are the elections expensive?

A large amount of money is spent in conducting elections in India. For instance, the government spent about ₹ 3,500 crores in conducting Lok Sabha elections in 2014. That works out to about 40 per person on the voters' list. The amount spent by parties and candidates was more than what the government spent. Roughly speaking, the expenditure made by government, parties and candidates was around ₹ 30,000 crores or $₹500$ per voter.

Some people say that elections are a burden on our people, that our poor country cannot afford to hold elections once every five years. Let us compare this expenditure with some other figures:

• In 2005, our government decided to buy six nuclear submarines from France. Each submarine cost about ₹ 3,000 crores.
• Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The estimate for its cost is around 20,000 crores.

11.0What makes Elections in India Democratic?

We get to read a lot about unfair practices in elections. Newspapers and television reports often refer to such allegations. Most of these reports are about the following:

• Inclusion of false names and exclusion of genuine names in the voters' list.
• Misuse of government facilities and officials by the ruling party.
• Excessive use of money by rich candidates and big parties; and
• Intimidation of voters and rigging on the polling day.

Many of these reports are correct. We feel unhappy when we read or see such reports. But fortunately, they are not on such a scale so as to defeat the very purpose of elections. This becomes clear if we ask a basic question: Can a party win an election and come to power not because it has popular support but through electoral malpractices? This is a vital question. Let us carefully examine various aspects of this question.

(a) Independent Election Commission

• In our country elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC). It enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys.
• The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India. But once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the President or the government. Even if the ruling party or the government does not like what the Commission
  
  does, it is virtually impossible for it to remove the CEC. Very few election commissions in the world have such wide-ranging powers as the Election Commission of India.
• EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to the declaration of results. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it.
• During the election period, the EC can order the government to follow some guidelines, to prevent use and misuse of governmental power to enhance its chances to win elections, or to transfer some of its officials.
• When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.
• In the last 25 years or so, the Election Commission has begun to exercise all its powers and even expand them. It is very common now for the Election Commission to reprimand the government and administration for their lapses. When election officials come to the opinion that polling was not fair in some booths or even an entire constituency, they order a repoll. The ruling parties often do not like what the EC does. But they have to obey. This would not have happened if the EC was not independent and powerful.

(b) Popular participation

• People's participation in election is usually measured by voter turnout figures. Turnout indicates the per cent of eligible voters who actually cast their vote. Over the last fifty years, the turnout in Europe and North America has declined. In India the turnout has either remained stable or actually gone up.

VOTER TURNOUT IN INDIA AND THE UK

• In India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections. This is in contrast to western democracies. For example, in the United States of America, poor people, African Americans and Hispanics vote much less than the rich and the white people.
• Common people in India attach a lot of importance to elections. They feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties and programmes favourable to them. They also feel that their vote matters in the way things are run in the country.
  

Effects of the voter's votes

• The interest of voters in election related activities has been increasing over the years. During the 2004 elections, more than one-third voters took part in a campaign-related activities. More than half of the people identified themselves as being close to one or the other political party. One out of every seven voters are a member of a political party.
  

(c) Acceptance of Election Outcome

The outcome of India's elections

• The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state level. In fact, in every two out of the three elections held in the last fifteen years, the ruling party lost.
• In the US. an incumbent 'sitting' elected representative rarely loses an election. In India about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.
• Candidates who are known to have spent a lot of money on 'buying votes' and those with known criminal connections often lose elections. '
• Barring very few disputed elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted as 'people's verdict' by the defeated party.

12.0Challenges to Free and Fair Elections

All this leads to a simple conclusion -

• Election in India are basically free and fair. The party that wins an election and forms government does so because people have chosen it over its rivals. This may not the true for every constituency.
• A few candidates may win purely on the basis of money power and unfair means: But the overall verdict of a general election still reflects popular preference.
• There are very few exceptions to this rule in the last sixty years in our country. This is what makes Indian elections democratic.
• Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
• In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ticket from major parties.
• Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
• Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the major parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
• Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.

These challenges exist not just in India but also in many established democracies. These deeper issues are a matter of concern for those who believe in democracy. That is why citizens, social activists and organisations have been demanding reforms in our electoral system.

13.0Glossary

• Code of Conduct - A set of norms and guidelines to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates during election time.
• Constituency - Voters in a geographical area who elect a representative to the legislative bodies.
• Incumbent - The current holder of a political office. Usually, the choice for the voters in elections is between the incumbent party or candidate and those who oppose them.
• Level playing field - Condition in which all parties and candidates contesting in an election have equal opportunities to appeal for votes and to carry out election campaign.
• Rigging - Fraud and malpractices indulged by a party or candidate to increase its votes. It includes stuffing ballot boxes by a few persons using the votes of others; recording multiple votes by the same person; and bribing or coercing polling officers to favour a candidate.
• Turnout - The percentage of eligible voters who cast their votes in an election.

14.0MIND MAP