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ELECTIONS, •, •, •, •, •, •, , Elections are a democratic way of selecting representatives., They ensure that the representatives rule as per the wishes of the people., Elections help voters to choose representatives who will make laws for them, form the, government and take major decisions., The voters can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law making., Thus election is a mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular, intervals and change them if they wish to., For example Haryana Assembly Election in 1987., , WHY DO WE NEED ELECTIONS?, •, •, •, , Voters can choose who will make laws for them., Voters can choose who will form the government and take major decisions., Voters can choose the party whose polies will guide the government and law making., , DEMOCRATIC ELECTION, •, •, •, •, •, , Everyone should be able to choose, i.e. everyone should have one vote and every vote should, have equal value., There should be parties and candidates to choose from, freedom to contest and a wide choice for, people., Elections must be held at regular intervals., Candidate preferred by the people should be elected., Elections should be held in a fair and free atmosphere to be democratic., , MERITS AND DEMERITS OF POLITICAL COMPETION, MERITS:-, , • Elections are good because they force the ruling party to perform. The government is aware that, it will be voted out of power if it does not perform as the people expected., , • It forces parties and leaders to perform, so competition is good., DEMERITS:-, , •, •, •, •, , Creates a sense of disunity and party politics., Parties level allegations against each other of using dirty tricks to win elections., Long-term policies cannot be formulated., Good people do not enter politics., , ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES, “The country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections. These areas are called, electoral constituencies. The voters who live in an area elect one representative.”, For example For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies. The, representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MP.

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•, •, •, •, , So each state has specific no. of constituencies., Selected leaders are known as MLA., For example in up there are 403 seats for legislative assembly., Similarly Haryana has 90 seats for legislative assembly., , Reserve constituencies, •, •, •, •, •, •, , In open electoral competition weaker section may not stand a good chance to win., Lack of resources, education and contacts., Powerful people may prevent them from winning elections., No. of seats reserved in LS for SC- 84, No. of seats reserved in LS for ST- 47, No seats reserved for women in LS, but at local level there are 1/3rd seats reserved for women., , NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES, , , , , , , , Anyone who can vote, can also become a candidate to contest elections., Age should be 25 years or above., Ticket from a party or independent., Nomination form., Security deposits., Legal declaration., , ELECTION CAMPAIGN, , , , , , , , , , , , It provides a perspective to the people that whose policy would be better., Takes place between announcement of the final list of candidate and polling., Candidate contact their voters., Election meetings., Mobilise the support of supporters., On campaign parties gives slogans such of them given belowThe Congress party led by Indira Gandhi gave the slogan of “Garibi Hatao” (Remove poverty) in, the Lok Sabha elections of 1971., “Save Democracy” was the slogan given by Janata Party under the leadership of Jayaprakash, Narayan, in the Lok Sabha election held in 1977., 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.

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CODE OF CONDUCT, , , , “A set of norms and guidelines to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates, during election time.”, No party can use any place of worship for election propaganda., No party can use government aircrafts and officials for elections., ,  Once elections are announced minister shall not lay founded stones of projects., , WHAT 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., Intimidation of voters and rigging (Fraud and malpractices indulged by a party or candidate to, increase its votes) on the polling day., Following things make elections in India democratic:Independent election commission., Popular participation., Acceptance of election outcome., , INDEPENDENT ELECTION COMMISSION( ECI A324-A329 ), , , , , , , , , , It implements the code of conduct., ECI takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections, ECI can order to govt. to follow some guidelines, when an election duty, govt. officers work under, the control of the ECI not the govt., ECI can order to Repoll., Election commissioner, Enjoys the same power as Judiciary., Chief election commissioner is appointed by President., Not answerable to President., Virtually impossible to remove the CEC., , POPULAR PARTICIPATION, , , , , , Voters turnout figures., In India the poor illiterate and underprivileged people vote in large proportion as compared to, rich and privileged section., Expectations of common people from election are very high., The interest of voters in election related activities have been increasing over the years.

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ACCEPTANCE OF ELECTION OUTCOME, , , , , , , The outcome of India’s election speaks for itself., The ruling parties routinely lose election in India both at the national and state level., In the US, an incumbent (The current holder of a political office) or sitting elected representative, rarely losses an election. But in India about half of sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections., Candidates who are known to have spent a lot of money on buying vote and those with known, criminal connections often lose elections., Except very few dispute elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted as “People’s, verdict” by the defeated party., , CHALLENGES TO FREE AND FAIR ELETIONS,  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., , OUR ELECTION SYSTEM, , , , , , , , , , First a voters list is compiled., Then the election date is announced., The country is divided into constituencies for purpose of elections., The voters have to elect one representative for the Lok Sabha from each constituency (Lok Sabha, has 543 constituencies), called Member of Parliament. The constituencies are formed on basis of, population., Similarly, each state is divided into constituencies and a specific number of members called, Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected., The dates of General Elections are announced., Each party declares its Manifesto and prepares a list of nominations., , Thank you!