The GreatIndian

ElectionsMade By – Deepansha

SinghClass – VIII ARoll No. - ⑭

Introduction Elections is a formal decision-making process in

which the people of the country choose an individual to hold public office.

India has an federal government, with elected officials at the federal, state and local levels. At the national level, the head of the government, The Prime Minister, is elected by the members of Lok Sabha, lower house of the parliament of India. All members of Lok Sabha except two, who can be nominated by president of India, are directly elected through general elections which take place every five years, in normal circumstances, by universal adult franchise. 

Members of Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian parliament, are elected by elected members of the legislative assemblies of states and Electoral college for Union Territories of India.

In year 2009, the elections involved an electorate of 714 million people (larger than both EU and US elections combined). In year 2014, the Electoral Strength of India increased to 814.5 Million. Declared expenditure has trebled since 1989 to almost $300 million, using more than one million electronic voting machines.

The size of the huge electorate mandates that elections be conducted in a number of phases (there were four phases in 2004 General Elections and five phases in 2009 General Elections).

It involves a number of step-by-step processes from announcement of election dates by the Election Commission of India, which brings into force the 'model code of conduct' for the political parties, to the announcement of results and submission of the list of successful candidates to the executive head of the state or the centre. The submission of results marks the end of the election process, thereby paving way for the formation of the new government.

Indian Electoral System The Parliament of India comprises the head of the

state and the two Houses which are the legislature. The President of India is elected for a five-year term by

an electoral college consisting of members of federal and state legislatures.

The House of the People (Lok Sabha) represents citizens of India (currently the members of Lok Sabha are 545, out of which 543 are elected for 5-year term and 2 members represent the Anglo-Indian community).The 545 members are elected under the electoral system.  

Council of States (Rajya Sabha) has 245 members, 233 members elected for a six-year term, with one-third retiring every two years. The members are indirectly elected, this being achieved by the votes of legislators in the state and union (federal) territories. The elected members are chosen under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. The twelve nominated members are usually an eclectic mix of eminent artists (including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists and common people.

History of Elections in India Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the

people chosen by direct election on the basis of the adult suffrage. The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552, which is made up by election of up to 530 members to represent the States, up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President, if, in his/ her opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the lower house, Lok Sabha.

In 1952 Lok Sabha Elections there were 1,874 candidates, which rose to 13,952 candidates in 1996. However in 2009 Lok Sabha Elections only 8,070 candidates contested.

1st Lok Sabha (1951-52) The Indian general election of 1951–52 elected

the first Lok Sabha since India became independent in August 1947.

Until this point, the Indian Constituent Assembly had served as an interim legislature.

Polling was held between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952.

The very first votes of the election were cast in the Tehsil (district) of Chini in Himachal Pradesh.

The Indian National Congress (INC) won a landslide victory, winning 364 of the 489 seats and 45% of the total votes polled. This was over four times as many votes as the second-largest party.

Jawaharlal Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country.

The Voter turnout in the first Lok Sabha (1951-52) Elections was 45.7%.

2nd Lok Sabha (1957) The Indian general election of 1957 elected

the second Lok Sabha of India. The election was held from 24 February to

14 March, just over five years after the previous general elections.

There were 494 seats elected using ”first past the post voting” system. Out of the 403 constituencies, 91 elected two members, while the remaining 312 elected a single member.

 The multi-seat constituencies were abolished before the next election.

Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress easily won a second term in power, taking 371 of the 494 seats. They gained an extra seven seats (the size of the Lok Sabha had been increased by five) and their vote share increased from 45.0% to 47.8%. The INC won nearly five times more votes than the Communist Party, the second largest party.

In addition, 19.3% of the vote and 42 seats went to independent candidates, the highest of any Indian general election.

3rd Lok Sabha (1962) The Indian general election of 1962 elected the third

Lok Sabha of India and was held from 19 to 25 February.

Unlike the previous two elections but as with all subsequent elections, each constituency elected a single member.

Jawaharlal Nehru won another

landslide victory in his third and

final election campaign. The Indian national Congress

took 44.7% of the vote and won

361 of the 494 seats.

This was only slightly lower

than in the previous two

elections and they still held

over 70% of the seats in the

Lok Sabha.

4th Lok Sabha (1967) The Indian general election of 1967 elected

the fourth Lok Sabha of India and was held from 17 to 21 February.

The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 520 single-member constituencies (an increase of 26).

Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian national Congress won a fourth consecutive term in power and over 54% of the seats, while no other party won more than 10% of the votes or seats. However, the INC's victory was significantly lower than the results they had achieved in the previous three elections under Jawaharlal Nehru.

By 1967, economic growth in India had slowed, the 1961-66 Five Year Plan gave a target of 5.6% annual growth, but the actual growth rate was 2.4%. Under Lal Bahadur Shastri, the government's popularity was boosted after India prevailed in the 1965 War with Pakistan, but this war had helped put a strain on the economy. Internal divisions were emerging in the Indian National Congress and its two popular leaders Nehru and Shastri had both died. Indira Gandhi had succeeded Shastri as leader.

5th Lok Sabha (1971) India held general elections to the fifth Lok

Sabha in March 1971. This was the fifth election since independence in 1947.

The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constituencies, each with a single seat.

Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian National Congress (R) led a campaign which focused on reducing poverty and won a landslide victory, overcoming a split in the party and regaining many of the seats lost in the previous election.

During her previous term, there had been internal divisions in the Indian National Congress between Indira Gandhi and the party establishment, especially Moraji Desai. In 1969, she was expelled from the party, causing a split. Most of the Congress MPs and grassroots support joined Gandhi's Indian National Congress (R) faction, which was recognized by the Election Commission as being the successor to the previous party. 31 MPs who opposed Gandhi became the Indian National Congress (Organization) party. Despite the split, the Ruling faction gained votes and seats to win a strong majority, whereas the Organization faction lost half of their seats.

6th Lok Sabha (1977) In a major turn of events, the ruling Congress lost control

of India for the first time in independent India in the Indian general election, 1977.

The hastily formed, Janata alliance of parties opposed to the ruling Congress party, won 298 seats. Moraji Desai was chosen as the leader of the alliance in the newly formed parliament and thus became India's first non-Congress Prime Minister on 24 March.

The Congress lost nearly 200 seats. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her powerful son, Sanjay Gandhi both lost their seats.

The election came after the end of The Emergency that Prime Minister Gandhi had imposed in 1975; it effectively suspended democracy, suppressed the opposition, and took control of the media with authoritarian measures.

The opposition called for a restoration of democracy and Indians saw the election results as a repudiation of the Emergency.

7th Lok Sabha (1980) India held general elections to the seventh Lok Sabha in

January,1980. The Janata Party alliance came into power after the

elections to the 6th Lok Sabha held in 1977, riding the public anger against the Congress and the Emergency but its position was weak

Finally, the Janata Party, an combination of socialists and nationalists, split in 1979 when several coalition members such as the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) withdrew support to the government.

Subsequently, Desai lost a trust vote in parliament and resigned. Charan Singh, who had retained some partners of the Janata alliance, was sworn in as Prime Minister in June 1979. He called for elections in January 1980 and is the only Prime Minister of India never to have faced parliament.

The fight between Janata Party leaders and the political instability in the country worked in favor of Indira Gandhi's Congress (I), that reminded voters of the strong government of Indira Gandhi during campaigning.

In these elections, the Congress (I) won 353 Lok Sabha seats. The Janata Party alliance continued to split over the subsequent years but recorded important landmarks in the political history of India: it was the first coalition to govern India, and proved that the Congress could be defeated.

8th Lok Sabha (1984-85) General elections were held in India in 1984 soon

after the assassination of previous Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, though the vote in Assam and Punjab was delayed until 1985 due to ongoing fighting.

The election was won convincingly by the Indian National Congress of Rajiv Gandhi (son of Indira), who claimed 414 seats in a 533 seat parliament, the majority being 267.

The Telugu Desam Party of N. T. Rama

Rao, a regional political party from the

southern state of Andhra Pradesh, was

the second largest party, winning 30

seats, thus achieving the distinction

of becoming the first regional party 

to become a national opposition party.

9th Lok Sabha (1989) General elections were held in India in 1989 to elect

the members of the ninth Lok Sabha. The result was a loss for the Indian National Congress

and Rajiv Gandhi, because all the opposition parties formed together a minority government under  V. P. Singh and the National Front.

The National Front was able to secure the first minority government, since 1947 Independence, with the help of the Left Parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Communists and the BJP declined to serve in the government, preferring to support it from outside.

10th Lok Sabha (1991) General elections were held in India in 1991 to elect

the members of the tenth Lok Sabha. The result of the election was that no party could

get a majority, so a minority government (Indian National Congress with the help of left parties) was formed, resulting in a stable government for the next 5 years, under the new Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

11th Lok Sabha (1996) General elections were held in India in 1996 to elect

the members of the eleventh Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament,

which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998.

The United Front, was created and got support from 332 members out of the 545 seats in the Lok Sabha, resulting in H. D. Deve Gowda from the Janata Dal being the 12th Prime Minister of India.

12th Lok Sabha (1998) General elections were held in India in 1998, after the

government elected in 1996 collapsed and the twelfth Lok Sabha was convened.

New elections were called when Indian National Congress (INC) left the United Front government led by I. K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi.

The outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party or alliance able to create a strong majority.

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari Vajpayee retained his position of Prime Minister getting support from 286 members out of 545, the government collapsed again in late 1998 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with its 18 seats, withdrew their support, leading to new elections in 1999. It also marked the first time since independence that India's traditional governing party, the INC, failed to win two consecutive elections.

13th Lok Sabha (1999) General Elections were held in India from 5 September

to 3 October 1999, a few months after the Kargil War. The thirteenth Lok Sabha election is of historical

importance as it was the first time a united front of parties managed to attain a majority and form a government that lasted a full term of five years, thus ending a period of political instability at the national level that had been characterized by three general elections held in as many years.

14th Lok Sabha (2004) Legislative Elections were held in India in four phases

between April 20 and May 10, 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the fourteenth Lok Sabha.

On May 13, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance National Democratic Alliance conceded defeat.

The Indian National Congress, which had governed India for all but five years from independence until 1996, returned to power after a record eight years out of office. It was able to put together a comfortable majority of more than 335 members out of 543 with the help of its allies. The 335 members included both the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, the governing coalition formed after the election, as well as external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party  (SP), Kerala Congress (KC) and the Left Front.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi surprised observers by declining to become the new Prime Minister, instead asking former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, a respected economist, to head the new government.

15th Lok Sabha (2009) India held General Elections to the fifteenth Lok

Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009.

With an electorate of 714 million, it has been the largest democratic election in the world till the Indian General Elections 2014 held from 7 April 2014.

Elections are organized by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and are normally held in multiple phases to better handle the large electoral base and its security concerns. The 2009 elections were held in five phases. In February 2009, $ 200.5 million was budgeted for election expenses by the Indian Parliament.

A total of 8070 candidates contested for 543 Lok Sabha seats. The average election turnout over all 5 phases was around 59.7%. The results of the election were announced within three days of phase five, on 16 May 2009, following the first past the post system.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Indian National Congress formed the government after obtaining the majority of seats based on strong results in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,  Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

16th Lok Sabha (2014) The Indian general election of 2014 was held to

constitute the sixteenth Lok Sabha, electing members of parliament for all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India. Running in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014, this was the longest election in the country's history. According to the Election Commission of India, 814.5 million people were eligible to vote, with an increase of 100 million voters since the last General Election 2009, making this the largest-ever election in the world. Around 23.1 million or 2.7% of the total eligible voters were aged 18–19 years. A total of 8,251 candidates contested for the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The average election turnout over all nine phases was around 66.38%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections.

The National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, won a sweeping victory, taking 336 seats. The BJP itself won 31.0% of all votes and 282 (51.9%) of all seats. It is the first time since the 1984 Indian general elections that a party has won enough seats to govern without the support of other parties.

The United Progressive Alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, won 58 seats, 44 (8.1%) of which were won by the Congress.

History of Political Parties in India

The dominance of the Indian National Congress was broken for the first time in 1977, with the defeat of the party led by Indira Gandhi, by an unlikely coalition of all the major other parties, which protested against the imposition of a controversial Emergency from 1975–1977. A similar coalition, led by V. P. Singh was swept to power in 1989 in the wake of major allegations of corruption against the incumbent Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. It, too, lost its steam in 1990.

In 1992, the here-to-fore one-party-dominant politics in India gave way to a coalition system wherein no single party can expect to achieve a majority in the Parliament to form a government, but rather has to depend on a process of coalition building with other parties to form a block and claim a majority to be invited to form the government. This has been a consequence of strong regional parties which ride on the back of regional aspirations.

While parties like the TDP and the DMK had traditionally been strong regional contenders, the 1990s saw the emergence of other regional players such as the Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Janata Dal. These parties are traditionally based on regional aspirations, e.g. Telangana Rashtra Samithi or are strongly influenced by caste considerations, e.g. Bahujan Samaj Party which claims to represent the Dalits.

In recent polls of 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party has achieved the simple majority on its own with securing 282 seats and their alliance NDA has secured 335 seats. Narendra Modi widely recognized as a strong leader with economic developmental focus is now the prime minister .

Types of Elections in India

The various types of elections in India are:

1) General Elections: The candidates are elected for the Lok Sabha and they are called MPs(Member of Parliament). These elections are held every five years.

2) Assembly Elections: The State Assembly elections in India are the elections in which the Indian electorate choose the members of the Vidhan Sabha (or Legislative/State Assembly). They are held every five years and the members of the Legislative Assembly are called MLAs.

3) Rajya Sabha Elections: It is elected by state and territorial legislatures. Terms of office are for six years, with one third of the members retiring every two years.

4) President Election: The President is elected, from a group of nominees, by the elected members of the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and of the state legislatures (Vidhan Sabhas), and serves for a term of five years.

5) Elections of MLC: The Legislative Council is the permanent body which cannot be dissolved. One third of its members are elected by local bodies, one third by members of Legislative Assembly, one twelfth by experienced graduates of the state, one twelfth by teachers and one sixth by the Governor. Term of office is six years.

6) Elections of Municipal Corporation: The committee of Municipal Corporation consists of a Mayor and his Councilors. The members are elected for a term of five years from various wards in the city.

7) Gram Panchayat Elections: The members of the Gram Panchayat are elected directly from the wards of the village. They are called panches. One-eighth of the seats are reserved for women. 

8) Zila Panchayat Elections: The members called councilors are elected by universal adult suffrage for a period of five years. The Chairmen of various Panchayat Samithi are also the members of Zila Parishad. 

9) Block Panchayat Elections: The members of the Panchayat Samithi consists of the elected members of the area. These members elect the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman. It is elected for a term of five years.

Electoral Process in India Electoral Process in India takes at least a month for

state assembly elections with the duration increasing further for the General Elections.

Publishing of electoral rolls is a key process that happens before the elections and is vital for the conduct of elections in India.

The Indian Constitution sets the eligibility of an

individual for voting. Any person who is a citizen of India and above 18

years of age is eligible to enroll as a voter in the

electoral rolls. It is the responsibility of the eligible voters to

enroll their names. Normally, voter registrations are allowed latest

one week prior to the last date for nomination of candidates.

Government Expenditure on Elections

The cost per voter in the 2009 general elections was Rs 12, a twentyfold increase over the first election, held in 1952.

The total expenditure for the 2009 general election was Rs 846.67 Crore; the 1952 election cost Rs 10.45 Crore total.

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial System (VVPAT)

On 14 August 2013 the Government of India amended the elections rules to permit the use the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system.

The first election to implement the new system was a by-election held in the 51 Noksen Assembly Constituency of Nagaland.

 Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system is introduced in 8 of 543 parliamentary constituencies as a pilot project in Indian General Elections 2014.

 VVPAT is implemented in Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Javadpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib and Mizoram constituencies.

 Generated slip tells voter to which party or candidate vote has been given and also includes name of voter, constituency and polling booth.

Pre - Elections At first before the elections the dates of

nomination, polling and counting takes place. The model code of conduct comes in force from

the day the dates are announced. No party is allowed to use the government

resources for campaigning. The code of conduct stipulates that campaigning

be stopped 48 hours prior to end of polling.

Voting Day Government schools and colleges are chosen as polling

stations. The Collector of each district is in charge of polling. Government employees are employed to many of the

polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being

increasingly used instead of ballot boxes to prevent election fraud via booth capturing, which is heavily prevalent in certain parts of India.

An indelible ink is applied usually on the left index finger of the voter as an indicator that the voter has cast his vote. This practice has been followed since the 1962 general elections to prevent a bad vote.

“None of the Above” Voting Option (Negative Vote)

"None of the above" is a proposed voting option in India that would allow voters who support none of the candidates available to them to register an official vote of "none of the above", which is not currently allowed under India election regulation.

The Election Commission of India told the Supreme Court in 2009 that it wished to offer the voter a None of the Above button on voting machines; the government, however, has generally opposed this option.

On September 27, 2013, Supreme Court of India pronounced a judgment that citizen's of India have Right to Negative Vote by exercising None of the Above (NOTA) option in EVMs and ballot papers.

Election Commission has implemented this option of "None of the above" voting option in EVM machines.

Post Elections After the election day, the EVMs are stored in a strong room

under heavy security. After the different phases of the elections are complete, a day is set to count the votes. The votes are tallied typically, the verdict is known within hours. The candidate who has mustered the most votes is declared the winner of the constituency.

The party or coalition that has won the most seats is invited by the President to form the new government. The coalition or party must prove its majority in the floor of the house (Lok Sabha) in a vote of confidence by obtaining a simple majority (minimum 50%) of the votes in the house.

Voter Registration For a few cities in India, the voter registration forms can be

generated online and submitted to the nearest electoral office.

But in most of the states people have to do the registration in person at the nearest office of the state election commissioner.

Absentee Voting Currently, India does not have an absentee ballot system for all

citizens except in few exceptions. Section 19 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA)-

1950 allows a person to register to vote if he or she is above 18 years of age and is an ‘ordinary resident’ of the residing constituency i.e. living at the current address for 6 months or longer.

Section 20 of the above Act disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents a NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures.

In August 2010, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill-2010 which allows voting rights to NRI's was passed in both Lok Sabha with subsequent gazette notifications on November 24, 2010.

 With this NRI's will now be able to vote in Indian elections but have to be physically present at the time of voting. Several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system. People for Lok Satta has been actively pushing combination of internet and postal ballot as a viable means for NRI voting.

Cash for Votes in India In December 2010 during the United States

diplomatic cables le Wiki leaks leaked a cable stating that political parties regularly bribe voters, in the form of cash, goods, or services, before elections in India. It may range from financing the construction of a community well to putting into an envelope and delivering it inside the morning newspaper.

Politicians and their operatives have admitted to

violating election rules to influence voters. The money used to pay for the bribes come from

the money raised through fundraising. The practice is thought to have swung many

elections where the race was close. The Hindu news paper reported that "Karti Chidambaram of the Congress, M. Patturajan, confidant of Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers M.K. Alagiri and former Mayor of Madurai, and Member of Parliament Assaduddin Owaisi of the Majlis-e-Ittenhadul Muslimeen spoke about how they, their principals, or their parties made payments to voters during the election campaign".

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