Electoral Politics

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• Summary

Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections are held regularly after every five years.

General Election

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.

By-election

Sometimes an election is held only for one constituency or two to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member. This is called a by-election.

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 mobilize their supporters.

Some of the successful slogans given by different political parties in various elections.

1. The Congress party led by Indira Gandhi gave the slogan of Garibi Hatao(Remove poverty) in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971.
2. Save Democracy was the slogan given by Janata Party in the next LokSabha election held in 1977.The party promised to undo the excesses committed during Emergency and restore civil liberties.
3. The Left Front used the slogan ofLand to the Tiller in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 1977.
4. 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.

1. The country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections. These areas are called electoral constituencies.
2. For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies.
3. The representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MP.
4. 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.
5. The same principle applies for Panchayat and Municipal elections.

1. Anyone who can be a voter can also come a candidate in the election.
2. The minimum age to fill nomination for election is 25 years.
3. Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and support. Party’s nomination is often called party ‘ticket’.
4. Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’.
5. Recently, a new system of the declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court.
6. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of :
   1. Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate.
   2. Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family.
   3. 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.

1. 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.
2. Every person whose name is on the voters’ list can go to a nearby ‘polling booth’, and cast vote.
3. Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes.
4. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols.
5. 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.
6. The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared elected.

1. Our Constitution entitles every citizen, right to vote.
2. Constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST].
   In an SC reserved constituency, a person who belongs to the Scheduled Castes can stand for election.
3. Similarly, a person who belongs to Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a constituency reserved for ST.
4. In the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes.
5. The proportion of seats reserved varies from state to state.

1. The list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared before the election. This list of officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly knowns as the Voter's list.
2. All the citizens aged 18 years and above can vote in an election.
3. Every citizen has the right to vote, regardless of his or her caste, religion or gender.