(a) No, Election Commission of India has enough powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country. It has wide ranging powers. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it. When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC anRead more
(a) No, Election Commission of India has enough powers to conduct free and fair
elections in the country. It has wide ranging powers. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it. When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.
(b) Yes, there is a high level of popular participation in the elections in our country. Turn out has either remained stable or actually gone up. The poor, illiterate and under-privileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and the privileged sections.
(c) No, it is not easy for the party in power to win an election. 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 government officials. It is very common for the Election Commission to reprimand the government and the administration for their lapses. On the other hand, the ruling parties in India, routinely lose
elections 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 has lost the elections.
(d) Yes, many reforms are needed to make our elections completely free and fair. There are still many challenges before us. A few candidates win purely on the basis of money power and unfair means- Candidates and parties spend a lot of money in excess of the prescribed expenses. Some candidates with criminal connection win the elections. Some families tend to dominate political parties and tickets are distributed to relatives from these families. So, there is need for electoral reforms.
The challenges to free and fair elections in India are given below: (i) Use of money power: Elections in India has become a very costly affair. Generally, a candidate in the Lok Sabha election spends about ₹50 lakh to one crore. They do not abide by the ceiling prescribed under the law. Rich candidaRead more
The challenges to free and fair elections in India are given below:
(i) Use of money power: Elections in India has become a very costly affair. Generally, a candidate in the Lok Sabha election spends about ₹50 lakh to one crore. They do not abide by the ceiling prescribed under the law. Rich candidates generally enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and poor candidates.
(ii) Use of muscle power: Muscle power is used to force the voters to vote for particular” candidate or not allowing the voters to vote, and for capturing the booth and casting bogus votes.
(iii) Criminalisation of politics : Many candidates contest ng the elections have criminal connections. According to former Election Commissioner G.V.G. Krishnamurthy, in 1990, Lok Sabha elections, 1,500 out of 3,952 candidates for tire Lok Sabha had criminal record.
(iv) Dominance of families: Sometimes tickets are distributed to relatives from some families which dominate political parties. Ordinary members are generally ignored due to one reason or the other.
(v) No choice to ordinary voters/citizens : Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens because the major parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
(vi) Disadvantages to smaller parties and independent candidates : Suffer parties
and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage in comparison to big parties because
they can use their manpower as well as money in the election. The above challenges exist not only in India but in most of the modern democracies.Thai is why the supporters of democracy are demanding electoral and political reforms in the electoral system to overcome these challenges.
(a) People's participation is an important method to check the quality of the election Process. If the election process is free or fair, people will participate in a large number with great enthusiasm. (b) The following are some of the conclusions that are drawn from people's participation in India:Read more
(a) People’s participation is an important method to check the quality of the election Process. If the election process is free or fair, people will participate in a large number with great enthusiasm.
(b) The following are some of the conclusions that are drawn from people’s participation in India: (i) People’s participation is usual)y measured by voter turnout that indicates the per cent of voters who actually cast their votes. In India, the turnout has either remained stable or actually gone up.
(ii) In India, the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections.
(iii) Common people in India feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties to adopt policies and programme in their interest. They also feel that their vote matters in the way things are run in the country.
(iv) The interest of voters in election related activities has been increasing over the years. During the 2oo4 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 is a member of a political party.
Can we draw the following conclusions from the information given in this chapter? Give two facts to support your position for each of these. (a) Election Commission of India does not have enough powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country. (b) There is a high level of popular participation in the elections in our country. (c) It is very easy for the party in power to win an election. (d) Many reforms are needed to make our elections completely free and fair.
(a) No, Election Commission of India has enough powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country. It has wide ranging powers. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it. When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC anRead more
(a) No, Election Commission of India has enough powers to conduct free and fair
See lesselections in the country. It has wide ranging powers. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it. When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.
(b) Yes, there is a high level of popular participation in the elections in our country. Turn out has either remained stable or actually gone up. The poor, illiterate and under-privileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and the privileged sections.
(c) No, it is not easy for the party in power to win an election. 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 government officials. It is very common for the Election Commission to reprimand the government and the administration for their lapses. On the other hand, the ruling parties in India, routinely lose
elections 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 has lost the elections.
(d) Yes, many reforms are needed to make our elections completely free and fair. There are still many challenges before us. A few candidates win purely on the basis of money power and unfair means- Candidates and parties spend a lot of money in excess of the prescribed expenses. Some candidates with criminal connection win the elections. Some families tend to dominate political parties and tickets are distributed to relatives from these families. So, there is need for electoral reforms.
State two reasons to prove that Indian elections are democratic.
(i) Election Commission is independent and powerful. (ii) In India, everyone above the age of 18 has a right to vote.
(i) Election Commission is independent and powerful.
See less(ii) In India, everyone above the age of 18 has a right to vote.
State any two reasons for conducting free and fair elections.
(i) People are free to judge the performance of the government. (ii) People are free to elect the representatives of their choice in the election.
(i) People are free to judge the performance of the government.
See less(ii) People are free to elect the representatives of their choice in the election.
Describe the challenges to free and fair elections in India.
The challenges to free and fair elections in India are given below: (i) Use of money power: Elections in India has become a very costly affair. Generally, a candidate in the Lok Sabha election spends about ₹50 lakh to one crore. They do not abide by the ceiling prescribed under the law. Rich candidaRead more
The challenges to free and fair elections in India are given below:
See less(i) Use of money power: Elections in India has become a very costly affair. Generally, a candidate in the Lok Sabha election spends about ₹50 lakh to one crore. They do not abide by the ceiling prescribed under the law. Rich candidates generally enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and poor candidates.
(ii) Use of muscle power: Muscle power is used to force the voters to vote for particular” candidate or not allowing the voters to vote, and for capturing the booth and casting bogus votes.
(iii) Criminalisation of politics : Many candidates contest ng the elections have criminal connections. According to former Election Commissioner G.V.G. Krishnamurthy, in 1990, Lok Sabha elections, 1,500 out of 3,952 candidates for tire Lok Sabha had criminal record.
(iv) Dominance of families: Sometimes tickets are distributed to relatives from some families which dominate political parties. Ordinary members are generally ignored due to one reason or the other.
(v) No choice to ordinary voters/citizens : Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens because the major parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
(vi) Disadvantages to smaller parties and independent candidates : Suffer parties
and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage in comparison to big parties because
they can use their manpower as well as money in the election. The above challenges exist not only in India but in most of the modern democracies.Thai is why the supporters of democracy are demanding electoral and political reforms in the electoral system to overcome these challenges.
Write a short note on the popular participation in the elections in India.
(a) People's participation is an important method to check the quality of the election Process. If the election process is free or fair, people will participate in a large number with great enthusiasm. (b) The following are some of the conclusions that are drawn from people's participation in India:Read more
(a) People’s participation is an important method to check the quality of the election Process. If the election process is free or fair, people will participate in a large number with great enthusiasm.
See less(b) The following are some of the conclusions that are drawn from people’s participation in India: (i) People’s participation is usual)y measured by voter turnout that indicates the per cent of voters who actually cast their votes. In India, the turnout has either remained stable or actually gone up.
(ii) In India, the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections.
(iii) Common people in India feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties to adopt policies and programme in their interest. They also feel that their vote matters in the way things are run in the country.
(iv) The interest of voters in election related activities has been increasing over the years. During the 2oo4 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 is a member of a political party.