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: (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.