ELECTIONS SYSTEM IN INDIA
One of the boldest and the most courageous acts of the Constituent Assembly was to accept and adopt the principle of universal adult franchise for the people of India, as the main method of democratic representation in the Lok Sabha and in the State Legislative Assemblies. The original Article 325, providing for adult suffrage fixed the age of eligibility to vote for elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, at 21 years, but by the 62nd Amendment to this clause passed in 1989, it has been reduced to 18 years.
Currently, Lok Sabha consists of 545 members, out of which 543 are elected and two represent the Anglo-Indian community appointed by the President of India.
Election Process In India
In an election, various candidates of different parties contest against each other, out of which the people elect their representative. The stages of the election process of India includes delimitation of constituencies wherein the entire area (the whole country in the case of Lok Sabha elections and that particular state in the case of Legislative Assembly elections) is divided into as many constituencies as there are seats. After the demarcation of constituency, the voters' list of each constituency is prepared and published and nomination papers are filed by the candidates. Thereafter, nomination papers are scrutinized. The next stage is the campaign by all the candidates and the parties. The election campaign ends 48 hours before the election. On the day scheduled, voting takes place. The last step is the counting of votes and declaration of result.
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 Councillors. 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 councillors are elected by universal adult suffrage for a period of five years. The Chairmans of various Panchayat Samitis are also the members of Zila Parishad.
9) Block Panchayat Elections: The members of the Panchayat Samiti 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.
A political party is a group of people who want to achieve common goals and control government by winning elections and exercising political power. India has a multi-party system. There are nine major political parties in India, namely Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) , Indian National Congress , Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) , Samajwadi Party, Samata Party, Communist Party of India (CPI), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Shiv Sena and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM). There are also various state parties in India.
Election Results 2014
The General Elections in India directly elects the members of Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament. The members of the Lok Sabha elects the Prime Minister, the head of the government. The Assembly Elections result in the selection of the Chief Minister, the head of the state government. He is assisted by the council of ministers.
BJP has dominated the 2014 election result with an unprecedented margin. A margin, because of which for the first time in our democratic history, there is no one single party that can sit in the opposition. The INC & the AAP both were completely routed in majority of the states. Outside of BJP, the only parties that did well, were regional powerhouse, AIADMK, Trinamool Congress & the Biju Janata Dal.
The biggest surprise, for even the BJP were the U.P results. A staggering 71 seats were won by the BJP and the Congress left with just 2 seats. In Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand & Delhi, it was a complete whitewash by the BJP. Only regional satraps, Naveen Patnaik, Jayalalithaa & Mamata Banerjee managed to retain a hold on their states
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