Tag: election in indian democracy

Announcement of new projects or programme or concessions or financial grants in any form or promises thereof or laying of foundation stones, etc., which have the effect of influencing the voters in favour of the party in power is prohibited. The coming into force of the Model Code of Conduct cannot be given as an excuse for not commissioning such schemes or allowing them to remain idle.

The representation of peoples' act 1952 describes the procedure for elections of the houses of the parliament and to the house or houses of the state legislature. Along with this, it describes the qualifications and disqualifications of the members of the houses and corrupt practices with the elections.

The elections are held by dividing the whole country or a State into a number of representative areas called constituencies. Thus, a constituency is a fixed area with a body of voters or residents with strong voting rights. There are separate constituencies each for Assembly elections and Parliamentary elections. 

Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a nomination form and give some money as security deposit. Recently, a new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court. 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. Educational 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. Educational qualifications are not necessary for the candidates.

An electoral competition also has many demerits. It creates a sense of disunity and factionalism in every locality. Different political parties and leaders often level allegations against one another. Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections. Some people say that this pressure to win electoral fights does not allow sensible long term policies to be formulated. Some good people who may wish to serve the country do not enter this arena because of this unhealthy competition.

In order to contest elections for membership of Lok Sabha, a person should be At least 25 years of age. 

Democracy is a system in which the citizens elect their representatives who rule them. The ultimate power in a democracy lies with the people. Hence, it can be said that democracy is a form of government in which the people have a say in who should hold power and how the power should be used.

In India, there is universal adult suffrage which means that every adult above the age of 18 years is eligible to vote in an election. It enables every adult citizen of the country to participate in the process of government formation. Elections are conducted by a constitutional body named Election Commission.

Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Councils are upper houses of the Central and state legislature respectively. The members of both houses are elected indirectly by single transferable vote method. They are elected for a term of 6 yrs and one-third of members retire every two years.