ARE THE ELECTIONS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR INDIA COUNTRY?
note- THIS POST ONLY EDUCATION PURPOSE
A large
amount of money is spent in conducting elections in India. For instance, the
government spent about 3,500
cores in conducting
Lok Sabha elections in 2014. that works out to about Rs 40 per
person on the voters’ list. The amount
spent by parties and candidates was more than what the government spent.
Roughly speaking , the expenditure made by government, parties and candidates
was around rs 30,000 crores or rs500 per voter.
Some people
say that electionsa are a burden on our people, that our poor country cannot
afford to hold elections once every five years. Let us compare this expenditure
with some other figures:
In 2005, our
government decided to buy six nuclear submarines from France. Each submarine
cost about rs3,000 crores.
Delhi hosted
the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The estimate for its cost is around rs20,000 crores.
Are the
elections too expensive? You decide.
Earlier the
voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the
ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the
contestihng candidates along with party name and symbols are listed. Nowadays
electronic voting machines (EVM)
are used to record votes.The machine shows the names of the candidates and the
party symbols. Independent candidates too have their own symbols, allotted by
election officials. Al the voter has to do is to press the button against the
name of the candidate she wands to give her vote.
Once the
polling is over. all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place. 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. The agensts of all candidates are present there to ensure that the
counting is done properly. The candidate who secures the highest number of
votes from a constituency is declared elected. In a general election, usually
the counting of votes in all the constituencies takes place at the same time,
on the same day. Television channels, radio and newspapers report this event.
Within a few hours of counting, all the results are declared and it becomes
clear as to who will form the next
government.
WHAT MAKES ELECTIONS IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
We get to
read a lot about unfair practices in elections. Newspapers and television
reports often refer to such allegations. Most of these reports are about the
following:
Inclusion of
false names and exclusion of genuine names in the voters’ list:
misuse of
government facilities and officials by the ruling party;
Excessive
ouse of money by rich candidates and big party;
Excessive
use of money by rich candidates and big parties; and
Intimidation
of voters and rigging on the polling day.
Many of
these reports are correct. We feel unhappy when we read or see such reports.
But fortunately they are not on such a scale so as to defeat the very purpose
of elections. This becomes clear if we ask a basic question: Can a party win an
election and come to power not because it has popular support but through
electoral malpractices? This Is a vital question. Let us carefully examine
various aspects of this question.
INDEPENDENT ELECTION COMMISSION
One simple
way of checking whether elections are fair or not is to look at who conducts
the elections. Are they independent of the government? Or can the government or
the ruling party influence or pressurize them? Do they have enough powers to be
able to conducy free and fair elections? Do they actually use these powers?
The answer
to all these questions is quite positive for our country. In our country
elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful election Commission
(EC). It enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys. The
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India. But
once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the
President or the government. Even if the ruling party or the government does
not like what the Commission does, it is virtually impossible for it to remove
the CEC.
Very few
election commissions in the world have such wide-ranging powers as the Election
Commission of india.
EC takes
decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the
announcement of elections to the declaration of results.
It
implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that
violates it.
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.
When on
election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the
government.
In the last
25 years or so, the Election Commission has begun to exercise all its powers
and even expand them. It is very common now for the Election Commission to
reprimand the government and administration for their lapses. When election
officials come to the opinion that polling was not fair in some booths or even
an entire constituency, they order a repoll. The ruling parties often do not
like what the EC does. But they have to obey. This would not have happened if
the EC was not independent and powerful.
POPULAR PARTICIPATION
Another way
to check the quality of the election process is to see whether people
participate in it with enthusiasm. If the election process is not free or fair,
people will not continue to participate in the exercise. Now, read these charts
and draw some conclusions about participation india:
1 People’s
participation in election is usually measured by o\voter turnout figures.
Turnout indicates the per cent of eligible voters who actually cast their vote.
Over the last fifty years. the turnout in Europe and North America has
declined. In India the turnout has either remained stable or actually gone up.
1
In
India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the
rich and privileged sections. This is in contrast to western democracies. For
example in the United States of America, poor people, African Americans and
Hispanics vote much less than the rich and the white people.
2
The
interest of voters in election related activites has been increasing over the years. During the 2004
elections, more than onethird 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.
3
those
who participated in any election releated activity in india
ACCEPTANCE OF ELECTION OUTCOME
One final
test of the free and fairness of election has in the outcome itself. if
elections are not free or fair, the outcome always favours the powerful. In
such a situation, the ruling parties do not lose elections, Usually, the losing
party does not accept the outcome of a rigged election.
The outcome
of India’s elections speaks for itself:
The ruling
parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state level.
In fact in every two last fifteen years, the ruling party lost.
In the US,
an incumbent or ‘sitting’ elected representative rarely loses an election. In India
about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.
Candidates
who are known to have spent a lot of money on ‘buying votes’ and those with
known criminal connections often lose elections.
Barring very
few disputed elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted as
‘people’s verrdict’ by the defeated party.
CHALLENGES TO FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
All this
leads to a simple conclusion: elections in India are basically free and fair.
The party that wins an election and forms government does so because people
have chosen it over its rivals. This may not be true for every constituency. A
few candidates may win purely on the basis of money power and unfair means. But
the overall verdict of a general election still reflects popular preference.
There are very few exceptions to this rule in the last fifty years in our
country. This is what makes Indian elections democratic.
Yet the
picture looks different if we ask deeper questions: Are people’s preferences
based on real knowledge? Are the voters getting a real choice? Is election
really level p.aying field for everyone? Can an ordinary citizen hope to win
elections?
Questions of
this kind bring the many limitations and challenges of Indian elections to our
attention. These include:
Candidates
and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do
enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
In some
parts of the country. candidates with criminal connection have been able to
push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major
parties.
Some
families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to
relatives from these families.
Very often
elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the major parties
are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
Smaller
parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to
bigger parties.
These
challenges exist not just in India but also in many established democracies.
These deeper issues are a matter of concern for those who believe in democracy.
That is why citizens, social activists and organisations have been demanding
reforms in our electoral system. Can you think of some reforms? What can an ordinary citizen do to
face these challenges?
BOOTH
CAPTURING: Supporters or hired musclemen of party or a candidate gain physical
control of a polling booth and cast false votes by threatening everyone or by
preventing genuine voters from reaching the polling booth:
CODE OF
CONDUCT: A set of norms and guidenlines to be followed by political parties and
contesting candidates during election time.
CONSTITUENCY; Voters in a geographical area who elect a
representative to the legislative bodies.
INCUMBENT;
The current holder of a political office. Usually the choice for the ovters in
elections is between the incumbent party or candidate and those who oppose
them.
Level
playing field; Condition in which all parties and candidates contesting in an
election have equal opportunities to appeal for votes and to carry out election
campaign.
Rigging:
Fraud and malpractices indulged by a party or candidate to increase its votes.
It includes stuffing ballot boxes by a few persons using the votes of its
votes. It includes stuffing ballot boxes by a few persons using the votes of
others; recording multiple votes by the same person; and bribing or coercing
poling oggicers to favour a candidate.
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Turnout: The
percentage of eligible voters who cast their votes in an election.
