Election And Representation

Decisions taken by the Gram Sabha is the best example of Direct Democracy.

Explanation – Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide on policy initiates directly. Decisions taken by the Gram Sabha is the best example of direct democracy as it has a direct communication with the people to fulfil their desires at a decentralized level. In Gandhi’s word direct democracy means Gram Swaraj or self-governance by the village people. The Gram Sabha was the foundation to transfer the authority from central to local government.

B. Nominating the candidate

E. Supervising the Panchayat Elections

Explanation – The election commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election process in India. Nominating the candidate is and supervising the Panchayat elections is the not the task of election commission. The state election commission conduct elections to the corporations, Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, District Panchayat, Gram Panchayat and other local bodies and supervises them. They are independent of the election commission of India and the process of nominating candidates are regulated by party conventions and party rules. Thus, a party committee authorized by a statue can nominate a candidate for elections regulated by party convention and party rules.

The common method of election of the members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha is that every vote has equal value. The political party that has majority in the state assembly normally gets to spend the maximum number of MPs to the Rajya Sabha. The value of the vote of one MLA is calculated as follows.

In the first past the post system that candidate is declared winner who has more votes than any other candidate in the constituency. FPTP voting method is one in which voters indicate on a ballot the candidate of their choice and the candidate who receives the most votes win. This method of voting is a Plurality voting method. FPTP is a common, but not universal feature of electoral systems with single-member electoral divisions and is practiced in close to one third of counties.

There is difference of voters and constituency between the system of reservation of constitution and the system of separate electorate. It was started by the British government that the Muslims, Sikhs and some other minorities were able to elect their representatives by their own separate vote. As a result the nation resorted to the partition between India and Pakistan. So, after partition, in India, the reservation of constituencies for the subjugated social group was adopted.

In separate electorates, the candidates are elected by those voters who belong to that community. But in the system of reservation of constituencies all voters in a constituency are eligible to vote but candidates must fit in to only a particular community for which the seat is reserved. The constitution provides for reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The latter was rejected by the constitution makers because it went against their idea of unity they were aware that the system of separate electorate will damage the spirit of national integration and a state free from discrimination.

A. This statement is incorrect. The correct statement is FPTP system is followed for all elections in India for the Panchayats, legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha except election of the President, the Vice President and for the elections to the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad.

B. Election Commission does not Supervise Panchayat and Municipal elections. This statement is correct.

C. President of India cannot remove an Election Commissioner. This statement is incorrect. The correct statement is: The President can remove an Election Commissioner on the recommendation of both houses of the parliament.

D. This statement is incorrect.

The correct statement is: The appointment of more than one Election Commissioners is not mandatory but it is a conventional practice through consensus to ensure answerability.

Proportional representation system of elections would be superior for ensuring proper representation of women in legislatures.

The Indian Constitution makes the reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other minorities in our legislatives. But does not make similar reservation for other disadvantaged groups like the women As such there is no reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women. To improve the situation of women we should seek reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. For this purpose there should be demand for reserving one-third seats for women. For this purpose, we require an amendment to the constitution. The other method is to implement reservations for women candidates in electoral constituencies. The system of reservation should be rotated among all constituencies to ensure proper representation of women from all parts of the country. Though there are several amendments that have been proposed in parliament but have not yet been passed needs to bring in action and start working upon it to improve their situation and bring more women representative.

A. FPTP

B. Proportional Representation

C. Proportional Representation

D. FPTP

The election commissioner should not contest elections after they leave office. In article 324 of the Indian constitution, there is a provision for election commission, responsible to conduct the elections of the union parliament, the state legislative assembly, the president and the vice president. Election commissioner is a constitutional body that requires higher integrity to insure impartial conduct. The election commission is an independent and unbiased agency to conduct the free and fair election in the country. Former election commissioner must not be allowed to contest any election because it can affect the impartiality of the election commission. Any future prospect of the involvement of a constitutional official like the election commissioner in electoral politics would seriously compromise the integrity and impartiality of the one institution that is the cornerstone of the democratic convention of the country. Such a situation would be unhealthy for the polity in the long term as it would be exposed to electoral malpractices at the highest level.

Yes I agree with the statement that Indian democracy is now fully ready to shift from a rude first past the post system to a system of proportional representation. Following are the reasons for this statement:

1. The system of Indian elections would ensure that the political parties get seats as far as possible in proportion to the votes they receive during the process of elections.

2. India is a country with multi-party system. There are some national parties and regional parties in power and function, while majority of the political parties are regional thus to provide the shape to all political parties the propotional representation system is healthier.

3. the process of Decentralization of power and responsibilities strengthens the national unity and integrity of the country. If a political party or a group of leaders are given responsibilities they would perform them and behave in a better form- with more responsibility and sincerity.

4. In countries where representation democracy is practices, elections and the representative character of those elections are vital factors in making democracy effective and reliable in the success of India’s election.