Elections

State Legislative Assemblies

Reason — Indian citizens directly elect their representatives to the Lok Sabha (Members of Parliament) and the State Legislative Assemblies (MLAs). Conversely, members of the Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Councils, and Parliamentary Committees are chosen through indirect election or internal appointment rather than direct public voting.

P and Q

Reason — The President of India is elected by an Electoral College consisting exclusively of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament (P) and the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies (Q). Nominated members of Parliament (S) and members of State Legislative Councils (R) are excluded from this voting process.

Political Party

Reason — A political party is a group of people holding similar views or beliefs who unite to contest elections and form the government.

Mid-term elections

Reason — A Mid-term election is held when a State Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its full term of five years.

Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Explanation — The members of the State Legislative Assemblies are directly elected by the people of the States through general elections. Every adult citizen of India (18 years and above) holds the right to vote irrespective of caste, religion, or gender.

Both (2) and (3)

Reason — Indirect elections are held to elect the members of the Upper Houses — the Rajya Sabha at the Union level and the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) at the State level.

President of India

Reason — The Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a Selection Committee. The Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India do not appoint them, and an Act of Parliament only lays down their terms and conditions of service.

Six years

Reason — The Chief Election Commissioner and other Commissioners are appointed for a term of six years, though they must vacate office on attaining the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

In favour of the majority

Reason — As the Election Commission is a multi-member body, any difference of opinion between the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Commissioners is decided in favour of the majority opinion.

All of the above

Reason — The Election Commission conducts elections to Parliament (Parliamentary Elections), to the State Legislatures (State Legislative Elections) and to the offices of the President and Vice-President.

Both (A) and (R) are false.

Explanation — An election held when a State Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its full term (5 years) is called Mid-term Election. The new house will normally have a full five year term.
An election held for a particular seat or seats which falls vacant due to the death, resignation of the member before completing his/her term is called By-Election. The person so elected remains the member for the unexpired term of the House.

A registered Political Party is allotted a symbol from its list of 'reserved symbols'.

Reason — On recognition of a political party, the Election Commission allots it a reserved common symbol which it uses for all its candidates. Free symbols are meant for independent candidates or non-registered parties, so a registered party does not select a free symbol, choose a reserved one on its own, or take any symbol of its choice.

Election Commission

Reason — Election symbols are allotted to political parties by the Election Commission, which keeps some symbols reserved and others free. This power does not rest with the President of India, the Chief Election Commissioner acting alone, or the political party itself.

Both (1) and (2)

Reason — Just as a Returning Officer is placed in charge of a constituency, Presiding Officers are appointed in-charge of the polling booths and the counting centres. Hence both polling booths and counting centres correctly complete the analogy.

All of the above

Reason — To ensure free and fair elections, the Election Commission prescribes a Code of Conduct, sends Central Observers to sensitive constituencies, and provides for severe punishment for booth capturing.

Election is a procedure whereby persons are chosen, by voting, to represent the voters for running the government.

The Lok Sabha elections are held by Direct election method. People of India directly elect their representatives to the Lok Sabha.

The system of election to the office of the President of India is indirect Elections.

(a) By-elections — When a seat held by any member of the Legislative Assembly in the Centre or State falls vacant on account of death or resignation of the member before completion of his/her term, to fill up this vacancy the election which is held is called By-Election.

(b) Mid-term election — This type of election is held when a State Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its full term (5 years).

The Election Commission allots symbols to political parties.

The election symbols give identification to the political parties on ballot paper/electronic voting machine. It helps illiterate voters to identify the party they want to vote for.

Two important powers and functions of the Election Commission are:

1. Preparation of Electoral Rolls and Photo Identity Cards.
2. Registration and Recognition of Political Parties.

The Commission identifies eligible voters in each constituency and prepares the list of all eligible voters. This is called voters list.

The Election Commission prepares the voters list.

The Election Commission advises the President and State Governors on electoral matters, member disqualifications, disputes, and petitions. It similarly advises the judiciary on post-election disqualification issues and provides its formal opinion to the Supreme and High Courts on cases involving corrupt electoral practices.

(a) Below are the differences between the two types of elections:

(b) Election of Legislative Assemblies and Lok Sabha are direct and the election of State Legislative Councils, Rajya Sabha, the President of India and the Vice President are indirect in a Parliamentary Democracy.

(c) The President of India is elected indirectly by the members of an Electoral college consisting of the elected members of both the houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States including National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Pondicherry. The election takes place in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. Like the President, the election of the Vice-President is also indirect. The Vice-President is elected by members of both Houses of Parliament. In this election, the State Legislatures do not take part.

(a) The Elections held to elect the members of the Lok Sabha after expiry of the normal term of five years are called the General Elections.

(b) Two points of difference between a by-election and mid-term election are:

(c) The last General Elections were held in 2024 in India.

An electorate can be defined as all the people who are eligible to vote. Alternatively, a very large body of voters is called the electorate.

The Indian Constitution grants the right to vote to all Indian citizens of sound mind above the age of 18, irrespective of an individual’s caste, religion, social or economic status. Every voter is allowed one vote only. A voter can vote at the constituency where they have registered themselves.

(a) The Election Commission consists of three members — a chief Election Commissioner and two other Election Commissioners.

The chief election commissioner is the head of the Election commission. He is appointed by the President of India

(b) The term of the Election Commissioners is six years. During this tenure if they attain the age of 65 years, they shall vacate office on the day of attaining this age.

In case there is a difference in opinion between the Election Commissioners, decision is taken in favour of the majority opinion.

(c) Following are the four functions of the Election Commission:

1. Preparation of electoral rolls and photo identity cards.
2. Registration and recognition of political parties.
3. Fixing dates and conducting elections.
4. Ensuring free and fair elections.

(a) The major national event highlighted in the headline is the General Elections (Lok Sabha Elections).

The constitutional authority associated with announcing this event is the Election Commission of India.

The Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

(b) The event stated in the clipping refers to Direct election.

This type of election is held for the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies.

It is called direct election because the people of India directly elect their representatives to these bodies by casting their votes themselves.

(c) Four points of difference between Direct and Indirect Elections:

Following are the steps for election of Class Representative:

1. Nomination of Candidates — Candidates will fill the nomination form.
2. Election Campaign — It will continue after nomination till the date of polling.
3. Polling — Students will vote for their favourite candidate.
4. Counting — The votes in secret ballot are counted to decide the winner.
5. Announcement of result — Name of the winning candidate will be announced.

I would introduce following changes in elections to Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha:

1. One Nation One Election — I would introduce simultaneous or synchronised elections in which voters can exercise their separate choices for both Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in one outing. It will optimise public funds and reduce the cost to the exchequer for conducting elections.
2. Preventing Criminalisation of Politics — I would introduce more reforms to prevent people with criminal backgrounds to stand for elections.
3. No campaign or voting on the basis of caste — Although this rule exists but it is not being followed strictly in our system.
4. Paid News — Paid news is any news or analysis appearing in any media (Print and Electronic) for a price in cash or kind. It is quickly becoming a big hurdle in conducting free, fair and transparent elections. I would introduce strict rules to prevent paid news from disrupting elections.

Following are the major changes in the pattern of elections in India from the first General Election (1951–52) to the last one held in 2024:

1. Time period — The first General Election was held in 68 phases spread over about four months (25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952). The 2024 General Election was completed in 7 phases spread over about six weeks (April to June 2024).
2. Number of constituencies — The number of Lok Sabha seats increased from 489 in 1951–52 to 543 in 2024.
3. Total number of voters — The electorate grew from about 17.3 crore (17.3 crore/173 million) eligible voters in 1951–52 to nearly 97 crore (about 968 million) registered voters in 2024.
4. Voter turnout — Turnout rose from about 45% in the first election to nearly 66% in 2024.
5. Mode of elections — Earlier, voting was done using paper ballots with separate ballot boxes; today elections are conducted using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) along with VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail).
6. Participation of women — Both the number of women candidates and the turnout of women voters have increased greatly. In recent elections the turnout of women voters has become almost equal to that of men.
7. Other aspects — Introduction of the Voter Photo Identity Card (EPIC), the NOTA (None of the Above) option, use of technology for voter registration and awareness, and stronger measures by the Election Commission (Code of Conduct, Central Observers, action against booth capturing) to ensure free and fair elections.