Elections in India

History of Elections

The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949. Drafted by a committee led by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, it took effect from January 26, 1950, and the date is celebrated as the Republic Day of India. India was declared as a democratic republic, with Dr. Rajendra Prasad becoming the first President of India. The first constitutional elections in India were held in 1952, in which the INC won by majority and India got its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The first Lok Sabha was formed and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was re-elected as the President of India.

Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is established constitutionally as an autonomous federal authority. The prime responsibility of the ECI is to administer and supervise all electoral processes under the Indian Constitution, maintaining the principles and rules ensuring free and fair polling.

The Chief Election Commissioner, appointed by the President of India, heads the commission. The President also appoints two Election Commissioners. According to Conditions of Service Rules 1992, salaries and allowances of the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners are at par with that of Judges of the Supreme Court of India. The Parliament of India can remove the Chief Election Commissioner on grounds of incapacity or misbehavior only if it attains support of two-third majority in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The President of India has the power to remove the two election commissioners on recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Purpose of Elections

In a democracy, the government is formed by people's representation. India is a democratic republic where governance is elected by people both centrally as well as regionally. In case of regional governance, i.e., state government, geographies are demarcated for appropriate representation of the people in various Vidhan Sabhas. For the central government, every state sends their representatives in the Lok Sabha by clubbing certain number of Vidhan Sabha constituencies to represent populace of such demography. Election is a process which allows people to exercise their right in choosing a representative either of specific political and economic ideals or independent personality by casting votes. Thus, election is required for representation by the people right from Gram Panchayat, Municipalities & Corporations, Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha, so that the whole country from village-level upwards is represented through a fair process.

The Electoral Process

If a candidate is found guilty of practicing the above, the court can annul his/her election even after being duly elected.

The four major types of elections held in India are:

General or Lok Sabha Elections: The General elections are held every 5 years. The candidates elected become Members of Parliament or MPs. The Lok Sabha has a maximum of 552 seats and currently there are 544 MPs in the house. The maximum number of seats can be altered if the parliament approves such an amendment. The party or coalition achieving majority in the house forms the government and chooses the Prime Minister. The candidate thus chosen must be a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. If he/she is not, then six months time is given for him/her to get elected to either of the houses.

Rajya Sabha Elections: Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the Indian Parliament. There can be a maximum of 250 members, of which 12 are nominated by the President of India. These 12 members are generally renowned and knowledgeable personalities from different walks of life such as art, social service, science, literature or sports. The state and territorial legislatures representing 29 states and 2 Union Territories elect the rest of the members. Members are elected every six years with two-third retiring every two years. The two houses, namely the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, can meet to resolve any conflicting legislation between the two.

Election of the President: The President of India is officially the head of the judiciary, legislature and state of the Indian Republic. He is the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. He is indirectly elected by the people of India through Electoral College consisting of elected members of the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabhas and Vidhan Parishads and serves a term of five years. Re-election takes place if the incumbent resigns or in case of his/her death. Any Indian citizen who has attained 35 years of age and is qualified for Lok Sabha elections is an eligible candidate for the Presidential post. However, he should not hold any office of profit or a seat in parliament or state assembly.

State Assembly Elections: The Legislative or State Assembly elections are held in 29 states and 2 Union Territories out of the 7 Union Territories of India. The candidates elected become Members of the legislative assembly or Vidhan Sabha of the respective states. They are known as MLAs. The party or coalition holding majority in the state forms the government and chooses the Chief Minister of the state. The MLAs of the winning party hold different offices as ministers of state. The state assembly elections are held every 5 years.

The "None of the Above" voting option

In 2009, the Election Commission of India approached the Supreme Court to add a "None of the Above" or NOTA option to the ballot. A public interest litigation was filed by a non-governmental organization called People's Union for Civil Liberties in its support. Though the government opposed it, in September 2013, the Supreme Court passed an order to the Election Commission to implement the NOTA option on the voting machines. The Supreme Court is of the opinion that this application will increase participation of voters in elections. The bench, headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, passed the order, saying, "Democracy is all about choices and voters will be empowered by this right of negative voting".

States/UTs Population and Electorates

Population Electorate
State/UT Male Female Total Male Female Other Total Electorates
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 202,330 177,614 379,944 136,356 121,500   257,856
Andhra Pradesh 43,950,419 41,531,721 87,575,100 31,359,296 31,022,235 4,370 62,385,901
Arunachal Pradesh 713,912 669,815 1,383,727 375,897 377,273 0 753,170
Assam 16,689,256 15,914,342 32,603,598 9,694,051 9,028,384 0 18,722,435
Bihar 58,298,341 53,312,992 111,611,333 33,098,022 29,008,544 1,881 62,108,447
Chandigarh 605,584 503,827 1,109,411 315,336 265,364 0 580,700
Chhattisgarh 13,682,621 13,562,347 27,244,968 8,880,468 8,640,555 0 17,521,023
Daman & Diu 178,152 104,372 282,524 49,386 52,874 0 102,260
Dadra & Nagar Haveli       101262 87,521 0 188783
Goa 755,856 738,342 1,494,198 528,700 528,799 0 1,057,499
Gujarat 33,284,175 30,568,477 63,852,652 20,864,863 19,006,447 261 39,871,571
Haryana 14,330,479 12,564,928 26,895,407 8,442,220 7,152,207 0 15,594,427
Himachal Pradesh 3,617,402 3,517,421 7,134,823 2,390,116 2,284,067 2 4,674,185
Jammu & Kashmir 7,083,708 6,294,966 12,541,302 3,657,877 3,275,241   6,933,118
Jharkhand 18,088,637 17,008,434 35,097,071 10,509,635 9,448,733 26 19,958,394
Karnataka 32,333,031 31,548,448 63,881,479 22,800,918 21,885,287 8,453 44,694,658
Kerala 16,339,549 17,711,791 34,051,340 11,442,925 12,349,345 0 23,792,270
Lakshadweep 33,106 31,323 64,429 24,216 23,275 0 47,972
Madhya Pradesh 39,753,628 36,970,875 76,724,503 24,551,876 22,057,254 967 46,610,097
Maharashtra 61,120,629 56,548,561 117,669,190 41,842,463 37,123,909 270 78,966,642
Manipur 1,454,305 1,434,962 2,889,267 852,918 886,087 0 1,739,005
Meghalaya 1,613,210 1,598,264 3,211,474 769,758 783,270 0 1,553,028
Mizoram 589,871 584,114 1,173,985 341,934 354,514 0 696,448
Nagaland 1,075,065 1,000,785 2,075,850 580,115 594,548 0 1,174,663
NCT of Delhi 9,314,988 8,085,012 17,400,000 6,611,363 5,320,144 562 11,932,069
Odisha 22,084,620 21,642,160 43,726,780 15,038,350 13,841,394 1,106 28,880,850
Puducherry 612,511 635,442 1,247,953 425,285 460,628 12 885,925
Punjab 15,257,820 13,625,770 28,883,590 10,112,888 9,094,253 111 19,207,252
Rajasthan 37,769,228 35,035,059 72,824,287 21,450,972 19,275,205   40,726,177
Sikkim 335,642 295,856 631,498 186,777 175,549   362,326
Tamil Nadu 37,798,499 37,650,643 75,449,142 26,893,009 26,856,677 2,996 53,752,682
Tripura 1,947,093 1,871,400 3,818,493 1,212,509 1,167,032 0 2,379,541
Uttar Pradesh       73,635,127 60,709,556 6,619 134,351,302
Uttarakhand       3,562,721 3223661 12 6,786,394
West Bengal 48,431,295 45,864,437 94,295,732 32,489,949 29,978,526 513 62,468,988
Total 539,344,962 508,604,500 1,049,225,050 425,128,296 383,236,197 28,161 811,529,275