Electoral Politics: Need For Reforms
Indian Electoral System
We elect our Member of Parliaments and Members of Legislative Assembly every five years. If the leaders elected are good, honest and are responsible then the country would prosper, else the country will be doomed. Elections play a major role in our lives. Our electoral system has both advantages and shortcomings. A true democracy can only function if the elections are held in a free and fair manner. India is the largest democracy but that does not prove that India is true democracy. Let us discuss some of the shortcomings of the Indian Electoral System. Due to a corrupt electoral system, many educated and intelligent voters don't even go for voting because they think that even if they will vote an undeserving politician will get elected. But this thinking is also wrong because many times responsible people are also elected but sometimes undeserving people also get elected.
Shortcomings of Indian Electoral System
- Money Power: Indian Elections are not meant for poor i.e. it is very expensive for a poor citizen to contest elections. Only those who have great money power can contest elections because a lot of money is to be spent on advertising and campaigning.
- Vote Buying: Because of great money power with some politicians they also try to buy votes. They do this by giving sops to poor people and persuade people to vote for them. Many politicians also distribute liquor bottles (even if it is banned they distribute it illegally) generally in slums and this increases their vote bank.
- Muscle Power: Muscle power also plays an important factor in elections. Some bandits and goons who have a lot of muscle power and popularity throughout their area, threaten people to vote for them. These type of people have a very high chance of winning elections because most people get afraid of them and vote them without thinking about the country. When the country comes in hands of such people the future of the country is definitely doomed.
- Criminalisation of Politics: According to a survey by India Today nearly 44% of the member of parliaments have pending criminal cases by their name. In India, there is a rule that an accused person until proven guilty is innocent and this rule leads to criminalisation of politics.
- Misuse Of Govt. Machinery: Another major shortcoming of our electoral system is that the candidates who already are an elected representative get extra privileges like the use of govt. machinery and money. This leads to unfairness in elections.[1]
- Communal Polarisation: Many politicians make use of communal polarisation to win an election. Polarisation can be regional, religious or even caste-based. Due to this people don't think about the candidate, they just vote for the person who is in favour of their community. Due to communal polarization votes get distributed based on community rather than deserving candidates.
- Freebies: Freebies are similar to money power. Politicians give some eatables, beer, and even cash persuade people to vote for them.[2]
- Paid News: Paid News is a piece of news telecasted on a news channel by giving them some amount of money. Many politicians provide money to news channels and ask them to telecast some good news in favour of them so that people will think that they will improvise the condition of the country. They show themselves as people's saviour.[2]
 |
| An Article by Time of India about the increase in the incidence of criminals in politics |
Reforms Undertaken by the Indian Government
Pre-2001 Reforms
- Lowering of Voting Age: Earlier the minimum age required to vote was 21 years but the government during Rajiv Gandhi's regime realized than by the age of 18 years a person becomes enough mature to make decisions on his/her own. He knows what is right and what is right. Thus, The Indian government had reduced the minimum age required to vote (i.e. the age required to be characterised as an Adult Citizen) from 21 years to 18 years.
- Increase in Number of Proposers: The Indian government had increased the percentage of proposers to 10% for Presidential elections. A proposer is someone who names a candidate for a President.
- Electronic Voting Machine: Earlier voting was used to be done by Paper Ballots in which there used to be a paper in which the political symbols of different political parties were there and the voter had to apply a stamp in front of the party symbol to whom he/her wants to vote. This was not much secure and trustworthy. If the ink of stamp was wet and a voter folds it in the wring way them an imprint will be there in another row also. This used to create confusion during the counting of votes and was difficult to figure out to which candidate the vote has been given. Nowadays Electronic Voting Machines are used which are more secure and fast. Earlier it took a lot of time in the counting of votes and if sometimes a person does mistake in counting of ballots it used to lead to a wrong decision. Now it is all computerized system and very less human intervention is required as a result of reducing the number of mistakes and increasing the speed and accuracy.
- Restriction on contesting from more than 2 constituencies: Earlier contestants could contest elections from more than two constituencies. Then the govt. limited this to at most two constituencies.[1]
Post-2001 Reforms
- Restriction on Exit Polls: The EC issued a statement before 2019 Lok Sabha elections saying that exit poll results could be broadcast only after the final phase of the elections were over. This was done to avoid voters being misguided or prejudiced in any manner.[1]
- Awareness Creation: After 2001 to create awareness among voters, Govt. started to celebrate World Voters Day on 25th of January every year. This helped in increasing awareness among young voters. On this day govt. organizes various campaigns in which young voters are invited and they told about the importance of voting.
- Ceiling on Election Expenditure: The Commission has put a cap on individual candidates’ spending. For the Lok Sabha elections, it is Rs. 50 – 70 lakh (depending on the state they are contesting the Lok Sabha seat from), and Rs. 20 – 28 lakh for an assembly election. But still, many politicians are not following this limit and doing illegal transaction greater than this limit.[1]
- Code Of Conduct: Election Commission of India's Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for the conduct of political parties and candidates during the time of the election. It is implemented after the declaration of election dates (nearly one month prior). During this period the amount of cash that one can carry is limited to a certain limit (50,000 Rs. Max.) and if one carries more cash that that (without prior permission from the income tax department and election commission) a huge penalty and punishment are given and even disqualification from elections. The candidates also cannot take major decisions after the code of conduct has been applied.[3]
- NOTA: NOTA stands for "None of the above". This is the options given to voters when they go for voting. If they think that none of the candidates is deserving then they can choose NOTA. If NOTA wins in a particular election (i.e. most of the people vote for NOTA) re-elections will be held.[4]
My Stand on The Indian Electoral System
Our Indian electoral system has various shortcomings which need to be removed and some more reforms must be introduced to this system, then only our country will become a true democracy because for a true democracy there must be free and fair elections. Due to this corruption in the electoral system, many enlightened citizens don't come for voting. I would say that a negative voting option must also be introduced in elections. To overcome the "Money Power" shortcoming State Funding must be introduced in Elections. This would help poor citizens to contest elections or else the rich people will only keep winning the elections and they would not be knowing the problems faced by poor people. Unless people from depressed and suffering sections of the society will not be chosen in the government the upliftment of poor people will not take place.
When these shortcomings will be worked upon India will become a True Democracy.
Some Famous Quotations by Popular people are:
"Bad officials are elected by those who don't vote"-George Jean Nathan
"The Ballot is Stronger than Bullet"
-Abraham Lincoln
So, at last, I hope you all agree with my thoughts and enjoyed my blog and if not then do comment down and tell. Also please tell me what improvements should I make in my future blogs posts. Please do share it to as many people as you can so that they can also get to know about it.
THANK YOU ALL!!!
References:
If you want interesting information about latest trends and various other topics do visit my friend's blog Lucky Journals.
I appreciate your efforts.
ReplyDeleteThank You Very Much!
DeleteGood one!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteWell done Mayank! Keep it up
ReplyDelete