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Elections take place regularly in any, democracy. There are more than 100, countries in the world in which elections take, place to choose people’s representatives., The mechanism by which people can choose, their representatives at regular intervals and, , change ‘eo ennre they want to is, called an election., , In an election the voters make many choices:, e They can choose who will make laws for, them., , e They can choose who will form the, government and take major decisions., , e They can choose the party whose, policies will guide the government and, law making., , e, What Makes an Election Democratic?, Minimum conditions of a democratic, include the following points.
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1. Everyone should be @ble to choose their, own representative., , 2.Parties and candidates should be free to, contest elections and should offer some, real choice to the voters., , 3.Elections must be held regularly after, every few years., , 4.The candidate preferred by the people, , eS Bin, 5.Elections should be conducted in a free, , and fair manner where people can, choose as they really wish., , Elections are all about political competition., This competition takes various forms. At the, constituency level, it takes the form of, competition among several candidates. Here, are a few reasons that support political, , competition as being good for people., , 1. Regular electoral competition provides, ~~
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issues that people Want to be raised,, their popularity and chances of victory, will increase in the next elections. On the, contrary, if they fail to satisfy the voters, with their work, they will not be able to, win again, 3.If a political party is motivated only by, the desire to be in power, despite that, it, will Oe to serve the people., Whatis O ie. of Election?, Elections are held in India in Lok Sabha and, Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) regularly after, every 5 years. After 5 years, the term of all, the elected representatives comes to an end., Elections held in all constituencies at the, same time, either on the same day or within, a few days is called a General Election., Sometimes elections are held only for one, constituency to fill the vacancy caused by, the death or resignation of a member. This is, , called a By-Election. SA
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@hdia is divided into different areas for the, purpose of elections. These areas are called, electoral constituencies. The voters living in, an area elect one representative., , e For Lok Sabha elections, India is divided, into 543 constituencies. The, representative elected from each, , one" ® is called a Member of, Parliamentor an MP., , Each state is divided into a specific, number of Assembly constituencies. In, this case, the elected representative is, called the Member of Legislative, Assembly or an MLA. Each Parliamentary, constituency has within it several, assembly constituencies., , The same principle applies for Panchayat, , and Municipal elections. Each village or town, , is divided into several ‘wards’ that are like, he, , constituencies. Each ward elects
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body. Sometimes theséconstituencies are, @ounted as ‘seats’, for each constituency, represents one seat in the assembly., Reserved Constituencies, Some constituencies are reserved for people, who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC], and Scheduled Tribes [ST]. In the Lok Sabha,, 84 seats are reserved for the SC and 47 for, the ST. ©, e ln ed aa constituency, only, someone who belongs to the Scheduled, Caste can stand for election., , e Only those belonging to the Scheduled, Tribes can contest an election from a, , constituency reserved for ST., In many states, seats in rural (panchayat), and urban (municipalities and corporations), local bodies are now reserved for Other, Backward Classes (OBC) and women, candidates as well.
