Model Political System
A project for educating about political system of India.
The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve five year terms from single-member constituencies. A legislative assembly may be dissolved in a state of emergency, by the governor on request of the chief minister of the respective state or union territory, or if a motion of no confidence is passed against the ruling majority party or coalition.
As per the Constitution of India, where there is a unicameral legislature, the legislative body is termed as the legislative assembly. In bicameral jurisdictions, there exists a State Legislative Council. The legislative assembly has the power to create or abolish the legislative council of the respective state or union territory by passing a resolution to that effect by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting. The term of a legislative assembly is fixed at five years unless it is dissolved prior to it. In certain cases such as an emergency of the state, the term can be extended by the Indian parliament for one year at a time. The Governor of the respective state shall convene the assembly periodically, with no more than six months gap between consecutive sessions. The assembly is presided over by a speaker, who shall be a member of the assembly and elected by the members of that constituent assembly.
The state legislature has the power to enact laws concerning state subjects as defined in the constitution. The union territories which have a legislature have certain restrictions in terms of these powers. In a bicameral legislature, a legislative assembly holds equal legislative power with the upper house of the state legislature, the State Legislative Council, in terms of passing of bills except in case of money bills. A normal bill can originate in any of the house, and is deemed to be passed only if it is cleared by both houses. If a bill is passed by the legislative assembly, it should not be held for more than three months by the council. If the bill is sent back by the council, and is again passed by the assembly, the council is expected to act on it within one month. If the time elapses or if it is sent back, the bill is deemed to have been passed with or without any amendments if any are made by the legislative assembly. In case of money bills, it shall be introduced only in the assembly, and the assembly can accept or reject the recommendations if any that are communicated from the council.
A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the state legislative assembly. If it is passed by a majority vote, then the chief minister and her/his council of ministers must collectively resign.
The Constitution of India states that a legislative assembly must have no less than 60 members and a maximum of 500 members. However an exception may be granted via an act of the Indian parliament and is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the union territory of Puducherry which have fewer than 60 members.
A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is directly elected from single-member constituencies, which are divided roughly equally based on the population of the region. The number of seats may be revised following a census by an act of the parliament. A few assemblies have nominated members such as the case of Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry. To become a Member of Legislative Assembly, a person must be of minimum 25 years of age and be a citizen of India. He/she might not hold any other government office, and should declare the information required by the election commission including any criminal procedures against him or her.
After the election of a member, he/she is expected to take an oath of affirmation. The members are paid salaries and allowances as fixed by the respective assemblies. A member of the assembly may resign on his/her own accord. A member can also be disqualified if found to hold another office of profit in the government, is of no sound mind, has been declared insolvent, or ineligible by a court of law. Members of the assembly are exempt from any legal cases arising out of what has been said in the assembly.
In 22 states and three union territories, there is a unicameral legislature which is the sole legislative body. In six states, the legislative assembly is the lower house of their bicameral legislature with the upper house being the State Legislative Council. Five union territories are governed directly by the union government and have no legislative body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_legislative_assemblies_of_India
Election to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies
India follows a parliamentary system of government where citizens participate in various levels of elections - Lok Sabha (national level), state legislative assemblies (state level) and local bodies (city and village level). The country is divided into 543 constituencies for the Lok Sabha elections. The elected candidates to the Lok Sabha are known as Member of Parliament (MPs), whereas candidates elected to the state assemblies are known as Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs). India uses the 'First-Past-the-Post' electoral system, wherein the candidate receiving the most votes in a constituency wins.
After the voting process is completed, the process of government formation begins. The political party or coalition winning a majority of the seats in the Lok Sabha forms the national government. The leader of the majority typically becomes the prime minister. Similarly, at the state level, the leader of the majority party become the chief minister.
Election to the Rajya Sabha
The candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha are also known as Members of Parliament (MPs), but they are chosen through indirect elections.
Of the 245 members of the Rajya Sabha, 233 are chosen by the elected members of the state legislative assemblies (MLAs), while the President of India nominates 12. Each state is allotted a different number of Rajya Sabha seats based on population.
The Rajya Sabha is also called the Permanent hHouse - it is never dissolved. A member of the Rajya Sabha has a six-year term. One-third of its members retire every two years, and new members are elected (through single-transferable-vote-system).
Election of the President of India
The President of India is not directly elected by the common people. Instead, an electoral college is formed to carry out the election. This electoral college consists of:
The single transferable vote system is followed in this election. The following group of people is not involved in electing the President of India:
It is because this ensures that only directly elected representatives vote to elect the President. This maintains democratic legitimacy, as the President is meant to represent the will of the people, indirectly but meaningfully.
Election to the Vice President of India
The Vice President of India is elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected and nominated members of both Houses of Parliament; again the system of single transferable vote is used.
The Vice President is the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. If there are situations when the President is not able to discharge their function, the Vice President steps in to play the role.
"[India] adopted the principle of adult franchise with the abundant faith in the common man and the ultimate success of democratic rule ... never before in the history of the world has such an experiment been so boldly undertaken."
- Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
November 1949, Constituent Assembly Debates
The Constitution makers decided that universal adult franchise would be a feature of Indian democracy right from the outset. This means that every adult citizen gets one vote, and all votes have equal value. Hence, every Indian citizen aged 18 (India changed the minimum age for voting from 21 to 18 in 1988) and above has the right to vote - irrespective of caste, creed, race, religion, gender, education, income, etc.
Universal franchise is a cornerstone of Indian democracy. Elections to the Lok Sabha, the legislative assembly of every state and union terrirtory, and all the local elections in villages and cities are based on universal franchise (Article 326 of the Constitution).
Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation program, better known as SVEEP, is the flagship program of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India. Since 2009, we have been working towards preparing India's electors and equipping them with basic knowledge related to the electoral process.
The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
India is a Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic and the largest democracy in the World. The modern Indian nation state came into existence on 15th of August 1947. Since then free and fair elections have been held at regular intervals as per the principles enshrined in the Constitution, Electoral Laws and System.
The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission of India the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.
Election Commission of India is a permanent Constitutional Body. The Election Commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950.
Originally the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. It currently consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
For the first time two additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October 1989 but they had a very short tenure till 1st January 1990. Later, on 1st October 1993 two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision making power by majority vote.
The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office in like manner and on like grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.
The Commission transacts its business by holding regular meetings and also by circulation of papers. All Election Commissioners have equal say in the decision making of the Commission. The Commission, from time to time, delegates some of its executive functions to its officers in its Secretariat.
The Commission has a separate Secretariat at New Delhi, consisting of about 550 officials, in a hierarchical set up.
Five or Six Deputy Election Commissioners and Director Generals who are the senior officers in the Secretariat assist the Commission. They are generally appointed from the national civil service of the country and are selected and appointed by the Commission with tenure. Directors, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries, Under Secretaries and Deputy Secretary support the Deputy Election Commissioners and Director Generals in turn. There is functional and territorial distribution of work in the Commission. The work is organised in Divisions, Branches and Sections; each of the last mentioned units is in charge of a Section Officer. The main functional divisions are Administration, Electoral Roll, Election Expenditure Management, Information Systems, International Cooperation, Judicial, Media, Planning, Political Parties, Secretariat Co-ordination, and Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP). The territorial work is distributed among separate units responsible for different Zones into which the 36 constituent States and Union Territories of the country are grouped for convenience of management.
At the state level, the election work is supervised, subject to overall superintendence, direction and control of the Commission, by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State, who is appointed by the Commission from amongst senior civil servants from a panel of officers proposed by the concerned state government. He is, in most of the States, a full time officer and has a small team of supporting staff.
At the district and constituency levels, the District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers, who are assisted by a large number of functionaries, perform election work. They all perform their functions relating to elections in addition to their other responsibilities. During election time, however, they are available to the Commission, more or less, on a full time basis.
The gigantic task force for conducting a countrywide general election consists of more than twelve million polling personnel and civil police forces. This huge election machinery is deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission and is subject to its control, superintendence and discipline during the election period, extending over a period of one and half to two months.
The Secretariat of the Commission has an independent budget, which is finalised directly in consultation between the Commission and the Finance Ministry of the Union Government. The latter generally accepts the recommendations of the Commission for its budgets. The major expenditure on actual conduct of elections is, however, reflected in the budgets of the Ministry of Law & Justice (for Government of India share) and the concerned States/UTs. If elections are being held only for the Parliament, the expenditure is borne entirely by the Union Government while for the elections being held only for the State Legislature, the expenditure is borne entirely by the concerned State. In case of simultaneous elections to the Parliament and State Legislature, the expenditure is shared equally between the Union and the State Governments. For Capital equipment, expenditure related to preparation for electoral rolls and the scheme for Electors' Identity Cards too, the expenditure is shared equally.
In the performance of its functions, Election Commission is insulated from executive interference. It is the Commission which decides the election schedules for the conduct of elections, whether general elections or bye-elections. Again, it is the Commission which decides the location of polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling stations, location of counting centres, arrangements to be made in and around polling stations and counting centres and all allied matters.
Political parties are registered with the Election Commission under the law. The Commission ensures inner party democracy in their functioning by insisting upon them to hold their organizational elections at periodic intervals. Political Parties so registered with it are granted recognition at the State and National levels by the Election Commission on the basis of their poll performance at general elections according to criteria prescribed by it. The Commission, as a part of its quasi-judicial jurisdiction, also settles disputes between the splinter groups of such recognised parties.
Election Commission ensures a level playing field for the political parties in election fray, through strict observance by them of a Model Code of Conduct evolved with the consensus of political parties.
The Commission holds periodical consultations with the political parties on matters connected with the conduct of elections; compliance of Model Code of Conduct and new measures proposed to be introduced by the Commission on election related matters.
Under the Constitution, the Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post election disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures. The cases of persons found guilty of corrupt practices at elections which come before the Supreme Court and High Courts are also referred to the Commission for its opinion on the question as to whether such person shall be disqualified from contesting elections and, if so, for what period. The opinion of the Commission in all such matters is binding on the President or, as the case may be, the Governor to whom such opinion is tendered.
The Commission has the power to disqualify a candidate who has failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within the time and in the manner prescribed by law. The Commission has also the power for removing or reducing the period of such disqualification as also other disqualification under the law.
The elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures can be challenged in the High Court and the Supreme Court of India by an election petition after elections are over. By virtue of Article 329 of the Constitution once the actual process of elections is started, the judiciary cannot intervene by entertaining petitions on the conduct of the polls. Once the polls are completed and result declared, the Commission cannot review any result on its own. This can only be reviewed through the process of an election petition, which can be filed before the High Court, in respect of elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures. In respect of elections for the offices of the President and Vice President, such petitions can only be filed before the Supreme Court.
The Commission has a comprehensive policy for the media. It holds regular briefings for the mass media-print and electronic, on a regular basis, at close intervals during the election period and on specific occasions as necessary on other occasions. The representatives of the media are also provided facilities to report on actual conduct of poll and counting. They are allowed entry into polling stations and counting centres on the basis of authority letters issued by the Commission. They include members of both international and national media. The Commission also publishes statistical reports and other documents which are available in the public domain.
Systematic Voters' Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP) is a Multi-intervention programme that reaches out to educate citizens about the electoral process in order to increase awareness and participation. The objectives of SVEEP are to increase electoral participation through voter registration and turnout, to increase qualitative participation in terms of ethical and informed voting and continuous electoral and democracy education.
