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Extra questions**
ELECTORAL POLITICS
Ques. 1 What
makes an election democratic?
Ans. 1 The
conditions of a democratic election are:
1. Everyone
should be able to choose. This means that every one should have one vote and
every vote should have one value.
2. There
should be something to choose from .Parties and candidates should be free to
contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.-- Multiparty
system.
3. The
choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly
after every few years.
4. The
candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
5. The
elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose
as they really wish.
6. There
should be an independent Election Comission in the country.
7. Just
before elections any party or minister must not take any important
decision,must not make any big promise to the people.
Ques. 2. Why
do we need elections?
Ans. 2 In a
democracy it is not possible for everyone to sit together everyday and take all the decisions,so the people
choose representatives. Also there is no other democratic way of selecting
representatives except elections. Therefore we need to conduct elections in
democracies. In an election the voters can:
1. Choose
who will make laws for them.
2. Choose who will form the government and
take major decisions.
3. Choose
the party whose policies will guide the government and law making. Through
elections, people can also remove leaders who do not work for them.
Ques. 3 What
is an election?
And. 3 The
mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals
and change them if they wish to do so to is called an election.
Ques. 4 What
unfair practices are used in elections?
Ans. 4 Some unfair practices used in elections
are:
1. Inclusion
of false names and exclusion of genuine names in the voters list.
2. Misuse of
government facilities and officials by the ruling party.
3. Excessive
use of money by rich candidates and big parties.
4.
Intimidation of voters and rigging on the polling day.
Ques. 5 What are the demerits of political
competition?
Ans. The
demerits of political competition are:
1. It creates a sense of disunity and
factionalism in every locality.
2. Different political parties and leaders
often level allegations against one another.
3. Parties
and candidates often use dirty tricks to win election.
4. The pressure to win electoral fights does
not allow sensible long term policies to be formulated.
5. Some good
people who may wish to serve the country do not enter this arena. They do not
like the idea of being dragged into unhealthy competition.
Ques 6 What is the difference between a
reserved and an electoral constituency?
Ans. The country is divided into different areas
for purpose of
· elections known as electoral constituencies. The voters who
live in an area elect one representative.
Reserved constituencies are reserved for people who belong to
· the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). In a SC
reserved constituency only someone who belongs to the Scheduled castes can
stand for election.
Ques. 7 What
are the challenges to free and fair elections?
Ans. There
are many limitations and challenges to Indian elections These include:
1. Candidates and parties with a lot of money
may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage
over small parties and independent candidates.
2. In some
parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to
push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major
parties.
3. Some families tend to dominate political
parties, tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
4. Very
often elections offer little choices to ordinary citizens,for both the major
parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
5. Smaller
parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to
bigger parties
. Ques. 8
Explain the following terms:
(a) Rigging
Ans. Fraud
malpractices indulged by a party or candidate to increase its votes is called
Rigging. It includes stuffing ballot boxes by a few persons using the votes of
others, recording multiple votes by the same person; and bringing or coercing
polling officers to favour a candidate.
(b) Turnout
Ans. Turnout
is the percentage of eligible voters who cast their votes in an election.
© EPIC
Ans. The government has introduced an Election
Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and tried to give this card to every person on the
voters list. The voters are required to carry this card when they go out to
vote, so that no one can vote for someone else but the card it not yet compulsory
for voting.
(d) Ticket
Ans.
Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and
support for contesting elections. Party’s nomination is often called party
‘ticket’.
(e) Security
Deposit
Ans. Every
person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a nomination form and give
some money called Security deposit. (f) EVM Ans. Electronic Voting Machines
(EVM) are used to record votes nowadays. The
machine shows the names of the candidates and party symbols. Independent candidates
too have their own symbols, allotted by election officials. All the voter has
to do is to press the button against the name of the candidate she wants to
give her vote.
Ques. 9 Why do the poor, illiterate and
underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich?.
Ans. The
poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as
compared to the rich because they want laws to be made to improve their
conditions
.They are
hopeful that their representatives will do something for them.
Ques. 10
Mention a few successful slogans by different political parties in different
elections.
Ans. 1.
“Garibi Hatao” (Remove poverty) was used by the Congress party led by Indira
Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections in 1971.
2. “Save
Democracy “was given by the Janata Party in the next Lok Sabha elections held
in 1977.
3. “Land to
the Tiller” was used by the Left Front in the West Bengal Assembly elections
held in 1977.
4. “Protect the Self- Respect of the Telugus”
was the slogan used by N.T. Rama Rao, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party in
Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 1983.
Ques. 11
Explain the Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns.
Ans. 11 A
set of norms and guide lines to be followed by political parties and contesting
candidates during election time. According to this no party or candidate can.-
1. Use any place of worship for election
propaganda.
2. Use government vehicles, aircrafts and
officials for elections. 3. Once elections are annoucned, ministers shall not
lay foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make
any promises of providing public facilities.
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