Elections, Political Parties and Representation
This domain tests how votes become seats, who conducts elections, and the legal rules on parties and defection.
Core rules and concepts
- Election Commission (Article 324): superintendence, direction and control of elections. It is a multi-member body with the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
- First-past-the-post is used for Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Proportional representation with a single transferable vote is used for the President, Vice-President, Rajya Sabha and MLCs.
- Model Code of Conduct is not statutory; it operates by consensus during elections.
- Parties: registration under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951; recognition and symbols under the Election Symbols Order, 1968. National party status requires specified vote-share and seat thresholds.
- Anti-defection: Tenth Schedule, added by the 52nd Amendment (1985). A member who voluntarily gives up party membership or votes against the whip may be disqualified. Merger by two-thirds is protected.
Worked example
Party A wins 35% of votes and 55% of seats; Party B wins 30% of votes and 25% of seats. Explain the result. Reasoning: under FPTP, the winner needs only a plurality in each constituency. Party A’s support is efficiently distributed; Party B’s support is wasted in losing constituencies. The seat bonus is a design feature, not fraud. PR would allocate seats more proportionally but may produce unstable coalitions.
Traps
- Calling the Model Code of Conduct a statute.
- Confusing the Election Commission with the Delimitation Commission.
- Treating the anti-defection law as covering all dissent.
- Thinking the President is directly elected.
- Assuming PR is used for Lok Sabha elections.
Key points
- Election Commission: Article 324.
- FPTP for Lok Sabha and assemblies; PR for indirect elections.
- Model Code of Conduct is not statutory.
- Anti-defection: Tenth Schedule, 52nd Amendment.
- Party registration: Section 29A, RPA 1951.