COMMONWEALTH WORKSHOP ON GOVERNMENT AND
OPPOSITION
MALE 13-15 JUNE 2011
“ CREDIBLE AND PEACEFUL ELECTIONS:THE ROLE OF
POLITICAL PARTIES ”
PRESENTATION BY
THE FORMER CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA,
NAVIN B. CHAWLA
Introduction
The structure of Parliamentary democracy must necessarily rest on the
exercise of franchise by citizens freely and transparently. Elections
constitute the signpost of democracy and need to be held at regular intervals
to ascertain the political preferences of the electorate. Free and fair elections
provide the much needed legitimacy to Governments to govern. The nature
and extent of political participation is an important determinant for the
effectiveness of democratic governance, and political parties must
necessarily play a crucial rule in this respect. Political parties are primarily
responsible through peoples participation for democratizing the entire
process of governance. They constitute the institutional mechanism through
which people express their views on public affairs for the consideration of
the government. They play an essential part in the electoral system, bringing
people together onto common political platforms, facilitating alliances
among different interest groups, selecting candidates and electing leaders in
the course of their own organizational elections.
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Political parties thus play the important role in formulating public
policies. Peoples active participation in politics makes political parties more
responsive to popular aspirations. Voters must be able to vote out of office
parties that are not able to live upto mandated expectations, and the parties
they deem can fulfill their mandate must be facilitated to enter governance.
Participation is simultaneously an assertion of control or influence over
governments by those who have elected them. A democratic society expects
the involvement and participation of the citizens throughout the process
from elections, through referendums where ever they are held, through the
voices of civil society groups, to impact on the government they have
elected.
The way in which political parties perceive governance indicates their
concern and response to the problems and aspirations of people. There is
usually the published manifesto that political parties prepare before
elections, and that is the available document that defines the aims and
goalposts of the political formations concerned. This also helps in a more
concise understanding of the differences between political parties perception
of governance, and their ability or otherwise to implement the benchmarks
that they set for themselves as a polity. An understanding of parties’
manifestos is necessary to examine the implementation of policies and
programmes on which they contest the elections.
Democracy can also be described in a sense as revolution by consent
enforced through elections. Democratic elections provide the platform for
citizens to assert their civil and political rights by holding their elected
representatives accountable. The right to vote has emerged as perhaps the
most important political right, for its represents hopes for a just, equitable
and people-centered system of governance within society. Good and
transparent governance is essential for sustainable development, both
economic & social. Elections aim to fulfill a mandate towards just,
equitable and well run societies. It is also through the mechanics of
elections that the vision proclaimed by political parties through their
manifestoes mirror the hopes and aspirations of the peoples they seek to
represent. Ideally, the most representative ideas and persons obtain a
majority mandate to govern, but the ground situation varies from country to
country. Yet this needs to be clarified by stating that often enough, elected
representation can represent less than 50% of the votes polled.
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Democracy also seeks to give voice to marginalized sections. In India
the rise of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe leaders, farmers, women,
and minorities who now head national and state governments and have risen
to important positions, has very much to do with the practice of electoral
democracy. Heterogeneity of parties and government formation through
coalitions do also reflect a bouquet of diverse aspirations. The upward trend
of participation among women, “depressed” sections and the urban and
rural poor in the decision-making process have become important outcomes
of this effective process. Most of this positive upheaval has occured through
the instrument of political parties. The growth of a thriving and vibrant
electoral democracy has been a story of many countries that acquired
independence from colonial rule, the world over. Among those who
nurtured these early aspirations were various freedom fighters and framers
of constitutions, and in the years that followed independence in these
countries, the emerging role of institutions of Parliament, the judiciary and
election commissions played their vital roles.
Political Parties in Democracy
“Popular Sovereignty” is considered the founding principle of
democracy. Credible electoral systems enable the process of obtaining the
‘consent of the governed’ and provide the crucial life –line of legitimacy to
democratic governance. If competitive elections that are free and fair form
an essential part of an ‘ideal’ representative democracy, then political parties
can fairly be called an indispensible and an inalienable core of such
representation. Democracy cannot function in a vacuum; there have to be
active players and stakeholders. Political parties are rightly recognized as a
highly important instrument for the functioning of democratic politics. They
are essential for state formation and are vital intermediaries between State
and society. With more and more nations struggling to become democracies
and dealing with the issues of representation and governance, the debate on
the role of political parties has expectedly acquired renewed relevance, more
than ever visible to us on our television screens.
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Political parties necessarily further the cause of democracy by
organizing and mobilizing public opinion. They bring up issues, refine them
and set the agenda for debate and deliberation. They bring out the pros
and cons of a particular policy/programme and provide a menu of alternative
choices. They often work as an umbrella for differing interest groups,
lobbies and pressure groups and help to coalesce them into comprehensive
programme of action – as acceptable programme or policies. This way they
keep together the societal forces which otherwise would become too divisive
for democracies to function effectively. Not everywhere does this succeed,
and in many parts of the world there is apparent conflict between
unorganized or loosely organised ‘street’ forces, as they come into conflict
with established forms of Government, not necessarily all dictatorial in
nature. More than one party provides citizens with a choice; more than one
party also means presence of several discerning critiques in the polity’s
playground. They provide for checks and balances on governance and
government – another core concept of democracy. Political parties are often
creators of public opinion and mobilizers of voters/citizenry. The presence
of more than one political party in the political arena itself indicates
tolerance/co-existence of the other view points. Thus, both directly as well
as indirectly, political parties contribute to democratization of governance
and polity in which they operate. One prime illustration would be smooth
succession (coupled with basic continuity) in government and governance
from one party to the other.The manner in which the political parties manage
their own internal affairs is also relevant. If there is internal democracy in
the functioning of political parties, democracy will manifest itself in the
general value system of the polity as such and contribute to democratic
functioning of the government. By and large political parties have imbibed
this and manifested it in numerous ways from candidate selection to
organizational elections.
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Political Parties in India: The Genesis
Democracy suits plural societies the most, and India’s emergence as a
multi-par democracy has to be seen in the context of ‘indestructible
pluralism’. In India, there are more than 1200 registered political parties.
The origin of some of the major political parties can be traced to the preIndependence era, wherein political parties played a crucial role in securing
freedom for the nation.
During British rule, some of these parties also actively participated in
elections at central and provincial levels. When free India went to vote in
1951-52 for the first time, 74 political parties participated in the election
process. There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of registered
political parties in recent years. The factors that have influenced the rush for
registration of new political parties and its implication on Indian politics is
in itself an interesting topic for research.
Constitutional Silence
The Indian Constitution is one of the most elaborate founding
documents in the world. The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution
were conscious of the challenges lying ahead of Indian Republic. Hence they
drafted a full chapter to deal with the matter concerning elections. However,
ironically enough the Constitution chose to remain completely silent on one
of the most important elements of an electoral democracy i.e. the political
parties.
This silence continued up to 1985 when the Tenth Schedule of the
Constitution was added by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act,
1985. This schedule deals with the disqualification of a person for being a
member of either House of Parliament [Art. 102(2)] or the Legislative
Assembly or Legislative Council of a State [Art.191(2)], on ground of
defection. And in this manner the existence of (the institution called)
political parties came to be recognized constitutionally for the first time, that
too indirectly, by inference. Besides, there is no precise definition of
political party in the Indian Constitution or in any statutory law.
5
In the Parliamentary system of governance which the Constitution
adopted for the country, the existence of political parties was implicit and
inevitable. However, the non-recognition in the Constitution, of the
existence of political parties can under no stretch of imagination be
construed as an omission or as an evidence for reduced importance. On the
contrary, it seems to be a strategic decision to maintain a silence. Having
taken cognizance of the challenges involved in managing elections in the
country, the farmers the founding fathers of the Constitution probably
wished to give greater flexibility to the Election Commission, a permanent
constitutional body created by Article 324.
In view of such constitutional silence, the onus of framing and
administering the rules and regulations governing political parties in India
fell on the Election Commission. The Election Commission has the ultimate
power to accord recognition and status of political parties to “the association
or body of citizens of India". The Election Commission has the power to
decide whether or not to register an association or body of individuals as a
political party.
Emergence of Indian Political Parties
The Election Commission of India on the commencement of the
Constitution on 26th January 1950 duly recognized the existence of political
parties and their ardent desire to contest elections which were to be held for
the first time in independent India. When the Election Commission went
about the task of identifying political parties to be recognized as ‘All India’ /
‘National Parties’ or as ‘State Parties’ there were numerous claims from
many political parties. After due consultation the Election Commission of
India recognized 14 political parties as national or multi-state parties for the
purposes of the first general elections. Besides, 59 other parties were
recognized as State parties.
It is relevant here to note that the entire process of identifying and
giving recognition as national or state political parties was done by the
Election Commission of India in the absence of any specific legal provision,
using the plenary power under Article 324 and Rule 5 of the Representation
of the People Rules 1951. Rule 5 provided that the Election Commission
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shall publish a list of symbols as it may like. However, there was no mention
about the political parties in this rule. In that sense, the very emergence of
political parties in the post-independent India can be traced to a functional
need for allotting uniform symbols to each recognized political party which
was an election management requirement.
Election Symbols: Not merely symbolic
The promulgation of the Election Symbols
(Reservation and
Allotment) Order 1968, on 31 August 1968 is a landmark event not only in
the history of political parties in India but also in the history Election
Management in the country. The Order made detailed provisions for
registration of parties, their recognition and all matters connected therewith,
together with the provision for specification, reservation, choice and
allotment of symbols at elections. Paragraph 18 of that Order vests in the
Election Commission all residuary powers to remove any difficulty arising
in the implementation of that Order or to deal with a situation for which no
provision or insufficient provision is made in that Order.
The Constitutional validity of this Order was questioned in 1971 and
the Supreme Court upheld the validity.
Election Symbols are reserved only for those political parties which,
after registration, fight a general election and become eligible for recognition
as national or state parties, on the basis of their poll performance as
prescribed in the Symbols Order. The registered-unrecognized parties are
eligible to get only a preference in the matter of allotment of free, i.e.,
unreserved, symbols to their candidates over the independent candidates.
Such allotment is made to their candidates at the time of elections in
respective constituencies and not in advance. Thus, it is quite likely that the
candidates of a registered-unrecognized party may get different symbols in
different constituencies, and not a common symbol.
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Expansion in the participatory base of Democracy
The political parties in India have made a significant contribution to
an expansion in the participatory base of democracy in India. In 2009
General Elections that took place during tortuous summer months 60 percent
of Indian voters turned out to vote. In the recently concluded General
Elections to state legislative assemblies of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West
Bengal and Union Territory of Puducherry, the voter turnout was highly
impressive. While Tamil Nadu recorded the highest turnover since
1967, the West Bengal registered 84.47 percent and Assam recorded 76.03
percent of voter turnout. The credit for this expanding base of voter
participation shall be given to the political parties and their relentless
mobilization capacities and competitive spirit.
Political Parties and their commitment to Electoral Democracy
The ‘first past the post’ (FPTP) system of elections in a diverse
country like India is a sure-recipe for high pitch politics of sound and fury.
Indian Elections are keenly contested. The mobilization by the political
stake-holders is massive and mind-boggling. The bitter electoral battles at
times turn violent. The campaigns are intense. The political parties and
candidates cater to the sentiments of identity politics. They criticize each
other vehemently. In the midst of feverish election process political parties
at times do blame the umpire i.e. the Election Commission. But, once the
polling is over all these bitterness will be forgotten. When the election
results invariably the loser concedes defeat with dignity and the winner
shows a graceful restraint. The change of guard in governance as always
been smooth and this maturity displayed by the political parties of India has
augured well for the deepening of democracy in the country.
Model Code of Conduct: The Unique Document
The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and
candidates is a unique document, evolved with the consensus of political
parties in India, and is a singular contribution by them to the cause of
democracy and to strengthen its roots in the political system of the country.
It has not statutory backing and many of its provisions are not legally
enforceable; for, public opinion is the moral sanction for its enforcement.
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Armed with such moral sanction, the Election Commission ensures its
observance by political parties, including the ruling parties at the Centre and
in the states, and candidates in the discharge of its constitutional duties of
superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament and state
legislatures under art 324. The fact that the political parties have themselves
consented to abide by the principles embodied in the Model Code also binds
them to respect and observe it in letter and spirit.
Working of Political Parties
But, there are many issues in the functioning of political party system
in India which needs deft handling to ensure the further strengthening of
democracy in the country. With this in view India has been engaging itself in
a constant stock-taking. The civil society, media and the intelligentsia have
played a constructive role in this process of soul searching.
The working of political party system in India has been studied by
various committees, which include V.M. Tarakunde Committee (1974-75);
Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990); Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Committee
(1994); Law Commission’s Report (1998) and Justice Kuleep Singh Panel.
The National Commission to review the working of the Constitution
commissioned a study of the working of political parties especially in
relation to Elections and Reform Options. The Consultation Paper prepared
by the group identified a number of problems in the working of political
parties in India. The absence of inner party democracy, inadequate
representation women in political parties, lack of training for the party
members, need for funds, general lack of ideology and values in politics,
leadership quality, campaign methods, regionalization, casteism,
communalism, criminalization, growth in violence, fractionalization and
coalitions etc., were identified as areas of concern.
Inner party democracy in the political parties is one of the most
important metrics on which the real health of democratic polity of any nation
can be measured. A political culture in which democratic norms are
followed in the internal affairs of the political parties is a sure sign of
maturity of democracy itself. There is a view that Indian political system is
not purely democratic when it comes to the internal affairs of political
formations.
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There was a time political parties were not conducting the
organizational elections for years together. The situation came to such a pass
that the Election Commission had to threaten the entire political
establishment by invoking the provisions of para 16A of the Symbols Order.
Now the political parties do conduct their organizational elections regularly.
In recent times the Election Commission also has taken special care to
ensure that the basic philosophy of inner party democracy is not sought to be
undermined in the party constitutions. There have been occasions in which
some of the new political parties made ‘party chief decides all’ type of
provisions in their constitutions. The Commission had drawn attention of the
applicant parties about such provisions not conducive to dinner party
democracy, and obtained necessary corrections made before registering such
parties.
Dissent is of the essence of democratic functioning of a political party.
In a vibrant democracy, changes in political configurations are a natural
phenomenon. However, in India frequent splits, and mergers had resulted in
fragmentation of political parties and bitter disputes in the past. While splits
in the legislature groups of the parties and their mergers with one another
inside any House of Parliament or of a state legislature fall within the ad
judicatory jurisdiction of the Speaker or Chairman of the House concerned,
the questions or disputes relating to splits and mergers of political parties
outside the legislature fall for determination by the Election Commission
under the Symbols Order.
Party Funding
Political parties indeed need vast funds to carry out their political
activities and to contest elections. Parties run huge overheads on account of
office establishment, publicity and travel and so on. Funds to meet these
requirements funds are normally raised by them by subscriptions from their
own members and also by receiving political donations from corporate
entities and individuals. Previously, the law was not specific about the
contributions to be received by political parties. The Representation of the
People Act, 1951 was amended in 2003 to make a specific provision in this
regard. The newly inserted Section 29B authorizes political parties to accept,
subject to the provisions of the Companies Act 1956, any amount of
contribution voluntarily offered to them by any person or company other
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than a government company. This authorization is applicable to all
registered parties which includes registered-unrecognized parties as well.
The contributions made by companies and individuals to political
parties under the amended provisions of law are exempt from income tax,
not only in the hands of the political parties receiving them, but also in the
hands of the contributors and are subject to exemption in the computation of
the total income of the assesses making those contributions for the purposes
of payment of income tax.
It is mandatory for the treasurer of a political party or any other
person authorized by the party to submit a report to the Election
Commission of India in each financial year with the details of each of the
contribution received in excess of Rs 20,000.
It is observed that even some small and unknown parties also do claim
to have received huge contributions from various individuals. The Election
Commission even got an impression that the spark recent in the number of
political parties in the country could be the unexpected fall out this taxexemption provision. The Election Commission has drawn the attention of
the Tax authorities about this.
Increasing election expenditure is an important factor that promotes
political corruption. Some democracies faced with the similar problems have
considered state funding of elections as a way out. However, in India, the
concept of state funding of elections has not made any serious headway. The
Government of India constituted the Indrajit Gupta Committee on State
Funding of Elections. The committee submitted its report in 1998 and the
Government decided to implement some of the recommendations which
include provision for free airtime on state owned media.
Indian elections are increasingly becoming more costly to the political
parties and candidates. In the absence of a comprehensive state funding of
elections the fringe benefits such as ‘free talk time’ etc., may not make any
difference to the current state of affairs.
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Use of Money Power
The use of money power has emerged as a serious challenge to the
purity of Elections. Rule 90 of the 1961 Rules prescribes varying limits of
election expenditure for parliamentary and assembly constituencies in each
of the states and union territories. Section 77(1) of 1951 Act makes it
mandatory for every candidate at an election to the House of the People or a
state legislative assembly to keep a separate and correct account of all
expenditure incurred or authorized by him or by his election agent, between
the date on which he was nominated and the date of declaration of the result
of election, both dates inclusive. The total of the said expenditure shall not
exceed such amount as may be prescribed under Section 77(3). In recent
years there has been a steady increase in complaints about misuse of money
power, bribery and monitory inducement to voters during elections. Such
complaints are reported more in number during bye-elections.
The political parties and candidates have devised numerous novel
methods to influence the voters by spending in excess of the prescribed
limits of expenditure. Payment of bribes, inducement through gifts,
organizing feasts, redeeming of mortgaged materials and articles, conduct of
mass-wedding with provision for lavish gifts, supply of liquor, etc. are
among the methods adopted by the candidates to influence the voters. The
Election Commission of India has been stretched to the must possible
measures to curb the menace of money power in elections. The Election
Commission appoints expenditure observers to monitor expenditure by
various candidates during campaign period. In recent times the Election
Commission even resorted to physically checking every passing vehicle to
check whether any ill-gotten money was being transferred from one place to
another for being misused for the purpose of electoral gains.
The Election Commission also has launched awareness campaigns
about these corrupt practices. There is a growing realization that there is no
singular solution for completely eradicating the misuse of money power.
There has to be a complete overhaul of the system of funding of political
parties.
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Greater transparency in maintenance of accounts by the political party
is needed. There is a view that the misuse of money power has not been able
to decisively influence the outcome of the elections as evident from the
recent trends. But, this can never be a consolation. The Indian Electoral
System has to do something seriously and decisively to bring an end to this
corrupt practice.
Poor representation of women in Legislative Bodies
In India, women form nearly 50 percent of the total electorate. Still
there is no reservation of any seats for them in the House of the People.
Same is the case with the Council of States as well the Legislature of any
State with the sole exception of the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and
Kashmir. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir makes provision for
special representation of women in the State Legislative Assembly. If the
Governor of the State is of opinion that women are not adequately
represented in the Assembly he may nominate not more than two women to
be the members of Assembly and they will be in addition to the members
chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies.
While higher legislative bodies like Parliament and state legislative
assemblies are not having any provision for reservation of seats for women.
There are constitutional provisions that provide for reservation of not less
than one-third of the seats for women in the panchayats and municipalities.
Therefore, the demand for reservation of seats for women in the House of
the People and the state legislative assemblies has gathered momentum.
However, such reservation for women has not become reality as
political parties seem to have differing views on the percentage of seats to be
reserved. Reservation to be made for women belonging to backward classes
in the seats to be reserved for women, and so on. The Election Commission
has come out with an alternative proposal that, instead of making a
reservation of certain percentage of seats for women and further reserving
constituencies from which only women candidates may contest election, it
may be made incumbent upon the recognized political parties to set up an
agreed percentage of women candidates in all states in which they contest
elections. The continued recognition of those parties would depend upon the
fulfillment of this condition precedent, apart from their poll performance at
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the elections. But this proposal has been criticized on the ground that it
may not result in the return of the desired number of elected women
representatives, as their success cannot be ensured in all the constituencies in
which they contest.
As of now there are 59 women MPs in the lower house (out of 543).
While representation of women in higher legislative bodies looks less
impressive, women occupy many important elected positions in India. For
example, India currently is having women occupying the highest elected
position that is the President of India. Besides, prominent states like Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have women Chief Ministers.
Women also play a lead role as the President of prominent national and state
parties. But it does not solve the issue of poor representation of women in
the legislative bodies such as Parliament and state legislative bodies so far.
Educational Qualifications for membership of Parliament and
State Legislatures
There is a growing criticism about the declining quality of the
candidate being given ticket by the various political parties. The Constitution
prescribe certain ‘Qualifications’ and also certain ‘Disqualifications’ for any
person aspiring to be a member of parliament are of a state legislature in
India whether by election or by nomination. Qualifications are those positive
attitudes of a person which makes him eligible to occupy a particular
position, post or public office. Disqualifications are those negative aspects of
a person which militate against his occupying such position, post or public
office. Despite, his being qualified therefore.
As Qualifications and Disqualification are two different distinct
concepts. Every candidate is required to make a declaration in his
nomination paper that, he is qualified and not also disqualified for being
chosen to fill the seat which he intends to contest. However, it is observed
that there is dissatisfaction about the quality of the candidates to contest the
election. The political parties have a tendency to select a candidate on the
basis of perceived win ability. There are civil society organizations in India
to run a campaign to educate the voters by disseminating information on the
educational qualification and criminal antecedents of the candidates as
disclosed in their affidavits, in order to enable the voters to make their
informed choice.
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The Constitution does not prescribe any educational qualification to
be the member of legislative bodies. At the time of Independence, the
literacy rate in India was only16 percent. Besides, many prominent leaders
of India freedom struggle themselves had boycotted the schools and colleges
to spear head the fight against the foreign rule. In such a situation any
prescription of minimum educational qualification would have been in
complete conflict with the aspirations of the democratic India which gave
adult franchise to all citizens without any discrimination.
After more than 60 years of Independence the literacy rate in India
stands at 74.04 percent and the nation is past emerging as a regional super
power and an economic powerhouse. In this context, there is a view that as
the ground situation has vastly changed, the debate on prescribing minimum
educational qualification to be chose as the members of legislative bodies
should be revisited. Those who support the view that there should be a
minimum educational qualification points out that prescribing such
qualification does not require any amendment to the Constitution, because
the Constitution already empowers Parliament to lay down such
qualification under Articles 84(c) and 173(c). They also express surprise
about the resistance by the government to the disclosure of the educational
qualification of the candidates, when the Supreme Court considered the issue
of electors’ right to information about the antecedents and educational
backgrounds of the candidates so as to make an informed choice of their
representatives in Parliament and state legislatures.
However, it is relevant to note that as the literacy rate and spread of
higher education has grown phenomenally the number of candidates with
reasonable educational qualification has also gone up.
The Road Ahead
Taking due cognizance of current debates on various issues
consigning political party system and democratic governance in India and
taking note of the recommendations made by committees that dealt with the
issues, I would like to enumerate a reform agenda.
There is a need for a comprehensive legislative framework to deal
with all aspects of political parties in the country. In this process, gaps in the
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present framework shall be identified with the view that ambiguities shall be
removed.
There is a need for greater transparency and accountability in political
party funding. If state funding is considered as a serious option that should
be comprehensive. A piecemeal approach may well fail to deliver the goods.
The dialogue between Election Commission and the political parties
should be continuous. As of now, the interaction usually takes place during
election time whereas the need is to engage the political parties in discussing
basic issues and find long-term solutions.
There is a need to educate political party workers in the field. There
are some political parties which have devised means to educate party
workers and there are parties which have not taken noticeable initiatives.
There is a need to device mechanisms to create wide-spread awareness about
the functioning of the political party system.
To improve the political culture in the country attempt should be
made to create consensus among the political parties on certain basic issues
connected to democracy, conduct of elections and so on. For example,
political parties should take a conscious and definite stand about use of
technology.
Conclusion
When India made a historic leap forward and opted for universal adult
franchise, doubts were raised from different quarters about the future of the
democracy in the country. Many expected India’s experiment with
democracy could be short-lived. All these speculations were proved wrong
and India today is not only the largest democracy but a role model that is
able to work as a vibrant plural democracy. This could not have been
achieved without a constructive role played by the political parties of India.
The political parties are vitally important stakeholders. The Indian political
party system has displayed immense maturity to regularly accept the verdict
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given by the people with grace. Every Indian Election, irrespective of the
electoral outcome has resulted in the strengthening of the democratic edifice.
However, the political establishments need to take serious note of the
growing cynicism especially among youth and distress. The future of most
democracies is in the hands of youth, and the political establishment needs
to engage and integrate the young in the democratic electoral process. It is
only then that democratic roots are strengthened and democracy becomes
more participatory, functional and meaningful.
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Categories of Political Parties
Both the registration and recognition of political parties were
governed initially by the provisions of the Symbols Order alone. After the
amendment to the 1951 Act, the registration of parties is now regulated by
the statutory provisions of section 29A of that Act. However, the
recognition of such registered parties continues to be governed by the
provisions of the Symbols Order.
The Symbols Orders classifies registered political parties as
‘recognized’ parties and ‘unrecognized’ parties. The ‘recognized’ political
parties are further classified into two categories namely; national parties and
the state parties. Political parties are recognized either as state parties or as
national parties on the basis of their poll performance, as per the criteria laid
down in the Symbols Order. A state party recognized in a particular state is
treated as an ‘unrecognized-registered’ party in all other states, in which it is
not so recognized. At present there are six national parties and 45
recognized state parties in India.
A party once ‘recognized’ either as state party or as national party
does not get such recognition in perpetuity. Its continued recognition
depends upon its poll performance at every general election to the House of
the People or to a state legislative assembly as the case may be, and it shall
be regarded as a recognized party only so long as it continues to fulfill the
criteria prescribed in the Symbols Order.
Till the year 1994, poll performance was the only ground on which
the recognition of a national or state party could be withdrawn by the
Election Commission of India. The Election Commission of India on 18
February 1994 amended the Symbols Order by inserting a new para 16A.
Through this amendment, the Election Commission of India reserved a
power for it to suspend or withdraw the recognition of a national or state
party for its failure to observe the Model Code of Conduct or follow lawful
directions and instructions of the Commission.
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It is relevant to note that no political party has suffered the suspension
or withdrawal of its recognition due to this provision. Notwithstanding this,
para 16A remains the most lethal weapon at the disposal of the Election
Commission of India in its relentless efforts to deliver free and fair elections
in the country. The efficacy of this provision in the Symbols Order can is
evident from the fact that the Election Commission of India has invoked the
provisions of this para 16A only once when it put all political parties on
notice in 1996 that they may render themselves liable to action under this
para if they failed to hold their organizational elections in accordance with
their party constitutions within the time then allowed by the Commission for
the purpose. The very notice yielded positive results.
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Criminalization of Politics
Use of muscle power to win the election and general criminalization
of electoral politics has been a major area of concern. Vohra Committee
(1993) that studied the problem of the criminalisation of politics and of the
nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India, gave a detail
account on use of muscle power for electoral gains. The law disqualifies
only such persons who have been convicted by the courts of law for certain
offences specified in section 8 of the 1951 Act. The Election Commission
of India suggested that persons involved in serious offences punishable with
imprisonment for five years or more should also be disqualified during the
pendency of their trial, provided the competent court of law had taken
cognizance of the offence and framed the charges against the accused.
However, the suggestion has not been accepted so far. The Civil
Society Organizations have also taken initiatives to collect and disseminate
relevant information on the criminal antecedents and criminal cases pending
against the contesting candidates, based on their affidavits submitted before
the Returning Officers. The Election Commission of India, taking due
cognizance of the role being played by the muscle power in elections and
taking into account certain prevailing socio-economic realities of electoral
politics, the Commission introduced the concept of vulnerability mapping,
first during UP Assembly election (2007) and during subsequent General
Elections to various state Legislative Assemblies. Following positive
feedback from voters as well as the media, the Commission decided to
extend the implementation of vulnerability mapping to the entire country
during election 2009.
Vulnerability
Mapping
is
an
exercise
to
identify
villages/hamlets/habitats and segments of voters vulnerable to any threat and
intimidation or interference with free and fair exercise of electoral rights.
The basic objective of this exercise was to create a visible impact about the
seriousness being attached to ensure free and fair elections and to create
deterrence in the minds of potential trouble makers.
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During the general elections 2009, as many as 86,782 villages/hamlets
were identified as vulnerable to threat and intimidation, 3,73,861 persons
were identified as troublemakers and preventive measures under relevant
sections of law was initiated against them. As a management principle,
vulnerability mapping attached the attention of election management bodies
and professionals of other countries, too. Due to pro-active initiative like
vulnerability mapping the use of muscle power has been greatly contained.
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