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Do most leaders fulfill their election promises?
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The time is after midnight. An expectant crowd sitting for the past five hours in a chowk of the town is waiting for its leader to come. The organisers assure and reassure the crowd that he would be here any moment. The crowd stands up whenever a passing vehicle comes that way. It arouses hopes that he has come.
The leader is Mr. Devi Lal, chief of the Haryana Sangharsh Samiti, who was to address a meeting in Karnal on Thursday night. The 76-year-old leader is a very busy man these days. His day starts at 8 a.m. and ends after 11 p.m.... he had already addressed nine election meetings since morning... been constantly addressing public meetings for the past 23 months and preparing for this election.
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Jagdeep and Navpreet read this story and drew the following conclusions. Can you say which of these are right or wrong (or if the information given in the story is inadequate to call them right or wrong)
(i) Elections can lead to changes in the policy of the government.
(ii) The Governor invited Devi Lal to become the Chief Minister because he was impressed with his speeches.
(iii) People are unhappy with every rulling party and vote against it in the next election.
(iv) The party that wins the election forms the government.
(v) The election led to a lot of economic development in Haryana.
(vi) The Congress Chief Minister need not have resigned after his party lost elections.
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We have seen why democracies need to have elections. But why do rulers in non-democratic countries need to hold elections?
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Ah! So elections are like exams where politicians and parties know if they have passed or failed. But who are the examiners?
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Read these two cartoons carefully.
(a)Write the message of each of them in your own words.
(b) Have a discussion in class on which of the two is closer to the reality in your own locality.
(c) Draw a cartoon to depict what elections do to the relationship voters and political leaders.
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Why is the boundary of the Gulbarga Lok Sabha Constituency not the same as the district boundary of Gulbarga?
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How many Assembly constituencies are there in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency?
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Like in Panchayats should we not have at least one-third seats in the Parliament and Assemblies reserved for women?
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See the map above and answer the following questions
(i) What is the number of Lok Sabha constituencies in your state and the neighbouring two states?
(ii) Which states have more than 30 Lok Sabha constituencies?
(iii) Why do some states have such a large number of constituencies?
(iv) Why are some constituencies small in area while others are very big?
(v) Are the constituencies reserved for the SCs and STs evenly spread all over the entire country or are there more in some areas?
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Why are the candidates required to give a detailed statement of their property?
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Match the following features of our electoral system with the principles they reflect
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Standing outside the polling station, the criminal politician says to the voter: "Why do you bother? You can go; I got your vote cast". Does booth capturing always take place in this visible form? Are there less visible ways of booth capturing?
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Election result in Gulbarga
Let us go back to our example of Gulbarga. In 2004, a total of 11 candidates contested elections in that constituency. The total eligible voters were 14.39 lakhs. Of these 8.28 lakh voters had cast their votes. The candidate of the Congress party, Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi secured about 3.12 lakh votes. This was only about 38% of the total votes polled. But since he had secured more votes than anyone else, he was declared elected a Member of Parliament from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency.
Election Result of Gulbarga Constituency, General Election to Lok Sabha 2004.
Candidate
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Party
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Votes Polled
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% of Votes
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Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi
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INC
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312432
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37.76
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Basawaraj Patil Sedam
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BJP
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254548
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30.82
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Vithal Heroor
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JD (S)
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189001
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22.84
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Suryakant Nimbalkar
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BSP
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26723
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3.23
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Sanganna
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IND
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15213
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1.84
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Arun Kumar Chandrashekara Patil
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KNDP
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7155
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0.86
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Bhagavanreddy B
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IND
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6748
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0.82
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Hamid Pasha Sarmast
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MUL
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4268
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0.52
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Basawanth Rao Revansiddappa Sheelwanth
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AIFB
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3900
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0.47
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Sandeep C Bandak
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USYP
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3671
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0.44
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Umesh Havanoor
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SP
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3380
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0.41
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(i) What is the percentage of voters who had actually cast their votes?
(ii) To win an election is it necessary for a person to secure more than half the votes polled?
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Why are party agents present in the polling booth and the counting centre?
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Identify the fair and the unfair electoral practices among the following
(i)A minister flags off a new train in his constituency a week before polling day.
(ii) A candidate promises that she will get a new train for her constituency if she is elected.
(iii) Supporters of a candidate take the voters to a temple and make them take an oath that they will vote for him.
(iv) The supporters of a candidate distribute blankets in slums in return for a promise for vote.
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Why does the Election Commission have so much power is this good for democracy?
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Read these headlines carefully and identify which powers are used by the Election Commission in each instance to ensure free and fair elections,
(i) Election Commission issues notification constituting 14th Lok Sabha.
(ii) Election Commission tightens norms for poll expenses.
(iii) Election Commission to visit Gujarat again, review poll arrangements.
(iv) High Court asks Election Commission to bar 'Criminal' netas.
(v) Election Commission shoots down Home Minister advice on poll reforms.
(vi) Phota I cards not mandatory in Bihar polls.
(vii) Election Commission accepts new Haryana DGP.
(viii) Election Commission will seek power to censure political ads.
(ix) Election Commission says no immediate plan to ban Exist Polls.
(x) Election Commission orders repoll in 398 more booths.
(xi) Election Commission to keep closer eye on hidden poll costs.
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The leader is coming out of a press conference, "What was need to say that we have distributed tickets only amongst suitable and winriable family relations?" Do you think that family politics is confined to only a few states or parties?
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Titled 'Electoral Campaigns', this cartoon was drawn in the Latin American context. Does this apply to India and to other democracies in the world?
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(i) Is this an accurate picture of what happens to the voter before and after elections?
(ii) Must this always happen in a democracy?
(iii) Can you think of examples when this did not happen?
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Here are some facts on Indian elections. Comment on each of these to say whether they reflect the strength or the weakness of our electoral system
(i) The Lok Sabha has always had less than 10 per cent women members.
(ii) The Election Commission often refuses to accept the government's advice about when the elections should be held.
(iii) The current Lok Sahba has more than 145 members whose assets are more than Rs 1 crore.
(iv) After losing an election the Chief Minister said. "I respect the people verdict".
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Which of the following statements about the reasons for conducting elections are false?
(a) Elections enable people to judge the performance of the government
(b) People select the representative of their choice in an election
(c) Elections enable people to evaluate the performance of the judiciary
(d) People can indicate which policies they prefer
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Which of these is not a good reason to say that Indian elections are democratic?
(a) India has the largest number of voters in the world
(b) India's Election Commission is very powerful
(c) In India, everyone above the age of 18 has a right to vote
(d) In India, the losing parties accept the electoral verdict
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Match the following
(a)
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It is necessary to keep the voters list up-to-date because
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(i)
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There is a fair representation of all sections of our society
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(b)
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Some constituencies are reserved for SCs and STs so that
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(ii)
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Everyone has equal opportunity to effect their representative
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(c)
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Everyone has one and only one vote so that
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(iii)
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All candidates must have a fair chance of competing in elections
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(d)
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Party in power is not allowed to use government vehicles because
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(iv)
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Some people may have moved away from the area where they voted last
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List all the different election related activities mentioned in the chapter and arrange them in a time sequence, beginning with the first activity and ending with the last. Some of these activities are given below: releasing election manifestos; counting of votes; making of voters' list; election campaign; declaration of election results; casting of votes; ordering of re-poll; announcing election schedule; filing nomination.
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Surekha is an officer in-charge of ensuring free and fair elections in an Assembly constituency in a state. Describe what she should focus on for each of the following stages of election
(a) Election campaign (b) Polling day (c) Counting day
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The table below gives the proportion of different communities among the candidates who won elections to the US Congress. Compare these to the proportion of these communities in the population of the US. Based on this, would you suggest a system of reservations in the US Congress? If yes, why and for which communities? If no, why not?
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Proportion of the community (in per cent ) in the
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Blacks
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House of representatives
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Population of US
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8
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13
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Hispanics
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5
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13
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Whites
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86
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70
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Can we draw the following conclusions from the information given in this chapter? Give two facts to support your position for each of these.
(a) Election Commission of India does not have enough powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
(b) There is a high level of popular participation in the elections in our country.
(c) It is very easy for the party in power to win an election.
(d) Many reforms are needed to make our elections completely free and fair.
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Chinappa was convicted for torturing his wife for dowry. Satbir was held guilty of practicing unto usability. The court did not allow either of them to contest elections. Does this decision go against the principles of democratic elections?
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Here are some reports of electoral malpractices from different parts of the world. Is there anything that these countries can learn from India to improve their elections? What would you suggest in each case?
(a) During an election in Nigeria, the officer in charge of counting votes deliberately increased the votes of one candidate and declared him elected. The court later found out that more than five lakh votes cast for one candidate were counted in favour of another.
(b) Just before elections in Fiji, a pamphlet was distributed warning voters that a vote for former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry will lead to bloodshed. This was a threat to voters of Indian origin.
(c) In the US, each state has its own method of voting, its own procedure of counting arid its own authority for conducting elections. Authorities in the state of Florida took many controversial decisions that favoured Mr Bush in the presidential elections in 2000. But no one could change those decisions.
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Here are some reports of malpractices in Indian elections. Identify what the problem in each case is. What should be done to correct the situation?
(a) Following the announcement of elections, the minister promised to provide financial aid to reopen the closed sugar mill.
(b) Opposition parties alleged that their statements and campaign was not given due attention in Doordarshan and All India Radio.
(c) An inquiry by the Election Commission showed that electoral rolls of a state contain name of 20 lakh fake voters.
(d) The hoodlums of a political party were moving with guns, physically preventing supporters of other political parties to meet the voters and attacking meetings of other parties.
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Ramesh was not in class when this chapter was being taught. He came the next day and repeated what he had heard from his father. Can you tell Ramesh what is wrong with these statements?
(a) Women always vote the way men tell them to. So, what is the point of giving them the right to vote?
(b) Party politics creates tension in society. Elections should be decided by consensus not by competition.
(c) Only graduates should be allowed to stand as candidates for elections.
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