Process of Elections in India

Elections in India – An Introduction

India got independence on 15th August 1947.

Just after independence, there was a pressing need for elections so that the people could elect a true representative government for the country.

Article 324, which warrants the setting up of an election commission as an independent constitutional authority, was therefore brought into force on 26th November 1949.

Most of the other provisions were rendered effective after 26th January 1950.

Elections in India – Election Commission of India

Here’s a chronologically arranged description of the set of the Process of Elections in India.

Year	Event
1950	Election Commission was formally constituted
1950-1989	Election Commission functioned as a Single Member Body
1989	Election Commission got converted into a 3 Member Body
1989-1990	Election Commission functioned as a 3 Member Body
1990	On 1st January, 1990, Election Commission got converted again into a Single Member Body
1990-1993	Election Commission functioned as a Single Member Body
1993	On 1st October, 1993, Election Commission again got converted into a 3 Member Body
Till Now	Election Commission continues to function as a 3 Member Body

• Elections in India plummeted out of the election commission of India, which was a turning point in India’s history.
• The election commission was formally constituted on 25th January 1950 – just a day before India became a Sovereign Democratic Republic.
• The next step was the appointment of the chief election commissioner.
• It was on 21st March 1950, that Shri Sukumar Sen was appointed as the first Chief Election Commissioner of independent India.
• Given below is a schematic representation of the evolution of the election commission of India

General Elections in India 

• Once the election commission was set up, the President of India issued the first delimitation order for the first general elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas.
• This was done in consultation with the newly formed election commission.
• To provide a legal framework for the conduct of elections, the parliament of India passed the Representation of the People Act on 12th May 1950.
• In the very next year, the parliament of India passed as second Representation of the People Act on 17th July 1951.
• Both these Acts provided the procedures for the conduct of elections to both – Houses of Parliament and Vidhan Sabha for each state.

The process of Elections in India can be explained from the following steps-

• Filing of Nomination- Election Commission of India publish notification for the date of filing nomination of the upcoming election in particular constituency.
• Analysis of Nomination- The election commission then analyse the nomination paper carefully. If the officer is  dissatisfied then he may reject the nomination of the candidate.
• Campaigning for Elections-  The respective candidates can then start campaigning and promotion of their respective parties to win the trust of people and make them vote. The campaigning process is stopped 48 hours before the polling day.
• Voting/polling Day- On this day, the voters in the constituency comes and vote for the candidates. The voters records their vote by pressing the button on EVM against the name of candidates he wants to vote.
• Vote counting & Result declaration- After the polling is done the EVM is sealed and taken to the counting station under supervision and security. The candidates with highest number of votes wins the election in that particular constituency
• Formation of Ruling Party- The political parties then prove their majority in Lok sabha/Rajya sabha and choose their leader i.e. PM/CM.

First General Elections in India – The Mega Event

Between the years 1951 and 1952, the first General Elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas were held in India. The first Lok Sabha was constituted on 2nd April 1952 and consisted of 497 members. The first Rajya Sabha was constituted on 3rd April 1952 and consisted of 216 members.

Here are some numbers and facts that may interest you –

• First General Elections in India were held for 489seats
• Total number of eligible voters during this election was approximately 17.3 crore
• The Indian National Congress won 364
• There were only two parties that won double-digit seats
• CPI won 16 seats
• Socialist Party won 12 seats
• The Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) won only 3 seats
• The first Prime Minister was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Aftermath of General Elections in India

• After the first General Elections, the Presidential elections were held in the month of May 1952.
• On May 13th, 1952, the first elected president assumed charge of the office.
• During the first General Elections, the election commission of India recognized 39 parties as state parties and 14 political parties as multi-state parties.
• Currently, there are 49 state parties and 7 recognized national parties.
• In the first and second General Elections in India, the Election Commission adopted the Balloting System of voting.
• From the third General Elections, which were held in 1962; and thereafter, the marking system of voting was adopted.
• Currently, the Election Commission has adopted the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for voting.
• EVMs were first used on an experimental basis for the Parur Assembly Constituency in Kerala in 1982.