THE ROLE OF ELECTORAL POLITICS IN REFORMULATING POWER IN INDIA

AUTHOR: GUNJAN RAI, CHHAJU RAM LAW COLLEGE, GURU JAMBHESHWAR UNIVERSITY, HARYANA

The goal of the article is to explore the Electoral Politics and Political Behaviour in India which is the process of electing our leaders through voting involving the process from campaigning to voting to the competition between the political parties. Elections are the most important part of any democracy; it is a way by which people elect or choose their representatives through voting. India, which is the largest democracy, enjoys overwhelming participation of people at several levels starting from local bodies to parliament. On the other hand, if we see the electoral candidates try to convince the people to vote by proposing various plans and strategies for their next five years. However the system of electoral politics is both criticized and praised. The critics urge for some major electoral reforms in the Indian electoral system while the proponents believe the existing system of electoral politics is favourable for any largest democracy such as India. Through this article we will try to analyse how the electoral politics reformulate power at different levels and also try to find out the drawbacks of the existing electoral politics and reforms needed to it.

Electoral politics; political parties; largest democracy; parliament; elections; representatives; voting.

In any democracy, elections are held at every regular interval. There are more than hundred countries which elect their representatives through elections and if we talk about India, elections are held every five years. Through elections people elect their representatives and if they are not satisfied with the work of their elected leaders then they can by using their voting power can remove them in the next elections. The constitution of India follows the federal system, according to the federal system there are two types of government state and the central government. The parliament of India which is the supreme legislative body is made up of two houses- Rajya Sabha (upper house) and Lok Sabha (lower house). The elections for the Lok Sabha are held after five years and the representatives are elected by direct voting whichever party wins the majority seats comes to the power. But in the Rajya Sabha elections there is indirect voting by the public in which the MLAs who are elected by the people vote and choose the member of Rajya Sabha. We can say that elections play an important role in developing new power. 

Moreover, the democratic elections are more important than elections. To make any election democratic it is very necessary to conduct elections in a free and fair manner, candidates preferred by the people should get elected, elections must be at regular intervals, elections must be held at a regular intervals and every voter must have one vote with equal value. 

As easy as this process may seem, it is not. From the day of the announcement of the election date to the announcement of the result , the period of the election goes through a lot of promises made by the political parties, to the releasing of their manifesto, to campaigning for their respective parties for votes. If we look at it this period is necessary as the voters get to know about their voters their ideas and policies but on the other hand if we see that the politicians make unrealistic promises for the sake of votes and the elections end up with disappointment of the voters and the wrong leader gets into power. The point is very clear: the favouritism of electoral politics came up with some criticism by the political thinkers. 

Electoral politics in India plays a game-changing role in reformulating power by reorganising political authority. Also leads to onset of new political powers and social groups. This political shift can only be possible through voting. Our Indian constitution has provided us with ways so that an individual can also participate in reformulating power and governing the public. The following points analysed below in this literature review, insights how electoral politics reshape power in the Indian political system.

• Regular Elections

It is possible only through regular elections in the country that allows the shift of the political powers from one hand to another at various levels of government (local, state and the central level). Every election gives a new opportunity to the voters- to vote for their leaders as well as to the different parties to come to power and formulate new policies. This political shift is very important and can only be possible through voting.

• Coalition politics

The word coalition is derived from the Latin word ‘coalition’ meaning to grow together. Coalition means when none of the parties secure more than 50% of the seats in any of the elections then they form an alliance with the other political party in order to get into power. The first coalition government was seen in 1977 which was the first non- congress government headed by janata party but this coalition could only last for 857 days. And the first coalition government to complete its tenure was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led (NDA) national democratic alliance. The coalition government helps in distributing power to different political parties of the same alliance leading to the emergence of the new power where smaller political parties can also play a very crucial role in reformulating power at national as well as state level. 

• Campaigning and Media

In the world of growing advancements of social networking sites. The media plays an important role in shaping opinions of the people by setting an agenda. Hence we can say most of the public opinions are shaped against a particular political party by the influence of social media and also the door to door campaigning of the political parties encourages the public to vote for them. It is also through the campaigning the parties are able to share their future policies and plans creating an alternative image among the public. Thus the opinions of the public plays a major role in reformulating power through their votes.

• Political Movements

New political movements also give rise to the new faces of political leaders. When any of the political activists raise their voice against the present government then soon they become political sensations hence reformulating new power. For instance Aam Aadmi Party emerged as a stronger political sensation among the public in their response to the inefficiency and corruption in parties. This created new power in electoral politics. These political movements helps in shifting to the new political power and demanding for new governance

• Regional Parties

The regional parties have gained more importance in electoral politics particularly during the 1990s. They have successfully helped in shaping power both locally and at national level. These regional parties have also participated in the coalition government when no party holds majority thus making themselves as political powers.

• Judiciary and Election Commission

The Indian judiciary and the election commission of India are the key institutions which help in regulating the electoral politics of India. They ensure free and fair elections at both national as well as regional and state level. They ensure that there is no malpractice by the political entities thus ensuring the democratic elections.

• Representations of different social groups

As we know that the elections are influenced by many factors , one of the factors is the representation of regional and social groups. Many of the political parties are the advocates of different social groups such BJP successfully works on the agenda of Hindu majority while the opposition parties work on the dalits and other minorities.

Moreover, the electoral politics of India have faced many criticisms on issues like corruption, vote manipulation, and money power by the political candidates. The critics urge that the elections can be manipulated by the powerful political parties which can lead to serious risk to democracy. Also the parties are more focused to achieve short term goals to win the elections ignoring the long term problems of the society. Hence focusing their interest in just winning elections rather than solving problems. This creates a low voting turnout because people lack trust in politicians. Hence they argue for some major electoral reforms in India which is the largest democracy.

Just like every coin has two sides many of the political thinkers are in favour of the existing electoral politics they believe that it is only through elections that make any political party accountable if they fail to perform their promises made people can vote against in the next elections. Also electoral politics is a hallmark of a stable democracy avoiding authoritarian rule. This gives people to choose between alternative views. Therefore they believe the existing system of electoral politics is favourable in India.

I have conducted observational research.

Observational research is mainly the legal research where you observe participants and phenomena in most natural settings and certain outcomes are measured. We saw how the electoral politics of India led power to reformulate from one hand to another. And how the political leaders make strategies for making themselves the new faces of electoral politics. 

It won’t be wrong to say that the electoral politics played a major role in reformulating power in Indian politics but as we saw that the electoral politics of India came up with some criticism as well as commendation by the political thinkers. But we can’t ignore the fact that electoral politics have shaped Indian politics in many ways from the participation of the women and youths in the voting process by providing them with various schemes, employment opportunities, education and digital advancements to increase technology in the election process. Now with the increase in the use of the social media platforms like twitter, facebook, and instagram it made easy for the political parties to convey to the public helping in online campaigning which also increased the overall voter turnout.

Some of the results of the electoral politics in India in recent years also include the dominance of the BJP government. We can see that the BJP government has emerged as the largest party after the 2014 general elections and simultaneously we can also see the downfall of the INC which once ruled for more than 70 years. On the other hand at the regional level if we see many of the regional parties have emerged such as INLD, JJP in Haryana, Trinamool congress in West Bengal, SP,BSP in Uttar Pradesh, RJD,JDU in Bihar, AAP in Delhi. These parties have a strong root in their region and often play a major role in regional development. 

The alliance had also played a major role in forming the power at present two alliances exist one of the BJP government that is the National Democratic Alliance and the other is the alliance of the INC government that is the I.N.D.I.Alliance. Both the alliances have played a major role in the 2024 general election in forming the power leaving the INDI alliance as the stronger opposition.

At last the politics based on religion, caste and region have also played a great role in reformulating political power. The BJP successfully works on the agenda of Hindu majority while the opposition parties work on the dalits and other minorities.

On the other hand largely the criticism is made on the topic of voting frauds, electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the fairness of the elections which is still a serious topic. 

As we have seen the role electoral politics plays in reformulating power in India which is both criticized as well as praised. According to my view in a vast country such as India, the very significant as well as the complex process of electoral politics takes place very beautifully which is shaped by the country's large population. It is both a challenging as well as fascinating system. We see that the country has maintained regular elections, democracy, and growing participation of voters since independence which is a matter of praise.

On the other side the electoral politics of India face many challenges which needs serious attention to which are:

Corruption- the elections become expensive as many of the political campaigning relies on unaccounted money and their transactions are unknown to the people. Many a times these money comes from the most of the illegal sources which is the matter of concern 

The second point is Identity based politics where the politicians make their issue related to a particular caste or religion and forget the topic of development and good governance. The political parties need to prioritise the development of every social group rather than any one of them.

Thirdly the basis of the development of the political parties are mainly the short term plan rather than the long term plans. The political parties are mainly focused on winning the elections rather than actually developing the social groups or country.

Despite the challenges due to increase in the technology there is the growing awareness among the youth which is highly impressive. With electoral reforms such as regulation on media, improved transparency, stronger institutions the things will become much better. 

After knowing the whole system of electoral politics of India there are some positive sides of the whole process as well as some of the negative sides or the challenges. We can't conclude anything from seeing these challenges and can’t say that Indian elections are not democratic. And if we conclude the electoral politics of India with the other countries then we get to know that our process of elections is far better than the other countries. Yes there are some of the reforms which are absolutely necessary in the electoral politics of India and also need for some of the strict laws to deal with corruption, money power and EVM related issues.

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