Electoral Politics

Q1. 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.

Ans. (a) India has the largest number of voters in the world.

Q2. Which party had been ruling Haryana since 1982? 

Ans. The Congress party had been ruling Haryana since 1982.

Q3. What are the members of state assembly called?

Ans. They are referred to as Members of Legislative Assembly or MLAs.

Q4. Who appoints the Chief Election Commissioner of India?

Ans. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India.

Q5. When does the term of all the elected representatives come to an end? 

Ans. After five years the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end.

Q6. Where is polling booth located on Election Day?

Ans. Polling booth is situated usually in a local school or a government office.

Q7. Who is the head of election commission?

Ans. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is the head of election commission.

Q8. Into how many constituencies is the country divided for Lok Sabha elections?

Ans. For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies.

Q9. 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.

Ans. c Elections enable people to evaluate the performance of the judiciary.

Q10. 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?

Ans. Blacks and Hispanics should be given reservation in the US Congress as per their percentage in the US population.

Q11. What is the principle of universal adult franchise?

Ans. In practice it means that everyone should have one vote and each vote should have equal value.

Q12. What do you understand by party ticket?

Ans. Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and support. Party’s nomination is often called party ‘ticket’.

Q13. Who can be denied the right to vote?

Or

What kind of people can be denied to vote in India?

Ans. Some criminals and persons with unsound mind can be denied the right to vote, but only in rare situations.

Q14. What was the slogan given by the Janata Party in the Lok Sabha election 1977?

Ans. Save Democracy was the slogan given by Janata Party in the next Lok Sabha election held in 1977.

Q15. Which slogan was used by the left front in West Bengal Assembly election held in 1977?

Ans. The Left Front used the slogan of Land to the Tiller in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 1977.

Q16. How does a person file nomination paper?

Ans. Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’.

Q17. What is constituency? 

Ans. Constituency refers to voters in a geographical area who elect a representative to the legislative bodies.

Q18. What is an electronic voting machine?

Ans. Electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. 

Q19. How many seats are reserved for SC and ST in Lok Sabha?

Ans. Currently in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes (as on 1 September 2012).

Q20. How many seats are reserved for women in the local bodies in India?

Ans. One-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates.

Q21. Who vote in large proportion in India?

Or

Which section of the Indian population turnout in elections?

Ans. In India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections.

Q22. What is a ballot paper?

Ans. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed.

Q23. What do you understand code of conduct?

Ans. Code of conduct is a set of norms and guidelines to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates during election time.

Q24. What is the main purpose of election?

Ans. The main purpose of election is to give people a chance to choose the representatives, the government and the policies they prefer.