Read these cartoons carefully and write if they are close to reality also about the relationship between the voters and political leaders.
Important Questions on Electoral Politics
Why is the boundary of the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency not the same as the district boundary of Gulbarga (Kalaburagi)? How many Assembly Constituencies are there in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha Constituency?
Like in panchayats, should we not have at least one-third of seats in the parliament and assemblies reserved for women?
See the map below and answer the following questions.
(a) Which states have more than 30 Lok Sabha constituencies?
(b) Why do some states have so many constituencies?
(c) Why are some constituencies small in the area while others are very big?
(d) Are the constituencies reserved for the SCs and STs evenly spread all over the entire country or are there more in some areas?
Why are the candidates required to give a detailed statement of their property?
In , a total of 8 candidates contested elections in that constituency. The total eligible voters were lakhs. Of these lakh voters had cast their votes. The candidate of the Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge secured about lakh votes. This was per cent 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 LOK SABHA, 2014 | |||
| CANDIDATE | PARTY | VOTES POLLED | % OF VOTES |
| D.G. Sagar | JD(S) | 15690 | 1.57 |
| Mallikarjun Kharge | INC | 507193 | 50.82 |
| Danni Mahadev B. | BSP | 11428 | 1.14 |
| Revunalk Belamagi | BJP | 432460 | 43.33 |
| B.T Lalitha Naik | AAAP | 9074 | 0.91 |
| S.M. Sharma | SUCI | 4943 | 0.50 |
| Shankar Jadhav | BHPP | 2877 | 0.29 |
| Ramu | IND | 4085 | 0.41 |
| None of the Above | NOTA | 9888 | 0.99 |
a)What is the percentage of voters who had actually cast their votes?
b)To win an election is it necessary for a person to secure more than half the votes polled?
Why are party agents present in the polling booth and the counting centre?
Identify the fair and the unfair electoral practices among the following:
a) A minister flags off a new train in his constituency a week before polling day.
b) A candidate promises that she will get a new train for her constituency if she is elected.
c) Supporters of a candidate take the voters to a temple and make them take an oath that they will vote for him.
d) The supporters of a candidate distribute blankets in slums in return for a promise for vote.
Why does the Election Commission have so much power? Is this good for democracy?
