Electoral Politics..........Part III

Q6.What is meant by reserved constituency? Why the Constitution makers, feel the need of it in India? 

1. Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST]. 
2. In a SC and ST reserved constituency only someone who belongs to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes can contest elections. 
3. In the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes.
4. This number is in proportion to their share in the total population.
5. Thus the reserved seats for SC and ST do not take away the legitimate share of any other social group.
6. This system of reservation was extended to other weaker sections at the district and local level. 
7. In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well.
8. The proportion of seats reserved varies from state to state. 
9. Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates. 

1. As our Constitution entitles every citizen to elect her/his representative and to be elected as a representative. 
2. Therefore Constitution makers were worried that in an open electoral competition, certain weaker sections may not stand a good chance to get elected to the Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies.  
3. They may not have the required resources,education and contacts to contest and win elections against others. 
4. Those who are influential and resourceful may prevent them from winning elections. 
5. If that happens, our Parliament and Assemblies would be deprived of the voice of a significant section of our population. 
6. That would make our democracy less representative and less democratic.
7. Thus makers of our Constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections of society.

Q7. What is Voters’ list?

1. In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote
   is prepared before the election and given to everyone. 
2. This list is officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters’ List.
3. This is an important step as it fulfills the first condition of a democratic election where every one should get an equal opportunity to choose representatives.
4. It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on the voters’ list.
5. A complete revision of the list takes place every five years to ensure that it remains up to date.