Election and Representation — NCERT Solutions

The incorrect statements and corrections are:

• a. Incorrect. FPTP system is not followed for all the elections in India. It is followed for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, while PR is used in some indirect elections.
• c. Incorrect. The President of India can remove an Election Commissioner; the CEC has special protection, but Election Commissioners can be removed by the President.
• d. Incorrect. Appointment of more than one Election Commissioner is not mandatory. The Election Commission may be single-member or multi-member.

Statement b is correct.

To improve the number of women members in legislatures, these measures can be suggested:

• Provide reservation of at least one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
• Encourage political parties to give more tickets to women candidates.
• Make party selection and nomination processes more transparent and democratic.
• Create greater public awareness so that women can participate more actively in politics.
• Strengthen support for women’s leadership at local, State, and national levels.

The chapter notes that reservation for women has already been introduced in rural and urban local bodies, and a similar provision for legislatures has been made through the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act, 2023).

• a. People should clearly know who is their representative so that they can hold him or her personally accountable. → FPTP
• b. Small linguistic minorities spread all over the country should get fair representation. → PR
• c. There should be no discrepancy between votes and seats for different parties. → PR
• d. People should be able to elect a good candidate even if they do not like his or her political party. → FPTP

A balanced view is that a former Chief Election Commissioner should be allowed to join a political party and contest elections as an independent citizen, because every citizen has political rights. However, this can also raise doubts about the impartiality and neutrality of the Election Commission while in office, so many people feel safeguards are needed.

I would lean toward the view that the person’s right as a citizen should be respected, but the issue shows why the Election Commission must remain visibly neutral and trusted by all parties.

I do not fully agree that India is ready to shift completely from FPTP to Proportional Representation.

Reasons:

• The chapter says FPTP is simple and familiar to ordinary voters.
• It gives voters a clear choice and creates a direct link between voters and their representative.
• It helps in forming a stable government, which is important in a parliamentary system.
• It is more suitable for a large and diverse country like India.

At the same time, PR has advantages because it reflects votes more proportionately. But the chapter suggests that FPTP has worked well in India and has helped maintain stability and accountability. So a complete shift to PR is not clearly justified.