Election and Representation

Decisions taken by the Gram Sabha resemble a direct democracy most closely, because citizens themselves take part directly in decision-making.

The Election Commission prepares electoral rolls, sets up the election schedule, implements the model code of conduct, and supervises elections in many cases. It does not nominate candidates. It also does not supervise Panchayat and Municipal elections; those are under the State Election Commission.

The common feature is universal adult franchise: in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections, the voters are eligible adult citizens or their elected representatives, and the Constitution upholds the principle of equal voting rights in the system. Among the given choices, the one that fits the constitutional method of election best is that every citizen above 18 is an eligible voter.

In the First Past the Post (FPTP) system, the candidate who gets more votes than any other candidate in the constituency is declared elected. The winner need not get more than 50% of the votes.

In the system of reserved constituencies, all voters in a constituency can vote, but only candidates belonging to a particular reserved community or social section can contest from that seat. In the separate electorate system, only voters belonging to that community could vote for that community’s representative.

The Constitution makers rejected separate electorates because they felt it would divide society and weaken national unity. They preferred reservation of constituencies because it gives representation to disadvantaged groups without separating voters on community lines. This keeps the electorate common while still ensuring fair representation.