Election Types in India - Know in Detail!

The 2019 Indian General Election will be held in 7 phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May
2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. What are the types of Elections in India and what
is their importance? Read this article to know in detail about Election Commission of
India (EC), General Elections, Assembly Polls, State Legislature elections, Presidential
Elections, Plebiscite, Referendum, Local Body Elections etc.

Election Types in India & the World

Elections are used as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative

democracies. India is a Federal Parliamentary Democratic Republic in which the
honorable President is the head of the country and the honorable Prime Minister is the
head of the Government. Elections determine the credibility of candidates in India to
represent specific political parties or offices. In India, Elections are conducted
for Members of the Parliament in Lok Sabha, Members of State Legislative
Assemblies, Members of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha, and for Members in Local
Panchayat or city corporation council.

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Election Types in India

There are 4 types of Elections that are being conducted in the Republic of India. These
include General Elections (Lok sabha), State Assembly Elections, Rajya sabha Elections
(upper House) and Local Body Elections. Let's discuss these in detail now.

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1) General Elections (Lok sabha)

• Members of Lok Sabha (House of the People) or the lower house of India's
Parliament are elected directly by voting. The candidate is chosen from a set of
candidates who participate for elections in their respective constituencies.
• Every adult citizen of India can vote from their concerned constituency.
• Candidates who win the Lok Sabha elections are called 'Member of Parliament'
and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President
on the advice of the council of ministers.
• This election takes place once in 5 years to elect 543 members for the Parliament
(Lower house).
• A party needs 272 MPs to hold a claim to form the Central Government.
• Leader of the party/alliance takes oath as the Prime Minister.

2) State Assembly Elections

• Members of State Legislative Assemblies are elected directly by voting. These are
elected from a set of candidates who participate in their respective constituencies.
• Every adult citizen of India can vote from their concerned constituency.
• Candidates who win the State Legislative Assemblies Elections are called
'Member of Legislative Assembly'.
• The Elected Candidates hold their seats for five years or until the body is
dissolved by the Governor.
• Total strength of each assembly depends on each State, mostly based on size and
population.
• The leader of the majority party/alliance takes oath as Chief Minister of the State.

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3) Rajya Sabha Elections (Upper House)

• Candidates for Rajya Sabha (also known as the Council of States) or the upper
house of India's Parliament are not elected directly by the citizens.
• The members of Rajya Sabha are elected by those candidates who have already
won the Lok Sabha elections or who were nominated by the President of India at
his discretion.
• Each member of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha get a tenure of six years but one
third of the members change every two years.
• Rajya Sabha acts as a second level review body during the procedure of
converting a bill into an act.
• The Constitution of India however places some restrictions on the Rajya Sabha
which makes the Lok Sabha more powerful in certain areas.

4) Local Body Elections

• For Local Body Elections, representatives are directly elected by the concerned
people for a smaller geographical area.
• The different types of local bodies include Corporations, Municipalities,
Panchayats, etc.

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Election Types in India - Referendums & Plebiscites

“A referendum can be called a plebiscite or ballot question in which the

electorate is given
the choice of accepting or rejecting a certain proposal. Amendments to

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 the Constitution,
adopting a new Constitution, recalling elected persons, and more like
this are examples of
a referendum. Referendums can be called direct democracy where the
society has
a direct role in the particular proposals.”

• By and large, a Referendum or Plebiscite is a vote on a question.

• In this system of voting, the electorate is given a question and they are asked to
vote.
• The winning option is then set as the public policy.
• In such elections, no delegates or officials are elected. Referendums and
Plebiscites are rare and are generally conducted on the very divisive issue. For
example, Kashmir Issue, Separation of Catalonia, BREXIT etc.

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