B.A. (Hons.

) Political Science Semester-II

CORE COURSE
Paper-4 : Political Process in India
Study Material : Unit I-VI

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

Editor : Prof. Tapan Biswal

Department of Political Science
 Graduate Course
Paper-4 : Political Process in India
Contents
Unit-I : Political Parties and the Party System Pg. No.
Lesson-1 : National Parties and State Parties Madhusudan 01
Lesson-2 : Trends in the Party System: From the Congress Dr. Zinat Ara 12
System to Multi Party Coalitions
Unit-II : Elections and Electoral Processes
Lesson-1 : Electoral Process, Representation and Social
Determinants of Voting Behaviour Dr. Sanchita Ray 23
Lesson-2(a) : The Election Commission Abhay Kumar 38
(b) : Electoral Reforms Abhay Kumar 56
Unit-III : Religion and Politics
Lesson-1(a) : Debates on Secularism in India Kuver Pranjal Singh 66
Unit-IV : Caste and Politics
Lesson-1 : Caste in Politics and the Politicisation of Caste Vishal Kumar Gupta 76
Lesson-2 : Affirmative Action in India: Intersectionality Smita Agarwal 89
of Caste, Class and Gender
Unit-V : Tribes and Politics
Lesson-1 : Policies and Challenges: Fifth and Sixth Schedules; Narender Kumar/ 103
Forest Rights Act Jaya Kumari
Lesson-2 : Scheduled Tribe/Tribal Development and Displacement
Narender Kumar, Translated by: Kajal 112
Unit-VI : The Changing Nature of the Indian State
Lesson- (a) : Developmental and Welfare Dimensions Mr. Saint Paul Infimate 122
(b) : Coercive Dimensions Mr. Saint Paul Infimate 133

Edited by:
Prof. Tapan Biswal

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 Unit-I : Political Parties and the Party System
Lesson-1

National Parties and State Parties

Evolution of Party System: Pre Independence Era

The growth and emergence of political parties are closely related with parliamentary
democracy and electoral system. Ernest Barker considered the British system as ‘mother of
parties’ and hence, mother of all parliamentary system of the world. Political parties are
found in the majority of countries and most political system. Parties may be authoritarian or
democratic, they may seek power through elections or through revolution by the late 1950s,
some 80 percent of world’s states were ruled by political parties.
According to the argument put by Rajni Kothari the party system of India has evolved from a
political centre. The institutional manifestation of this centre was Indian national congress
established on 29 December 1885 in Bombay by A O Hume. It was congress which formed
the indigenous base for political system in the country. After the Gaya session of 1922 Swaraj
party was formed by C R Das and others over issue of sudden withdrawal of the Non
Cooperation Movement and issue of participation in the provincial assemblies. In 1934
formation of congress socialist party group in by Acharya Naryan and other leaders opposed
the Gandhi a strategy led to evolution of congress as multi stream and multi ideology party.
The formation of communist party if India in 1920 by MN Roy and this party did not play
significant role in the freedom movement. The creation of the All India Forward Bloc in
1939, by Subhash Chandra Bose, was his protest against the undemocratic politics of
congress party. The INC became the foundation for the emergence of party system in India.
The formation of Muslim League in 1906, by Syed Ahmed Khan remained part of the pre
independence Indian party system.
Introduction
Political party a group of persons organized to acquire political power. Political parties
originated in their modern form in Europe and the United states in the 19th century. Edmund
Bark defines “A political party is a body of men united for promoting by their joint
endeavours the national interest upon some political principle in which they agreed”. Political
parties were significant institutions before independence. Political party is a means which the
people can speak to the government and a say in the governance of any country. So every
political party must have three key components: Leaders, Active members, followers. India
has a multiparty system which is unique in the world. In Indian political system one can find
the rightist, centrist, leftist, regional, even local political parties to deal with the political
issues. When congress was in power for a long time, it was observed as the era of one party
dominance by Morris Jones or the congress system as viewed by the Rajni Kothari.

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Today, under democracy we observe the festival of elections in India after the term of every
five year at central and state level and also at the local level but this journey of a stable
electoral system and a democracy has a long process of evolution; Indian politics has passed
different phases and reached to become a stable democracy. The Congress system emerged
after the country had attained independence. From 1947 to 1967 and from 1971 to 1977 as
well as from 1980 to 1989, this system was at the centre of Indian Politics, spanning three
distinct stages in its post-independence development. The Congress, which functioned as
broad-based nationalist movement before independence, transformed itself into the dominant
political party of the nation. That is why the observers of Indian politics like Morris Jones
described the Indian Party system as a system of “one party dominance”. While Rajni Kothari
went to the extent of calling “One Party Dominance System” or “The Congress System”.
Political parties play a major role in any democracy, as they are the ones forming the
government and working for the welfare of the people, the party system in India first came
with the formation of Indian national congress by A.O Hume in 1885, it was formed under
the Pressure cooker theory where British felt that some recognition to Indians will lead to less
revolutions by the Indians therefore congress was formed, after the end of colonial rule in
1947 the first general elections of Lok Sabha were held from- 25 October 1951 to 21
February 1952, making Indian national congress victorious, it was a land slide victory by
congress this was because of major participation of INC in the freedom struggle of India and
also the Gandhi factor, many other charismatic leaders were part of INC since its formation.
Now here the biggest question that what do we understand by the left wing and the right wing
parties, the difference is of ideology and goals, in general notion is that right wing focuses on
development and bringing FDI’s (foreign direct investment) aggressively, whereas the focus
of left wing is on the roots focusing on the poor section of the society and minority more.
These are the major players when we talk about the government at the centre as India has a
quasi-federal structure, the division of power is among the centre and the states, further we
see the decentralisation (73rd and 74th amendments) forming local governments at the village
as well as town level. The NDA and UPA coalition has been the major two candidates in the
centre government. In the 1990’s there was a different kind of set up emerged in the national
and state level political parties which is called as Coalition Party system which is prevalent in
2014 national elections (coalition among NDA members such as Shiv Sena, BJP, RPI, LJP
etc) and many state level elections such as Maharashtra (coalition between Shiv Sena and
BJP), J&K (coalition between PDP and BJP). The political parties are not democratically
elected and represented with the system of Indian politics.
Political parties represent different sections among the Indian society and regions and their
core values play a major role in the politics of India.

Constitution and Legal Provision of Political Parties

 The tenth schedule of the constitution added by the constitution fifty second amendment
act 1985 deals with the disqualification of a person for being a member of either house of

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 parliament or the legislative assembly or legislative Council of a state on ground of
defection.
 According to Article 29A(1) and (2) of the representation people act 1951 any association
or body of individuals of India calling itself a political party need to make an application
to the Election commission for its registration as a political party.
 Every political party in India has to register with the election commission. The election
commission registers political parties for the purpose of elections and grants them
recognition as national or state parties on the basis of their poll performance.
The development of Indian party system according to Yogendra Yadav
 Single party dominance (1947-67) congress party dominated nationally and the state
level. In this time congress party dominance at the centre and state level.
 Congress opposition system (1967-93) congress remained the most prominent party at
national level but faced competition at the state level. After the 1967 rise of many
regional or state party playing important role in Indian politics. In some states like Kerala
and other states state party formed the government.
 Multiparty system onwards 1993 congress no longer at the national level and growth of
regional parties. After the 1989 regional parties playing important role in formation of
government in the centre.
Characteristics of Indian party system
 After 1990 rise of many regional parties in and played very important role in formed
government at the national and state level.
 Rise of effective opposition parties.
 Existence of many regional and non-recognised parties.
 India has been a multi-party system.
 Large numbers of regional political parties.
 Power sharing between the national and regional political parties, from 11thloksabha
election a coalition and consisting of some regional parties and some national parties has
been ruling at the centre.
 Factionalism and group are present in the most of the political parties.
 Personality cult dominates party politics in India.
 Rise of the proper functioning of federalism
Function of a political party
 A political party contest elections by putting up candidates.
 In countries like the USA, the candidates are selected by members and supporters of
party.

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 On the other hand, in countries like India, the candidates are chosen by top party leaders.
 Every party has different policies and programmes. Voters makes a choice in according
with the policies and programmes liked by them.
 Political parties shape public opinion. With the help of the pressure group, the parties
launch movements for solving problems faced by the people.
 Political parties play a decisive role in making law for the country. As most of the
parliamentarians belong to political parties, so a political party has direct say in law-making
for the country.
 Formation of Government: Political parties form and run governments. The executive body is
formed by people from the ruling party.
 Political parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes
implemented by governments. Parties need to be responsive to people’s needs and demands.
 Political parties represent the interest of people of the country and specific regions. They
represent groups as well as individuals.
 To mobilise the people to participate in the decision making and party programmes.
 Critically evaluate the policies and programmes of the other parties.
 Political parties are not only expected to come up with goals but also to modify them with
changing demands and circumstances.
Regional Parties and Coalition Politics
The presence of a number of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, and caste within the society
responsible for the origin of regional parties. In India regional parties are based on the
identity, statehood, and autonomy. Regional parties based on regional-ethnic character
include the TDP in Andhra Pradesh, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and the All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK) in Tamil Nadu, Asom Gana Parsihad
(AGP) in Assam and the Akali Dal in Punjab. For example the Akali Dal represents only the
Sikhs and the AGP represents caste Hindu Assamese. The regional parties formed
governments in several states and tried to give concrete shape to their policies and
programmes. Some of the regional parties which formed governments in various state include
DMK and AIADMK in Tamilnadu; National conference in Jammu Kashmir, Telgu Desam in
Andhra Pradesh, Asom Gana Parishad in Assam, INLD in Haryana.
The presence of a number of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and caste groups within the Indian
society is responsible for the origin and growth of regional parties. In India regional parties
are based on themes like-Identity, statehood, Autonomy and development. Autonomy
consists of demanding greater powers to the states like national conference in Jammu and
Kashmir. Statehood consists of fighting for an independent state within the country like
Telangana Rastra Samiti demanded a separate state of Telangana. Identity consists of fighting
for recognition of cultural rights of a group like the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra or the DMK
fighting for the identity of Dalits. Evolution of the regional political parties over the last four

4
decades the number and strength of regional parties has expanded. Regional political parties
have emerged to fulfil regional aspirations.
Further, talking about different states and region then we can see several parties having
monopoly in particular regions this party dominate a particular state or region and hold seats
and power in state assemblies, some of the example of such party are:
1. Biju Janata Dal – Odisha, BJD has been regional player in the state of Odisha it was
formed in 1997 and as of today (November 2019) Naveen Pataki belonging to the BJD,
is serving his 5th term as chief minister of Odisha.
2. Another strong example of regional politics is the Jammu Kashmir PDP; JKPDP has
been playing a strong role in the region of Jammu and Kashmir before article 370 was
scrapped.
3. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena popular as Shiv Sena has been major regional dominant
party in the state of Maharashtra.
4. Shiromani Akali Dal strong base in Punjab state and emerged as a single largest party in
1971and 1977.
Different Party Systems
One party system
In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government, China. These
are called one-party systems. It is not considered democratic since a democratic system must
allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing
parties to come to power. The congress government was famous for its umbrella system as
every religion and region was connected by the party many scholars. The political scene in
India was dominated for a long period by the congress. Rajni Kothari, call the Indian party
system as ‘one party dominance system’ or the ‘congress system’.
The change in trend can be seen during the year 1977 when Janata Party came in power at the
centre. This phase can also be called as the two party phase , which broke this winning
election chain of the Indian national congress but not for a longer span as Janata Party itself
failed as a party because of internal issues within the party . This failure granted an
opportunity to congress and Indian national congress came back to power, but later congress
party also became prey to internal conflicts under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. There was
split among the congress. In India after independence congress was dominant party at the
national and states level till 1967.
Two-Party Systems
In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Such a party system is
called two-party system. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of
a two-party system. A two party system is a party system where two major political parties
dominate the political landscape. A two party system exists in a state where there are either only

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two very popular political parties or there are two main political parties along with several other
minor less influential political parties. Each of the two main parties gets the opportunity to rule
from time to time. In a state with two party systems, two political parties dominate in USA, UK,
Belgium, and Ireland. The two party systems present voters a simple choice.
Multi-party System
If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of
coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multi-party
system. Thus in India, we have a multi-party system. After the 1996 general elections, no single
party has been able to secure even a simple majority. The multi-party system is apparently very
messy and it often leads to political instability. In India after 1989 multi-party coalition model
has emerged at the national level. In multi-party system the party has several equally popular
political parties. A multi-party system means the existence of several popular political parties
three or more than three political parties in the political process. India, Switzerland, Japan, Italy,
France examples of multi-party system. The congress, BJP, CPI, BSP, NCP, BJD, DMK, SP
and other political parties have been played important role in Indian politics. In India the multi-
party system has been responsible for the emergence of coalition politics. The diverse
geographical and cultural concerns, India has the growth of the multiparty system. Over a period
of time, national and regional political parties became the vital constituents of the world largest
democracy.
Challenges of political parties
 We have seen how crucial political parties are for the working of democracy. All over the
world people express strong dissatisfaction with the failure of political parties performs their
function.
 The main challenge is lack of internal democracy within parties, in India there is a tendency
in political party’s concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.
 Most political parties do not practice open and transparent procedures for their functioning.
 The major challenge is about the growing role of money and muscle power in parties,
especially during elections.
 The main challenge is that very often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the
voters.
 Dynastic succession leads to the accumulation of power in some hands (especially family
members) which further results in unqualified members to misuse power.

Political Parties in India

National Parties
National parties have a nationwide broad base structure and they function on the concept of
popular appeal. After independence congress was the party that established its dominance in

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the country leading to its rule to be termed as the congress system or one party dominance.
National parties mostly are the big umbrella under which all communities; all interest and
ideologies get a place. Recent trend shows that when a national party doesn’t achieve
majority in the Lok Sabha then they form a coalition government by partnering with the
regional parties. But coalition government can be seen obstructing the process of decision
making. Formation of coalition government reflects transformation in the Indian politics
away from the national parties towards smaller more narrowly based regional parties.
 A registered party is taken in as a National Party only when it fulfils any of the
following conditions:
• If the party wins 2% of Lok Sabha seats from at least three different states in India.
• The party is recognized as a state party in four or more states in India.
• If the party polls 6% of votes in 4 states in addition to four seats in the Lok Sabha, at the
general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly.
 National party has influence in not limited states but in the whole country and it deals with
the national interest and not some regional one.
 When a national party gains majority in the Lok Sabha it runs the government at the centre
and holds all the crucial matters of national importance.
 We have the following seven National Parties in India:
1. Indian National Congress (INC)– It was founded in 1885 during the colonial rule.
INC stands for the ideology of social democracy, democratic socialism, liberalism,
social liberalism, secularism, progressivism, Indian nationalism and civic nationalism.
This party once dominated the Indian political scenario. It holds centre-left political
position. From 2004-2014 it had a coalition with several regional parties under the
name of United Progressive Alliance.
2. Communist Party of India (CPI)– It is the oldest communist political party in India.
This party broke into two when CPI (Marxist) in 1964. It stands for the ideology of
communism, Marxist- Leninism, socialism and secularism. It maintains left-wing
political position.
3. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)– It is one of the two major political parties in India,
along with the INC. This is a right wing party and presently holds country’s largest
representation. It stands for the ideology of conservatism, integral humanism,
Hindutva, Hindu nationalism, cultural nationalism. BJP also had alliance named
NDA.
4. Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)– This party adheres to the Marxist-
Leninist philosophy and was formed in 1964 after its split from communist party of
India. Apart from the Marxist-Leninist ideology it reflects the ideas of communism,
anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism. It holds left-wing political position.

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 5. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)–This party was formed to represent the Bahujan the
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes along with the religious
minorities. It was founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984. It professes social equality, social
justice and self respect. Political position of this party is centre-left.
6. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)–It is one of the national parties in India and it is a
split from Indian National Congress. It stands for the ideology of secularism,
liberalism, progressivism, civic nationalism, social justice and federalism. It holds
centre-left political position.
7. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)–After the 2019 general election it emerged
as the fifth largest party in the Lok Sabha. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee. It
adheres to the ideas of democratic socialism, left-wing populism and secularism. Its
political position is that of being Centre-left.
State Party or Regional Parties in India
Regional parties propagates the ideology of regionalism or regional pride and party that are
able to get support in only one state are also the part of the state party. The presence of a
number of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious and caste groups within the Indian society is
greatly responsible for the origin and growth of state parties and they are commonly called
regional parties. Internal conflicts of the big national parties have also led to the rise of
regional parties. In India regional parties are based on themes like-autonomy, statehood,
identity, development and sometimes regional parties create cultural specificities for electoral
gains. Over the last four decades the number and strength of regional parties have increased
and this has made India politically more diverse. Regional parties are more inclined towards
the fulfilment of regional interest in the area they are active in order safeguard the interest of
that region which was not properly addressed. They have been filling the vacuum for
protecting minorities. Many times asserting the regional interest leads to violence and chaos.
But regional parties are also responsible for bringing out the true federal feature and have
prevented the authoritarian intentions of the single party dominance. Regional parties have
been seen opposing any move of the central government which according to them were
considered to be harming the interest of their people. Regional parties not only promote their
regional interests but also promote their culture and traditions. In rise of the regional or
multiparty system the regional political parties in terms of votes and the elected members has
increased. The percentage share of votes of the national parties is on the decline. Their share
of votes was around 78 percent in the 1984 general elections which declined to 64 percent in
the 2009 general elections. And the share of regional parties increased from 12 percent to 31
percent during the same period. Further the share of the national political parties in the
elected members of parliament has decreased from 85 percent to 69 percent and that of the
regional parties increased from 12 percent to 29 percent in 1984 and 2009 respectively.
Many times activities of regional parties lead to the stalling of the development activities of
the centre. Regional parties are also seen dividing the people on the lines of language, culture
and tradition etc.
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 To be called as a State Political Party, a political party needs to fulfill any of the following
conditions:
 The political party needs to win a minimum of 3% of the total number of seats in the
legislative assembly.
 For every 25 seats in the Lok Sabha, the political party must win at least one seat.
Alternatively, it needs to win any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
 The political party should win at least 6% of the total valid votes that are polled during
the general election towards the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly. And, in
addition, it should win at least one Lok Sabha seat and two Legislative Assembly seats
in that election.
 As per the liberalized criteria, if a political party fails to win a seat in the State general
elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State or the Lok Sabha, then, it needs to
secure 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the State. We have the following
some Regional Parties in India:
1. Aam Aadmi party (AAP)– It was formed as a result of the India against the
corruption movement. This party is currently ruling the national territory of the
country. It was founded in 2012 and promotes the ideas of anti-corruption,
participatory democracy, populism, soft nationalism with the political position of being
center-left. In Delhi AAP party played very important role in Indian politics.
2. AIADMK–The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is the regional political
party in the region of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It was founded in 1972 by M.G
Ramachandran. In Tamilnadu AIADMK and DMK played very important role in
south Indian states.
3. AIMIM–The All India Majlis-E-Ittehad-Ul-Muslimeen is an Islamic regional party
with a political base is Telagana. It was founded in 1927 and holds the ideology of
Islamism. It holds a right wing political position.
4. AGP–The Asom Gana Parishad is a state political party in Assam. It was formed after
the accord of 1985 in the same year.
5. BJD–Biju Janata Dal is a state political party in the state of Odisha and was founded in
1997. It professes the ideology of social democracy, liberalism, secularism and social
justice.
6. DMK– Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a political party in the state of Tamil Nadu
and U.T Puducherry. It stands for the ideology is democratic socialism, social
democracy, secularism, regionalism and social justice.
7. INLD–The Indian National Lok Dal is a party active in the state of Haryana and it was
founded in the year 1996. It stands for the ideas of social liberalism and regionalism.
On the political position this party holds a centre position.

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Is the rise of regional parties disturbing the political stability?
The question whether the rise of regional parties has undermined the national parties can be
ruled out as a myth because standing of regional parties in the election pattern has indicated
towards the stability of balance of power. Another myth that needs to be address here is that
if or not regional parties are ruling the region. Regional parties are far away from being
dominant as they might rule in the area or the state but national parties still come out ahead as
majority of people in India today lives in the state that is controlled by the national parties
like the congress or BJP. Another myth can be regarding the transformation of governance-
have the regional parties redefined governance? This can be answered by observing limited
institutionalisation of the most regional parties which calls in question their ability to
transform governance. The myth of regional parties growing influence on foreign policy also
needs to be pointed out here and can be termed as limited due to the requirement of centre’s
approval. The emergence of regional parties has changed the political scenario but it should
not be overstated here. Political parties and the party system in India have been influenced by
cultural diversity, ethnic, caste, community and religious pluralism.
Regional parties may point out the shortcomings of the national parties or come up with the
concerning issues but it cannot be said that they have undermined the popularity and
charisma of the national parties. Though regional parties have been successfully pointing out
the issues that central government have failed to put their attention at. After 1980s regional
parties playing very important role in formation of government at centre and state level. The
regional parties are parties whose main holds are in one certain state and participate in the
elections only within that state. In Tamil Nadu two main state parties are (AIADMK) and
(DMK). The origin of these parties is prior to India’s independence. The main ideology of
this party is Tamil national pride. Another one state party is Akali Dal and its main hold is in
Punjab and north India. This party is a state party but it is a religion oriented party whose
followers are the Sikhs.
Conclusion
Party system is one of the many factors of a healthy democratic process. It enables the people to
be represented to the government. In India political parties played very important role in Indian
politics. Between 1952 and 1967 the congress party dominated Indian politics both at the center
and state level. National and regional parties have shaped the ideas of people in many ways
which can be seen in the rise of people’s participation during elections. After 1980 rise of many
regional parties led to a dramatic change Indian politics and transformed the electoral politics.
India has a multi-party system which is observed as a unique process and experienced recent
developments such as in May 2014 BJP was claimed as the first single party majority in Lok
Sabha in three decades. We can see Indian politics was coalition politics between 1989-2014
following decades of congress party dominance at the national level. The modern era of
coalition politics has come development of the multi-party system. Indian politics was coalition
politics between 1989 and 2014, following decades of congress party congress party dominance
at the national level. Whereas in the two general elections of 2014 and 2019 saw a single party

10
on its own getting the full majority. Every political party has its own set of vision and ideologies,
which are often aligned with the needs and concerns of the state or region they belong to one
people choose them during the elections, they become legitimate rulers of the country. The party
has certain responsibilities which are the national and regional parties work together to become a
platform for common people to put forward their views. The main objectives of political parties
is the fulfil their promises during the elections. Political parties played very important role in
democratic country. The party system in India is an evolving one and it has been changing with
the changing time and is also giving rise to the success rate of participatory democracy. Growth
of regional parties during the late 1980s and early 1990s has not disturbed the balance of power
but has instead enhanced the stability in balance of power. The Election commission recognizes
seven national parties and 52 state parties. Also there are more than 1900 unrecognized political
parties at present. One of the significant features which we can see throughout all the national
parties is there lack of commitment to their ideology. The use of ideology in the public
statements by parties is no more than rhetoric. As mentioned by Partha Chatterjee every party in
Indian party system reluctantly or happily have endorsed the policies of neo liberalism. Even the
communist party of India (Marxist) which is regarded by many as the only party sticking to its
ideology has also its action supported the policies of capitalism.

References
1. Chakarbarty, Bidyut, Forging Power: Coalition Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
2. E. Sridharan, Coalition Strategies and the BJP’s Expansion, 1989-2014.
3. Rajni Kothari, ‘The Congress System in India’ Asian survey.
4. Parties and Party Politics in India, Zoya Hasan Oxford University Press.
5. Rajni Kothari, Continuity and Change in India’s Party System.
6. E. Sridharan “The Fragmentation of Indian Party System.”

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 Lesson-2

Trends in the Party System: From the Congress System to Multi Party
Coalitions
Dr. Zinat Ara
Associate Professor
S.P.M College, University of Delhi

Political party is a link between the people and the state. In fact, democracy is not
imaginable without Political involvement. So as an essential part of it, calls for citizen’s
participation in the political process. It means open expression of opinion on public
matters, making requirements without fear of repression, in the process of voting etc.
Political party is a necessary part of modern politics. The institutions and organizations
are required to represent the interests of the citizens. In a pluralistic political order
various organized groups work in the political process. The groups articulate their
interests and parties aggregate them. This interaction works in the form of political
parties. It mobilises and competes for popular support on the basis of the programme of
policies and action which requires a democratic climate and an electoral process.
The quality of democracy in any country depends on the character and conduct of
political parties. The role of political parties in a pluralistic society like India, becomes
important as it is a democratic welfare state. All political parties have a definite
ideological orientation which shapes their goals and programmes. In western societies,
political parties act as a representative instruments and a means of insuring peaceful and
regular alternation of government whereas in developing countries the parties work for
the invention of new ideas to connect the public and the leadership.
The origin of the party system in Indian politics is largely a result of historical
development with the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885. Here a well
organized national movement was allowed for independence. It had the mass base also.
After independence single member constituency or first past the post system was
adopted.(1) India has evolved a unique party system which combines the functions of
providing a stable framework of authority with a wide range framework for disputes and
resolution of conflicts at various levels of society. It is a competitive party system in
which the competitive parts play rather dissimilar roles. It consists of party of consensus
and parties of pressure.(2) The parties of pressure function on the margin. Inside the
margin are various factions within the party of consensus and outside the margin are
several opposition group and parties. They constantly pressurize and influence the ruling
party.
The working of representative government in India has maintained a parliamentary
system based on competitive and free elections. The role of party system has played a

12
crucial role for the survival of this. Various factors have affected the character of the
party system in India such as diversity of the cultures, character of the state, demand for
economic development etc.
Maurice Duverger aptly defined that electoral system leaves its impression on the
political lifetime of the country through political parties only. In Indian party system,
political party gains power through competitive electoral battle. In order to win election,
political parties, indulge in all sorts of activities like arousing passion in the name of
caste, region, religion etc. In fact, political parties have compromised with ideology so
as to capture power. Over the years, one finds a marked change within the way party
system operates in India.
Conducting free and fair election is the responsibility of the Election Commission and
due to its effort, electoral violence, misuse of money, bogus voting have been
substantially reduced. The oppressed and deprived section of our population who could
not even dare to travel to booth, are electing their representative boldly. However, it
might be too early to mention that in India, free and fair election has been totally
established.
There has been a change in the Indian party system which is moving from one party
dominance system to a multi-party competition, towards a sort of coalition government.
This is due to the rise of regional centres of power. However the role of Regional
political parties is very crucial within the national politics.
Initially, Congress party played a crucial role in shaping Indian party system but over a
period of time, is responsible for the decay that has set in Indian party system. The
‘catch- all’ character of the Congress party had helped it to win election, without forcing
any change in its policies or leadership pattern. It was supported by masses from diverse
background but as acknowledged by Yogendra Yadav, the party’s upper class- upper
caste leadership remained the legitimate representative of the masses.
Congress system was not open to the vulnerable section and this could be due to the
background of the political class. Charismatic personality of Nehru helped it to stay in
power to the top till the last decade of sixties. In 1967 serious challenge to Congress
dominance emerged and its hegemony as a dominant party was challenged. Its ability to
accommodate the dissent, got challenged forcing many groups to interrupt away.
When Mrs. Gandhi came in power and began facing challenge, so as to consolidate her
position she decided to centralize the powers. Mrs. Gandhi’s slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’
won her vote also as support. However, her sort of functioning and dependence on
‘Kitchen Cabinet’ alienated her from other party leaders. It laid to revolt by many
national leaders including regional leadership. Rajiv Gandhi’s appearance on the
political map of India was under extraordinary circumstances. It re-established one-
party dominance. However; his support base started dwindling once his name appeared
in Bofors deal.

13
Congress to post-Congress transformation was never a simple process. However, it led to
the establishment of coalition government. The emergence of NDA followed by UPA led
to the changed pattern of representation. Those regions/ communities which were feeling
deprived, their sentiment was taken by regional leaders to form regional parties. These
regional parties became so strong that they started playing deciding role in the formation
of central government.
The most important factor liable for the change in federal political arrangement is
nationalization of regional issues and regionalization of national issues. In post 1989 period
we observe an opposite trend towards regionalization of Indian politics which reflects the
representative character of Indian polity. This had helped in bringing those into the centre
stage of Indian politics who were left on the margins.
In fact, regional parties have mushroomed in Indian politics in large numbers in recent years.
However barring few states, they did not cause substantial change however many state
governments were replaced by national parties. However some regional governments just
like the one in Bihar and Orissa have shown the trail.
In India, party system has covered an extended journey from one-party dominance to
coalition government. And during this process democracy has further got consolidated.
Coalition governments are generally related to instability. Change is imminent in party
system and Indian democracy is also a part of this. However the concern is to save it from
the misuse for selfish purposes. The party system in India is exclusive in nature. It is been
characterised by one party dominant system with Congress occupying the Centre. It became
competitive both at the centre and at the states after 1967 general elections.
Emerging Trends
It is essential to understand the nature of the party system in democracy which has
deepened more in the last seventy years in India. Participation of weaker section has
increased manifold thereby consolidating democratic process. The pattern of
representation to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha reflects that each segment of the
population is getting represented.
After independence only educated rich class got the chance to be elected as people’s
representative. However, in recent years, the trend has changed. Now S.C., S.T. farmers
and women too, are getting chance to contest and win election. Political participation of
minorities, Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribes has increased. One-party dominance
and its ill-effects are things of the past. Regional parties are ruling in many states and
also a part of ruling alliance at the central government. Defection, President rule,
election related violence etc. became a rarity. Right to information, Right to education,
Panchayati Raj act have really empowered and enlightened the common public.
However it does not mean that each on change had positive impact only. If we minutely
analyse Indian electoral politics and party system, we notice some positive changes
along with some negative development. The vote bank politics has laid to the decline of

14
ethical values from our politics. Caste, region, and religion still play decisive role in
electoral politics.
The quality of democracy in any country depends on the character and conduct of the
political parties. For a successful and stable democracy there should be two major
political parties contending for power – one in the government and other in opposition
for the alternative.
Institutions which are considered essential for its successful functioning have declined
over the years. For instance, the electoral system, despite serious effort did not invent
any device to see the entry of anti- social elements in getting into elect and conduct of
the oral process which questions its legitimacy. Political parties still involve themselves
in immoral practices so as to win election which matches against the democratic
spirit. To get political power, they always make use of primordial loyalties like caste,
religion, region etc. The essential livelihood issues like unemployment, poverty
eradication and other such issues have gone to the backburner. Normally during
a healthy democratic setup, elections are contested on issues concerning problems
affecting people. However, in Indian democracy, it seems as an illusion. On the whole,
Indian democracy is passing through a transitional phase and therefore the pace of
change is extremely fast. On the one hand many issues are addressed, some new issues
have cropped up and a few old issues remain to be resolved. The necessity of the hour is
that divisive tendencies are closely monitored and evaluated and future andlong lasting
strategy should be devised to deal with the socio-economic problem then only we
might be ready to establish a successful, egalitarian republic. Finally, within the words
of eminent historian, Ramchandra Guha, Indian democracy to work inprogress and
thus we would need to wait and await new developments especially within the field of
party system and electoral politics in India.
The dynamics of the 2014 general election raised some important questions about the
contemporary Indian electoral politics.It was experiencing a paradigm shift marked by
less fragmentation, more popular participation and weaker electoral competition. There
was an increase in the number of political parties and candidates during this election.
“From the perspective of the vote shares won by the country’s main political parties,
not as much has changed as the news headlines might suggest,” wrote Adam Ziegfeld.(3)
An assessment by Rekha Diwakar, concluded that “although the Congress decline has
continued, and therefore the BJP has won many recent state assembly elections, it
is premature to conclude that the Indian party system has shifted to a BJP-dominated
one.”(4)
The debate is about whether India has left the age of multipolarity, fragmentation, and
coalitions behind in favour of a different, dominant-party system. Different political
scientists have their own views. Some scholars have pointed out that India was
witnessing the birth of a new party system. In the Journal of Democracy, E. Sridharan
wrote: “The results were dramatic, possibly even epochal. The electoral patterns of the

15
last quarter-century have undergone a sea change, and the world’s largest democracy
now has what appears to be a new party system headed by a newly dominant party.”(5)
Similarly, Pradeep Chhibber and Rahul Verma noted that with its historic victory, “the
BJP has clearly replaced the Congress as the system-defining party” and would likely
become the “focal point of electoral alignment and re-alignment” in India.(6) Finally,
some were unwilling to form strong claims in light of one data point. For example, Milan
Vaishnav and Danielle Smogard concluded their assessment of the 2014 results by
noting that if the trends persist, “India may well have closed the book on twenty-five
years of electoral politics and moved into a new era.”(7 ) On the same lines, Louise Tillin
remarked that the extant evidence is “somewhat equivocal as to whether the 2014
elections mark a departure in longerterm electoral patterns or the consolidation of a
new social bloc behind the BJP.”(8) The bulk of the increase has come from unrecognised
parties or smaller parties that have not met predetermined thresholds outlined by the
Election Commission to qualify for official recognition as either national or state party.
The reason behind the BJPs success in 2014 is due to its regional stronghold. Actually 75
percent of the BJP’s parliamentary tally in 2014 came from just eight states in the north,
west, and central regions of the country. (9) The big pro- BJP move was the result of
party’s effectiveness in mobilising its traditional urban middle class and upper caste
Other Backward Castes (OBC) Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Before the 2014 general election, the BJP ruled just five (of twenty-nine) states(10)—
below even its previous high of seven states (2012).(11) There is empirical support for
more unequivocal judgments for 2019 election results which come on the back of serious
political changes. Indeed, the available evidence points in one direction: 2014 wasnot an
aberration; it was instead a harbinger of a new era.(12) India does appear to
have ushered in a new, fourth party system—one that is premised on a different set of
political principles which shows a clear break for what came before. During
the 2019 election, the BJP did the unthinkable: the party clinched a second consecutive
majority in the Lok Sabha, a feat that was last accomplished by the Congress Party in
1980 and 1984. The competitiveness that has prevailed in the system in recent decades
means that in India’s first past the post electoral system, a small share of candidates are
winning elections with the support of a majority of voters in their constituencies was
1989. Since then it has become routine for members of parliament to win only with
minority support.
1952 To 1967: One-Party Dominance
The period between 1952 and 1967 inIndia’s party system is characterised by the
dominance of the Congress and the existence of smaller opposition parties for both at the
centre and the states. The social background of the Congress leadership and its important
role in the winning of the country’s independence played a key role in placing it in a
dominant position. Most account of the Congress party emphasize the role of Nehru in
the construction of a high modernist India where the state will be in charge of Nation-

16
Buildingand economic development. The appeal was to adhere on the ideas of Socialism,
Secularism Democracy and Federalism. The Indian national Congress (INC) was ruling
without coercion. Dominance by a single party coexisted with inter party competition.
Opposition parties had little hope of obtaining sizeable majority at the legislatures
inspite of the very fact that Congress didn't gain a majority of the votes. Its votes varied
from 49 to 40 percent. Within the Congress various groups with opposition parties
assumed the role of opposition, reflecting the ideologies and interests of other
parties. Therefore the conflicts were within the party.
The opposition party had little hope of preventing the Congress from sizeable majority in
the legislature despite the ruling party’s failure. This could be due to the inadequacies
of the opposite players on the political scene. While a raft of opposition parties keenly
contested elections, opposition forces were badly fragmented, which limited their ability
to mount a significant campaign to unseat the Congress. Instead, the foremost salient
political competition often occurred between factions within the Congress Party
representing different ideological viewpoints.(13) Thus within the Congress and not
between the Congress and the opposition parties that the major conflicts within Indian
politics occurred. According to Rajni Kothari, this phase was consisted of a party of
consensus and parties of pressure, where the latter functioned on the margin.(14)
1967 To 1977: Period of Dominant Party and Opposition at the State Level
The year 1967 had created a situation during which the congress dominance was
strikingly reduced. The fifth Lok Sabha elections marked the start of another phase of
Indian party system and continued till 1975. Despite the strong opposition the Congress
won the general elections of 1971. Although same year parliamentary and state assembly
elections were delinked.In this phase the central role of the Congress party persisted but
at the same time anti-Congress alliances also started emerging representing a
consolidation of the non-Congress space at the state level. There was a clear rise in
political competition and political cleavages resulting from social change and so the new
groups and classes incorporated into the political system. The dominant party model had
shown the way to differentiated structure of party competition. Then parties started
aligning to make coalition governments.
The imposition of Emergency in 1975 led the erosion of the popular support of the
Congress party, decline of the institutions and weakening of the party system by
suspending freedom of press and representing government. No one could criticise the
government. This leads to the concentration of extra-constitutional powers with the
centre. Thus this period marked the decline of the party system making them rely on
make shift electoral arrangements for the support.

17
1977-1989: Conflict between the Congress and Regional Parties
1977 Elections saw the defeat of the Congress and restoration of its rule in 1980. This
period showed the possibility of emergence of a two party system. But the possibility of
this got failed due to the disintegration of the Janata Party and dramatic reversal of the
Congress in the power. The return of the Congress was very different from the earlier
period. The initial stage marked respect for the opposition but this phase reflected
intolerance and exclusivist leaders with no sharing of power. There was distrust towards
opposition. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, an emotional support was
extended to Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress. Then various electoral majorities in a
fragmented party system emerged where national parties did not command widespread
support across all regions of the country.The new political situation after 1984
electionsshowed the dominance of Congress at the centre but not in most of the states.
1989-2004: Multi Party System and Beginning of Coalition Politics
The 1989 elections according to M.P. Singh had transformed the scene at the centre.(15)
With this the Indian party system has moved rapidly to a competitive multi party system.
It established a coalition government at the centre formally and secondly acquired a true
multi-party character. A new party configuration of polarised multi-party system had
come with more fragmentation, unstable coalition governments and weak administration.
The National Front coalition of 1989-90 was a different outcome. The spatially
compatible loose alliance put together by the National Front-BJP-Left however based on
ideological incompatibility. This had indicated once again the unsustainability of a broad
anti-Congress coalition which had not yet set aside the ideological extremes.
For the first time in 1991 elections no party came with majority in the Lok Sabha
nor could they form a coalition government. Moreover people were more aware of their
caste and class positions. Therefore the allegiance to parties representing their interests
rather stability was the priority. Vote share of the Congress was declined during
this election. Further marginalised social groups had started entering the political
sphere and utilising the democratic space provided by electoral politics. This might be
looked as a ‘second democratic upsurge’ from below(16) which was more coherently
represented by the United Front, the BSP,SP and RJD. With 1996 elections there was
significant growth and role of regional parties within the central politics which in
turn signified politicization of individuals living in remote areas. Caste had also played a
crucial role at this point. Success of BSP among Dalits consolidation of OBCs in Bihar
and UP, post-mandalisation leading to politics of reservation on caste basis and
growth of various sorts of caste associations mostly in north India showed a positive co-
relation with election outcome. In this election BJP emerged as the single largest party
with 162 seats and took the lead in government formation. The 1998 elections witnessed
three coalitions. There have been three contenders rather than two for power in 1991,
1996 1nd 1998 elections. Before 1991 the opposition parties had to figure together to

18
challenge the Congress party but after 1991 Congress was opposed even by BJP. This
situation continued till 1999 elections.
The formation of alliances and coalition governments at the National and State levels has
introduced a new phase in party competition and cooperation. The role of regional
political parties in coalition politics is dictated by two contradictory parameters. One is
accommodation and adjustment between coalition partners on ideological political and
electoral questions. The other is ‘realpolitik’ characterised by the efforts of the
partners to enhance their individual space within coalition.(17)
2004: Revival of Congress and Coalition Government
Congress Party had fulfilled the message of a single party dominance/coalition between
1952 and 1989. From 1952 to 1977, the Congress Party was controlling the power
in New Delhi without interruption. Although the Janata coalition ousted the Congress
following Indira Gandhi’s termination of a twenty-one-month period of Emergency Rule,
its period was short-lived. In 1980 the Congress Party was back in power in New
Delhi and it further improved its strength in the 1984 polls after Indira Gandhi’s
assassination. There have been shifts during this era at the state level, where the
Congress Party’s position post-1967 sharply declined, but the Congress hold on national
politics was more or less intact.
The 2004 elections gave an opportunity to all non-NDA political parties to evolve an
alternative political coalition led by Congress in the name of UPA (United Progressive
Alliance). The regional parties also had played a significant role. It appeared that any
party wishing to win a national mandate has to weave its way through the different states
and secure a verdict in each of these(18) .
End of single party or coalition rule was the result of 2004 elections. The results of this
election revealed that in states like Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal and UP the electorate
had many choices between the NDA, the Congress Alliance and others. In each case the
‘others’ had a great share of votes. It projected the likelihood of two alternative
coalitions- The Congress led UPA and the BJP led NDA.Thus disapproving bi-
polarhypothesis.(19) This change in the party system with a decline of the strong base,
increased representation of regional parties, regionalisation of all parties, continuous
increase in competition are some of the crucial factors in explaining the changed system
of government formation.
2014: Towards Stable Equilibrium
In 2014 India again had a single party majority after 1984 in the name of BJP that
belonged to the Indian National Congress eight elections ago. Although BJP had
majority on its own it headed for coalition with its pre-election allies. The Congress was
defeated and reduced to its lowest ever vote share. The big pro-BJP swing was the result
of party’s effectiveness in mobilising its traditional urban middle class and upper caste

19
base deep connection with other backward castes, Scheduled castes and Scheduled
Tribes. BJPs objective for future was to expand its base from the present as its majority
of 52% of Lok Sabha seats is very disproportionately based.
Despite the fragmentation and the creation of new regional political outfits, states have
witnessed a growing convergence around two parties or alliances. These alliances are
often fluid but their anchors remain fairly constant. So after a period of considerable
turmoil, Indian politics is reverting to a more stable equilibrium.
These trends reflect low levels of trust in opportunistic political cultures that have
reduced the time horizons of coalition partners engaged in multi-level political combats.
In such context parties that understand and seize the chances offered by coalition
building have some advantage. Those who make the system work are rewarded
while those who are unable to reconfigure it to their advantage are gradually
marginalised.(20)
While the struggle for power between castes and classes dominates political life in the
primary arena of state and panchayat politics in India, regional aspirations are significant
factors in the political calculations that parties make when they enter the secondary arena
which is more concerned with national policy cohesion and federal governance.(21)
However the last decade has recorded unending multiplication within the number of
political parties and fictionalization of the political space, the increase of regional/caste
based political parties that threaten to unleash fissiparous tendencies, end of ideology
based politics, decline in political morality, political corruption, and criminalisation of
politics. While urban middle class were busy bashing politics and politicians, the
democratic space provided by electoral politics was being used more deftly b y
marginalised social groups who voted not as individuals but as groups and more often
used their rights to reject very frequently. (22)
References
1) E. Sridharan, ‘The origins of the Electoral system: Rules, Representation and power
sharing in India’s Democracy”, in Zoya Hasan, E. Sridharan and R. Sudarshan,
(ed.), India’s living Constitution: Ideas, Practices, Controversies, New Delhi:
Permanent Black pp.344-69
2) Rajni Kothari, “The Congress system in India”, in Zoya Hasan (ed.) Parties and
party system in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012 p.40
3) Adam Ziegfeld, “India’s Election Isn’t as Historic as People Think,” Monkey Cage
(blog), Washington Post, May 16, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/
monkey-cage/wp/2014/05/16/indias-election-isnt-as-historic-as-people-think/?utm_
term=.3778a97ac5a5.
4) Rekha Diwakar, “Change and Continuity in Indian Politics and the Indian Party
System: Revisiting the Results of the 2014 Indian General Election,” Asian Journal

20
 of Comparative Politics 2, no. 4 (2017): 327–46. Another scholar, Oliver Heath,
wrote after 2014: “In terms of how durable this process of electoral change turns
out to be, the BJP has cause for both optimism and caution. Given the fluidity and
volatility of Indian elections at the constituency level, direct conversions are
unlikely to be particularly stable.” Oliver Heath, “The BJP’s Return to Power:
Mobilisation, Conversion and Vote Swing in the 2014 Indian Elections,”
Contemporary South Asia 23, no. 2 (2015): 123–35.
5) Eswaran Sridharan, “India’s Watershed Vote: Behind Modi’s Victory,” Journal of
Democracy 25, no. 4 (2014): 20–33.
6) Milan Vaishnav, “Modi Owns the Win and the Aftermath,” Hindustan Times, May
23, 2019, https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/modi-owns-the-win-and-the-
aftermath/story-vUQF8BSnT21wSrNm8U7bHM.html.
7) Milan Vaishnav and Danielle Smogard, “A New Era in Indian Politics?,” Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, June 10, 2014,
https://carnegieendowment.org/2014/06/10/new-era-in-indian-politics-pub-55883.
8) Louise Tillin, “Indian Elections 2014: Explaining the Landslide,” Contemporary
South Asia 23, no. 2 (2015): 117–22.
9) Milan Vaishnav, “From Cakewalk to Contest: India’s 2019 General Election,”
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 16, 2018,
https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/04/16/from-cakewalk-to-contest-india-s-2019-
general-election-pub-76084.
10) Ahead of the 2014 general election, BJP allies held power in another three states.
11) Milan Vaishnav, Jayaram Ravi, and Jamie Hintson, “Is the BJP India’s New
Hegemon?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 8, 2018,
https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/10/08/is-bjp-india-s-new-hegemon-pub-
77406.
12) Vaishnav, “Modi Owns the Win and the Aftermath.”
13) Pradeep Chhibber and Rahul Verma, Ideology and identity: ‘The changing party
systems of India. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018
14) Rajni Kothari, “Continuity and change in the party system”, in D.L. Seth (ed.),
Citizens and Parties, Delhi: Allied Publishers, 1975
15) M.P.Singh, “From Predominant to Polarisation: The Indian Party System”
16) Yogendra Yadav, ‘Radical shift in the social basis of political power’, The Hindu,
New Delhi, May 20, 2004
17) Shankar Raghuraman, Did you say ‘bipolar’? The Times Of India, New Delhi, May
15, 2004.

21
18) Yogendra Yadav, no. 16
19) Shankar Raghuraman, no. 17

20) Yogendra Yadav, no.16

21) Francine Frankel and M.S.A. Rao (ed.), Dominance and State Power in India, 2
vols. New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1990
22) Yogendra Yadav, “Electoral politics in the time of change”, Economic and Political
weekly, August 21-28, 1999, p. 2393

22
 Unit-II : Elections and Electoral Processes
Lesson-1

Electoral Process, Representation and Social Determinants of Voting Behaviour

Structure
Introduction
Electoral system
Electoral participation
Representation and Types of representation system
Social determinants of Voting Behaviour
Summary

Introduction
The word election is defined as the act of electing or choosing. It is the expression of free will
of a person usually by the votes of a constituent body. (Thomas Davidson1948: 298)India has
the distinction of being the largest democracy in the world and election is an indispensable
process of democratic system. A successful democracy is based on free will and fair
elections. Every adult citizen participate directly in the process of governance. A democratic
government becomes meaningful only when all its citizens participate in the elections. The
representatives are elected by the adult citizens, who on their behalf, participate in the
decision making. Thus elections play an important role in a democracy.
Indian Constituent Assembly consciously adopted a democratic form of government where
every citizen has a right to participate in the process of election in choosing his
representative. It was further deliberated and decided that India as a democratic country
should adopt a voting mechanism with a periodic election thereby giving the voter a right to
choose his representative to govern on his behalf. Framers of Indian constitution took
revolutionary step by adopting universal adult franchise for election to Lok Sabha (House of
People) and the Legislative Assemblies of the states. They believed that this would enable
people to elect such representative who would represent them, tend to their needs and
aspirations and provide them a responsive and responsible government. They alleged that this
would further ensure security and good governance to all without any discrimination. (Subhas
C Kashyap 2013:257)
The composition of the government of India is constituted by the process of election. The
President and Vice-President, the members of the two Houses of Parliament, the State and
Union Territory Legislative Assemblies, are elected through the procedure of election. The
electoral system adopted in India is borrowed from a similar one operating in UK.

23
After independence the first general elections took place in 1951in India. It was based on
universal adult franchise. Anyone with 21 years or older in age was eligible to participate in
the elections. In this election, the Indian National Congress party won in the majority of the
states. The party won with around 45% votes all over the country. The election was held in
twenty-six Indian states and 401 constituencies. The opposition comprised of Dalit leader
B.R. Ambedkar, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Ram Manohar Lohia, Acharya Kripalani, etc.
Right to vote granted to the citizens of a country by the government is known as Franchise.
The word Franchise is derived from the French word ‘frame’ which means free. Thus
franchise means that a person is free to choose his representative...Most of the modern
democracies of the world now practice Universal adult franchise. it means all the adult
citizens of the country have the right to vote irrespective of caste, religion, race, language,
sex etc. in India all the citizens having 18 years of age have the right to vote. In India all
citizens who attained the age of 21 years was given the right to vote when the constitution
was implemented on 26th January 1950. After the 61st Amendment act of 1989, this was
lowered to 18 years. An important principle of adult franchise is rule of one person one vote.
This is based on equality of citizens. It means the value of vote of a rich man and poor man, a
literate and an illiterate person and a highly placed or a lowly placed is the same. The
advantages of universal adult franchise are:
1) It is based on political equality
2) It establishes a true democratic government as it gives the right to vote to every of the
country.
3) It makes the government accountable for its action. If the political party forming the
government does not work well, people can vote it out in the next election.
Right to vote was not always a universal right. In the early democracies, only some people
were allowed to vote. Many democratic systems till second decade of twentieth century,
restricted franchise to the men only and that too were based on property, education and other
qualification. Most of the western countries introduced adult franchise only after World War
I. In 1918, UK gave the right to vote to all men but women above age of 30 years could only
vote. This discrimination was removed in 1928. France introduced Universal Adult Franchise
after the end of World War II. New Zealand became the first nation to achieve universal
suffrage.
Provisions Regarding Election in the Constitution of India
The Constitution of India in order to ensure free and fair elections, devoted a separate Part -
Part XV to elections.

24
PART XV
ELECTIONS
Article 324 – Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an election
commission.
Article 325 – No person to be ineligible for inclusion in or to claim to be included in a
special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.
Article 326 – Elections to the house of the people and to the legislative Assemblies of states
to be on the basis of adult suffrage.
Article 327 – Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures.
Article 328 – Power of Legislature of a state to make provision with respect to elections to
such Legislature
Article 329 – Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters.
Article329A – Repealed.
(Source – P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal Law Publishing Company, Delhi
Electoral System in India
In India election takes place directly at three levels namely the Parliament, State and Local
body levels in so far as the Legislature is concerned. As regards the executive India elects a
head of the State i.e President. The President of India is elected for a fixed period of five year
by the electoral college comprising of elected representatives of Parliament and State
Legislative Assemblies of States. A system of proportional representation with equal
weightage for the union and the state is adopted for the election of the President. The system
of election of President is known as system of proportional representation by means of single
transferable vote.
Regarding Union Legislature, Parliament, which is bicameral comprising of two houses –
House of People (Lok Sabha) and Council of States (Rajya Sabha). The maximum strength of
Lok Sabha, as envisaged by the Constitution of India, is 552. Currently, the House of People
(Lok Sabha) has 545 members out of which 543 are elected for ordinarily a period of five
year from single seat constituencies and two members are nominated by the President to
represent Anglo-Indian community(Anglo Indian-Article-366(2) of constitution of India
defines Anglo Indian as a person who is domiciled within the territory of India, whose father
or any of his other male progenitor in the male line are of European descent. Under Article-
331 – Representation of Anglo Indian community in India – the President of India may
appoint two members from Anglo Indian Community to Lok Sabha if in his opinion this
community is not represented adequately not withstanding anything mentioned in Article-81
which deals with the composition of Lok Sabha of India). Simple majority system is used in
our Lok Sabha election and State Assembly elections. Simple majority means securing
highest number of vote i.e, the winning candidate may or may not have secured more than
25
half of total votes polled. This system is just opposite of absolute majority where the winning
candidate secures more than half of the total votes polled.
As regard to Rajya Sabha (Council of States), it is a permanent body and one third of its
members retire every 2 years. The members of Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by the
elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies for a term of six year, by means of
single transferable vote.
The State Legislative Assemblies or Vidhan Sabhas are directly elected bodies established to
discharge the duties of administration of the State governments. There are bicameral
Legislatures in some states, with both upper and lower houses. Election to Vidhan Sabhas
takes place in the same procedure as that of Lok Sabha election. The election to the local
bodies i.e., Panchayats in rural areas and Municipalities in urban areas are conducted by State
Election Commission.

Election of President
The president of India is elected by indirect election. He is elected by an elected by the
members of an electoral college consisting of
A) the elected members of both the houses of the parliament
B) The elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states
The nominated members of both the houses of the Parliament the nominated members of the
States Legislative Assemblies and the members of the State Legislative Council do not
participate in the election of the President. The election of President is held in accordance with a
system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote and the voting is by
secret ballot.
value of the vote of an MLA = population of the state. * 1
Total elected member of the state legislature 1000
The value of the vote of an MLA differs from one state to another. The formula adopted to
secure uniformity between all the states on one hand and the parliament on the other is as
follows:
Value of a vote of an MP = Total value of votes of MLA s of all States
Total number of elected Members of Parliament
The next step is to to ascertain quota and this is done by dividing the total number of votes
polled by total number of members to be returned plus one and adding one to the quotient.
(Number of votes polled/ number of members to be elected+1) + 1
The elector while casting his vote is required to indicate his preference in favour of candidates
contesting election. First preference votes are counted first. If any candidate secures the quota
he is declared elected. If no candidate is able to secure the quota, the candidate who has secured
the lowest number of votes is eliminated and the second preference votes are counted and added
to the number of votes obtained by the remaining candidates. This continues till a candidates
secures the quota.
(source-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_%28India%29,also see Our
Constitution-An Introduction to India’s Constitution and Constitutional Law by Subhas C
Kashyap)

26
Types of Election
1) General Election – Election to constitute a new Lok Sabha or Assembly iscalled
General Election.
2) By-Election – When due to the death or resignation of a member either in Lok Sabha or
Legislative Assembly a seat falls vacant, then election is held for that seat, this is known
as by-election.
3) Mid-term Election – If for certain reasons, the President on the advice of the Prime
Minister dissolves the Lok Sabha or State Assembly before completion of five years
and the election is held to constitute new Lok Sabha or new State Assembly, etc. is
called mid- term election.
The notable features of Indian electoral system are as follows:
1) The electoral system of India is based on adult suffrage. Every citizen of India who is
18 years or above is eligible to participate in the process of election however the person
should not be otherwise disqualified under the Constitution or by any appropriate
Constitutional bodies on certain grounds.
2) It is based on geographical representation.
3) There are only single member territorial constituencies and no functional or plural
constituencies.
4) Each territorial constituency elects a single representative by a simple majority vote.
The Constitution of India provides certain principles for electoral procedure. The Constitution
stipulates in article 325 a single electoral roll for every territorial constituency. There is no
provision for communal separate or special representation. The election is based on adult
suffrage. The justification for universal adult franchise is the democratic principle of giving
the people an opportunity to have a say in the process of governance. This makes the
government democratic in real sense.
Electoral Participation
After independence, in the first general election which took place in the year 1952, Indian
national congress emerged as nation’s dominant political party. Nehru led Indian National
Congress secured consecutive majorities in the elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962. After
Nehru’s death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri became prime minister and continued his office
till his death in 1966. The year 1967 saw the rise of coalition governments in many States,
but Central Government continued to be under the dominance of the Congress Party. The
sixth General Election saw rise of Janata Party. At the national level, the first coalition
government was formed under the leadership of Prime Minister Morarji Desai which
remained in power from 24th March 1977 to 15th July 1979 headed by Janata Party. For most
of the years since independence, the federal government has been led by the Indian National
Congress (INC), Politics in the states have been dominated by several national parties

27
including the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
(CPI-M)) and various regional parties. From 1950 to 1990, barring two brief periods, the INC
enjoyed a Parliamentary majority. The INC was out of power between 1977 and 1980, when
the Janata Party won the election. In 1989, a Janata Dal-led National Front coalition in
alliance with the Left Front coalition won the elections but managed to stay in power for only
two years.(Singh and Saxena2003:8)
The ninth general election marked a watershed in the nation’s political development. For the
first time, since independence a Hung Parliament was formed. For next four general
elections—1989, 1991, 1996 and 1998 the verdict was uncertain. In 1991 elections not a
single political party got majority. The Indian National Congress formed a minority
government under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and completed its five-year term.
However, the period from 1996 to 1998 was a period of uncertainty in the federal government
as many short-lived alliances were holding the power. In 1996 BJP formed government and
stayed in power for brief period, followed by the United Front coalition that excluded both
the BJP and the INC. It was in 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee couldn’t hold on the Government
due to lack of Majority (i.e. 272+ seats) in the Indian Parliament. It stayed in power for just
13 days. The Third Front, which was a group of regional parties and Non-Congress and Non-
BJP combine also referred to as the United Front, formed the Government. This government
was headed by Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda who was in office from 1 June 1996 to 21 April
1997(Jha2012:82)
The Congress Party and other smaller parties including the left provided outside support to
him in order to provide a stable Government and prevent snap-polls (Jha2012:82). The rising
differences between the United Front and Congress led the latter to withdraw support. But in
order to avoid elections, Congress party agreed to support another United Front government
under new leader on certain conditions. The United Front elected Inder Kumar Gujral as its
new leader and he was sworn in as Prime Minister. But due to some internal problems in the
Government, this Third Front government failed to continue.
The thirteenth general election (1999) gave verdict in favour of BJP led National Democratic
Alliance, A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister. Towards the end of 1998
however, the AIADMK withdrew its support from the 13-month old government. The
government lost the ensuing vote of confidence motion by a single vote.
The fourteenth general election (2004) the Congress Alliance won the largest number of seats
and got an assurance of support from Left Front. In the fifteenth general election (2009)
Congress led UPA emerged as the largest alliance.
In the sixteenth general election (2014) Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) won a total of 336 seats
and emerged as winner. Of all votes, BJP itself won 31.0% and 282 (51.9%) of all seats. It is
for the first time since the 1984 Indian general elections that a party has won enough seats to
govern without the support of other parties. The United Progressive Alliance, led by the

28
Indian National Congress, won 58 seats. Out of 58 seats 44 (8.1%) were won by the
Congress, that won 19.3% of all vote. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_general_election,_2014)
Electoral process

Electorate
Announcement of Elections Information

Nomination Phase

Contesting Candidate
Scrutiny of Nominations Information

Withdrawal of Candidates

Campaigning

Polling

Counting

Role of Election in Democratic Systems

Elections are the corner stone of democracy. The role played by elections in a democracy is
as follows:
1. Election provides an opportunity to the voters, to allow the ruling party to continue its
rule and policies, or reject it and to elect the opposition party or a coalition of parties to
rule over the country for a specific period.
2. One of the greatest merits of the electoral process is that it enriches the personality of the
citizens by giving every citizen a sense of responsibility in making or marring the
government.
3. The elections lead to increasing political consciousness in which the rich and poor, old
and young, man and women all use their political right to vote and participation.
Elections are the means by which the citizens participate in the political process by
voting for the representative for their voice.
4. Elections are like a mirror which reflects the mind and aspirations of the electorates.
They are the instrument which gauges the state of the rational mind.

29
5. The election results are an authorization, to make decisions and to govern within the
broad drift of a policy platform. Thus, it is only through elections that the authority of
the government is clothed with legitimacy in a peaceful manner.
6. Elections are means by which the government by which the government is formed,
according to the wishes of the majority of the citizens and hence, their will provides
strength and stability to the government. Since elections are based on the doctrine of
equality of political rights to all therefore, they make democracy more immune to
revolutionary disturbances than any other political system.
Representation and its Forms

The word Representation is basically derived from the Roman word ‘Repraesentare’ which
was used to mean the literal bringing into presence of something previously absent or the
embodiment of an abstraction in an object. The Roman’s were completely unaware of the
term representation as we understand it today in our contemporary times as regards to
representative democracy. However, the English started using the said word much later, as
persons sent to participate in church councils or in the English Parliament came gradually to
be thought of as representatives(Pitkin 1972:3). The word representation in common
parlance, therefore, refers to representing an interest or an issue backed by some individuals
or groups. (Heywood, 2005:143) Most of the modern nation states are having huge
population, making direct democracy impracticable. This has necessitated and enhanced the
significance of a system of representation. For example, in a vast country like India the
people cannot assemble together in a place to formulate policy and take decisions they need
to erect their representatives who would act on behalf of them. Representation has ultimately
taken various forms in modern days. They are of the following types:
Single Member Constituency
Under this system election results are determined on the basis of the relative majority of the
votes polled and the candidate who is ahead of all other candidates even by a single vote gets
elected even though a majority of voters do not vote in his favour. This is also referred as first
past the post. The major defect of this system is that only the relative majority is taken into
consideration. Since most of the contests are multi cornered sometimes a candidate securing
as low as 30 or 40% of votes polled is declared elected, as a consequence a major portion of
electorate remain unrepresented. Another major lacuna of this system is that the party that
polls a minority of votes may secure a majority of seats; as a result the minority parties get
eliminated. However, the territorial representation with single member constituency has the
advantage of simplicity and easy practicability in a country like India where mass illiteracy
rules.
System of Proportional Representation
In order to tackle the defect of single member constituency system, various methods of
proportional representation have been proposed. Under the proportional representation

30
system the number of seats in the legislative body will be as nearly as possible in proportion
to the votes cast for that party. Proportional representation system is strongly supported by
minority parties which suffer from the electoral distortions of the single member constituency
system. However, even this system also has many defects, one of them being the
multiplication of political parties and creation of coalition governments.
This system is very complex and cumbersome. It could promote, sharpen and consolidate the
parochial loyalties based on caste, community, religion etc. it could also encourage
fragmentation of our political parties. There are various methods of proportional
representation such as:
Single transferable vote – this system is used in case of upper house that is Rajya Sabha,
State Legislative Councils and offices of President and Vice President. This system of
representation is used in Ireland and Malta. Besides, in Australian Senate as well as
Tasmania’s lower house the single transferable vote system is also followed. In this system
each voter has a single vote. Voter either ranks the candidate according to his preference for
instance he can put his choice like 1, 2, 3, 4 etc or he may vote for the order of preference
already published by the political party of his choice. In order to get elected a successful
candidate needs to secure a certain minimum number of votes which is known as the quota
(or threshold). Candidates reaching the quota from first preference votes are declared elected.
If there are electorate seats to fill then the candidates receiving votes beyond the quota i.e the
'surplus votes' of these candidates-are redistributed to the second preferences of the voters. In
case there still exist seats which needs to be filled, then the candidate ranked last is
eliminated and his votes are transferred to the candidates ranked next on those votes. The
process continues till the required number of candidates gets elected.
List system – In this system the candidates are grouped in lists according to the labels of
their political parties. Each party submits a list of its chosen candidates equal to the number
of seats to be filled up or even less than that. Every single voter has got two effective votes –
one to choose his constituency representative and other to choose between party lists. In the
direct election from single member constituencies, the candidates who polls votes (majority)
are the winners. The parties are allotted seats in proportion to the total number of votes
secured by them in the second category of vote (the vote cast for party).This is a German
model. It is followed for election to the lower house Bunderstag in Germany.
Two ballot system – In this system a candidate winning more than 50 per cent of the votes
polled is elected. If no candidate secures this required percentage of votes the counting goes
on in the second round. In the second round only top two candidates are allowed to
contest.The two ballot system is followed in countries like France, Russia for the election of
the post of President.
Social Determinants of Voting Behaviour
Voting is a means of aggregating individual preferences into collective decisions. In other
words, voting is a method by which people express their wishful or preferential approval on

31
candidates for public office or on public issues. The right to vote is called suffrage and
franchise.
A detailed study by Richard Rose and Harve Masiavir identified the important functions
voting covers are:
1. It involves individuals choice of governors or major governmental policies;
2. It permits individuals to participate in a reciprocal and continuing exchange of influence
with the office-holders and candidates;
3. It contributes to the development or maintenance of an individuals allegiance to the
existing constitutional regime;
4. It contributes to the development or maintenance of a voters disaffection from the
existing constitutional regime;
5. It has emotional significance certain for individuals; and
6. It has emotional significance for the individuals; and for some individuals it may be
functionless,
i.e. devoid of any significant personal emotional or political consequences.(Rose, Richard
and Harve Mosiavir, 1966: 314-319)
Voting’ as such is a function of immense significance for the voters, the candidates and
students of politics. The study of voting behaviour has come to be regarded as an important
aspect of contemporary political research and theory.
Voting behaviour refers to the area or field of study of political science which may be
studied, scientifically and systematically by employing sophisticated techniques. The
traditionalists were mainly concerned with the behaviour and functions of institutions,
organisations etc. They began to analyse the political behaviour of individuals with the help
of models, techniques, methods borrowed from other social and physical sciences. Voting
behaviour or electoral behaviour is closely associated with not only political behaviour but
also with political participation. But while thinking in this line we must not forget that
political behaviour or political participation are broadly used. Electoral behaviour is a part of
them. Political participation includes political discussion, involvement in decision-making
etc.
The relationship between socio-economic factors and voting behaviour has been often
highlighted in innumerable election studies in different political systems. According to Sheth
(Sheth1970:147), “If our (Indian) electorate has attained a certain level of political
development, its voting decisions should be more and more influenced by political
considerations as against primordial group considerations”. As Myron Weiner and Rajni
Kothari (1965:1) observed that “In largely segmented and highly parochial system which
predominates in most of rural India, the patterns of loyalties and interests and the power
structures which prevail at the village or neighbourhood level are often the most important

32
elements of political action and can often more readily be studied through anthropological –
type field enquiries than through national surveys”. The social determinants of voting
behaviour in India are family and kinship, caste, factionalism , communalism, illiteracy,
corruption. Apart these, certain other factors are present like age, sex, education, income and
rural-urban composition of the people play an important role in influencing the voting
behaviour.

1) Caste – Caste plays an important role in Indian society as well as in Indian political
system. Its role in election cannot be ignored. In India, there are many places where
local patterns of caste and affiliations decide the voting behaviour. People belonging to
a particular caste tend to support or oppose a contesting candidate depending upon caste
affiliations and local politics. A phenomenon very much prevalent in India is that
people vote for those candidates who belong to their own caste and sometimes different
castes join hands to build alliances. During elections, the local caste leaders play an
important role in organizing and mobilizing support, forming favourable alliances and
impelling voters to support a particular candidate or political party by offering them
incentives (Paul brass1965). Such local leaders act as vote banks and also play an
important role in getting people of their area to vote in favour of a particular candidate
or political party(Myron Weiner 1967:). These local leaders in order to gather support
for a particular candidate use all means – their influences, power and force to get votes
for their candidate.
2) Religion – The establishment of a secular state in India by treating every religion as
equal and non Recognition of any religion as a state religion, guaranteeing the right to
freedom of religion to everyone – has not been successful in preventing the role of the
religion as a determinant of political behaviour in general and voting behaviour in
particular. The existence of political parties and non political groups linked with a
particular religion, for example, the Muslim league, the Akali Dal, the Hindu Maha
Sabha, the Shiv Sena etc. play an important role as determinant of voting behaviour.
Religious pluralism of the Indian society is a major factorthat affect the Indian political
system and greatly influences the struggle for power among political parties. Very often
selection of candidates is done with an eye upon the presence of a religious majority in
a particular constituency.
3) Language – India is a multilingual state. There are 22 official languages and several
hundred other languages and dialects. Linguism also serves as a factor in voting
behaviour. The organization of states on linguistic basis fully reflects the importance of
language as a factor of politics in India. There have been problems in the states like that
of the status of one particular language in that state or relating to the quality of the
status of a language of a state for example, in Haryana there has been a demand for
declaring Punjabi as the second official language. The Punjabis want that the language
status should be conferred on Punjabi in Haryana (this was realized in 1996). In
Karnataka there is a demand that Kannada alone should be the medium of instructions

33
 in schools, but it is being opposed by other ethnic groups. Such problems are presenting
in almost all the states since people have emotional attachment with their languages,
they easily get influenced whenever there comes up any issue relating to language.
Linguistic interest always influences voting behaviour.
4) Illiteracy – The problem of widespread illiteracy causes ignorance and prevents
adequate understanding of various democratic practices and processes. Despite of
several developmental steps including opening of schools and colleges across the
country still illiteracy is a major problem. With illiterate population democracy based
on adult franchise cannot serve the people properly.
5) Corruption – Widespread and increasing corruption is responsible for the rapid fall in
moral value and distortion of the Indian polity. Sumantra Bose has observed that “the
culture of corruption is deeply intertwined with the ways in which power is won,
exercised and retained in India's democracy.”1 (Sumantra Bose: 2002). In Indian
elections, money has acquired a vital place. In spite of adopting several measures, the
Election Commission has been unable to compel the political parties to keep its
expenditures on campaigning within the legal limit. During elections a large sum of
money is spent on the election campaigning and wooing the voters. But while filling
returns most of the political parties quote false returns to the Commission. Sincere
efforts were put by the police to prevent or investigate these crimes but most of these
cases could not be handled successfully because after elections the police authorities
come under the control of the political parties and as a result they cannot act
independently.
6) Communalization – Communal politics in India has led to enormous bloodshed and
misery to the vast majority of the people belonging to different religions. Even the sad
and sudden partition of the country has not ended the communal politics. The adoption
of Universal Adult Suffrage and electoral politics on the basis of caste, ethnicity, region
and religion has further communalized politics. If a party is bearing the name of a
religion, race or caste then the party shall not be registered as a political party to contest
elections. Besides a political party promoting communalism to gain unfair advantage in
election should be debarred from contesting any election. Apart these, the Constitution
of a registered political party must contain a provision stating that its membership is
open to all, irrespective of religion, race, caste or language. The political parties must
keep in mind that India is a secular state, our constitution proclaims so and hence it
becomes their duty to abide by the constitution and follow a secular policy to maintain
peace and order in the society. There should be strict laws to stop the political parties
from exploiting caste, communalism and regionalism to fulfil their ambition of holding
political power. The tendency of exploiting caste, communal, religious sentiments of
people would affect national unity and integrity and also communal harmony. Political
parties having secular character should alone participate in the elections to presume and
promote secular fabric of the Constitution,

34
 7) Money – The elections in India are becoming increasingly expensive. In order to woo
voters candidates are spending excessively on campaigning, bribing poor people,
spending on gun man, publicity, transport, and many other essential items of election
campaign etc. each election is becoming more expensive than the preceding one. On
every election the gap between the expenses incurred by the aspiring candidate and
legally permitted limit is increasing. Huge amounts are collected through illegal
means by political parties and their candidates. Recent years experienced
competitions between the political parties to spend more than their rival parties which
have led to soaring of expenses beyond any limit. Further, the political parties are not
maintaining the regular accounts of the party funds and donations received and the
expenses incurred by it. Nor such accounts are not audited by any regular audit body.
Thus there is no proper check on the expenditure.

8) Muscle power – Violence, pre-election intimidation, booth capturing etc. are

instances of muscle power. In states like Bihar, Western Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra
etc use of muscle power during election is common. Criminalisation of politics and
politicization of criminals are responsible for the manifestation of muscle power at
elections. Through violence, force, threatening, creating fear in the mind of voters the
political parties try to collect maximum vote in order to win elections.

These are thus the important determinants of voting behavior in India. The continuity in the
operation of India’s political system as a developing democratic political system is gradually
training the Indian voters. The process of emergence of an issue based political struggle in
place of a caste or religion or personality dominated struggle for power is very slowly but
gradually taking shape. Elections occupy a prominent place in the democratic government. It
is a means through which people express and enforce their political opinion and regulate
political organization of the society. However the behaviour of a voter is influence by several
factors such as religion, caste, community, language, money, policy or ideology, purpose of
the polls, extent of franchise and the like political parties and groups make use of these
variables for the sake of winning the battle of the ballot box. It is therefore, imperative that
the use of these determinants should be avoided and elections should be conducted in a very
free and fair manner. It also depends upon whether the system allows freedom of thought,
expression and association to the people. Mere presence of an electoral system does not make
a political system democratic. The will of people is expressed through voting in elections and
therefore, all undemocratic and unfair means like manipulating and rigging need to be
avoided in the elections. No such action is taken which would in any way undermine the
popular will expressed through elections.
Summary
Elections provide people the opportunity to choose their leader and these leaders take
decisions on behalf of their voters. All the adult citizens are given right to vote under
Universal Adult Franchise. An important principle of adult franchise is the rule of one person

35
one vote. Universal Adult Franchise ensures political equality and establishes a true
democratic government. Election in India takes place every five years through adult
franchise. General election by election and mid-term elections are different types elections.
The notable features of Indian electoral system are as follows:
1) The electoral system of India is based on adult suffrage. 2) It is based on geographical
representation. 3) There are only single member territorial constituencies and no
functional or plural constituencies. 4) Each territorial constituency elects a single
representative by a simple majority vote.
Importance of election–
1. Election provides an opportunity to the voters, to choose party they like.
2. It enriches the personality of the citizens by giving every citizen a sense of
responsibility.
3. The elections lead to increasing political consciousness.
4. Elections reflect the mind and aspirations of the electorates.
5. Through elections the authority of the government is clothed with legitimacy in a
peaceful manner.
6. Elections are means by which the government is formed, according to the wishes of the
majority of the citizens therefore, they make democracy more immune to revolutionary
disturbances than any other political system.
Modern nation states are having huge population, making direct democracy impracticable.
This has necessitated and enhanced the significance of a system of representation.
Representation has various form: 1) Single member constituency; 2) System of proportional
representation; 3) Single transferable vote; 4) List system; 5) Two ballot system
Voting behaviour includes political behaviour and political participation of people. Various
social determinants of voting behaviour 1) Caste; 2) Religion; 3) Language; 4) Illiteracy;
5) Corruption; 6) Communalization; 7) Money; 8) Muscle power
References
1) M.P. Singh & Rekha Saxena (2003), India at the Polls - Parliamentary Elections in the
Federal Phase, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 2003
2) M.P. Singh & Rekha Saxena (2011) Indian Politics - Constitutional Foundation and
Institutional Functioning, PHI publishers Delhi, 2011
3) Rev. Thomas Davidson, “Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary”, Published by
W. & R. Chambers Ltd., UK, 1948
4) Subhash C Kashyap “Our Political System”, National Book Trust, India, 2013
5) Panandikar. VA. Pai and Kashyap, Subhash C. (2001). Political Reforms: Asserting
Civic Sovereignty New Delhi: Konark Publishers

36
6) Paul Brass (1965), “Fractional Politics in Indian State”, University of California,
Berkley
7) Myron Weiner, “ Party building in new nation”, University of Chicago, Chicago,1967
8) Sumatra Bose, “Culture Of Corruption: Democracy And Power In India”, Global
Policy 2002,www.Globalpolicy.Org
9) Rajiv Dhawan, “Fraud by Ordinance”, The Hindu, September-
6,2003,www.thehindu.com
10) Sharatpradhan “Criminal Tags Dogs32:Uttar Pradesh Candidates”, South Asia
Monitor, June 22, 2009,www.southasiamonitor.org
11) Brass, Paul R. (1983, 85). Caste, Faction and Party in Indian Politics. Vol 1 Faction
and Party (1983); Vol 2, Election Studies (1985) New Delhi: Chanakya.
12) Brass, Paul R. (1994). Politics in India Since Independence. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
13) Hasan, Zoya (ed.) (2002). Parties and Party Politics in India. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
14) Kashyap, Subash (1997). Coalition Government and Politics in India. New Delhi:
Uppal.
15) Prakash. Chandra (1999). Changing Dimensions of the Communal Politics in India,
Delhi

37
 Lesson-2

(a) The Election Commission

One of the most important features of a democratic polity is elections at regular intervals.
Elections constitute the signpost of democracy. These are the medium through which the
attitudes, values and beliefs of the people towards their political environment are reflected.
Elections grant people a government and the government have constitutional right to govern
those who elect it. In this regard the chapter describes the historical evolution and
establishment of the Election Commission in India who is vested with the authority of
conducting free and fair elections. It will analyse the functions and powers laid down on the
Election Commission by the framers of the Constitution and its structure and functions
evolved during the years after India’s independence.

Keywords – Criminalisation of Politics, Electoral Rolls, Delimitation of Constituencies,

Electoral Reforms, One Nation One Election

Introduction
India has the distinction of being the largest democracy of the world. Election is a device
which a modern State creates amongst its citizens a sense of involvement and participation in
public affairs. It is through popular elections that the authority of government gets its
legitimacy with elections. So, a good electoral system is therefore, the basic principle of
genuine representative government. While politics is the art and practice of dealing with
political power, election is a process of legitimisation of such power. Democracy can indeed
function only upon this faith that elections are free and fair and not rigged and manipulated,
that they are effective instruments of ascertaining popular will both in reality and in form and
are not mere rituals calculatedi The purity and freedom of election can be ensured only if the
electoral administration, the basic foundation of democracy, is placed beyond the reach of
malpractices prevailing in the country
The Election Commission of India has been termed as “the means to the end of a vibrant
representative democracy”ii and as a “bulwark for free and fair elections in India”iii. The
institutions like Election Commission are non-elected or not constituted through an electoral
mandate, but enjoy a higher level of confidence among the voters than those in whose
formation the voters enjoy an electoral choice (where the people are actually voters) like the
Parliament or the legislaturesiv.The Election Commission of India is often seen as an
institution which reflects the sagacity of the constituent assembly in providing a
constitutional body which would guard against self-destructive tendencies within
democracies by performing an oversight function over the conduct of electionsv.

38
Election Commission: Genesis
The idea of parliamentary and electoral democracy was a striking plan, when it was
conceived in colonial India. However, it received sustenance and importance in the course of
the national freedom movement in the country. After independence, the architects of the
Indian Constitution attached the highest significance to independent electoral machinery for
the conduct of elections. This is discernible from the reports of the various committees and
the discussions on the matter in the Constituent Assembly.
The Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee of the Constituent Assembly unanimously approved
that independence of elections and avoidance of interference by the executive in legislative
election should be regarded as a Fundamental Rightsvi. The Committee resolved:
(1) Universal adult franchise must be granted by the Constitution;
(2) Election should be free, secret and periodic; and
(3) Election should be managed by an independent Commission set up under Union Law
Consequently, it recommended the inclusion of the following clause in the list of
Fundamental Rightsvii. The superintendence, direction and control of all elections to the
Legislature, whether of the Union or of the states, including the appointment of Election
Tribunal, shall be vested in the Election Commission for the Union or Unit as the case may
be appointed in all cases in accordance with the law of the Union.
The Advisory Committee agreed in principle with the contents of this clause but felt that
“instead of being included in the list of Fundamental Rights, it should find a place in some
other part of the Constitution”viii The Union Constitution Committee accepted the suggestion
of the Advisory Committee and included this clause regarding the machinery of election in
the Constitution plan formulated by itix.
When the matter was considered by the Constituent Assembly the mover of the clause,
Gopalswami Aiyangar, a member of the Drafting Committee, accepted the amendment of
H.V. Pataskar (Bombay) entrusting the Election Commission. With the task of federal
elections only and charging the Governor with the responsibility for the management and
conduct of elections to the legislatures of the units through separate machineryx Thus the
Drafting Committee through Article 289 of the Draft Constitution provided for separate
Commissions for the conduct of federal and provincial elections. In the resumed discussion
on the article in the Constituent Assembly the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, B.R.
Ambedkar, moved an amendment substituting the article 289 of the Draft Constitution with
the following article:
The superintendence, direction and control of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all
elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections of the offices of
President and Vice-President held under this Constitution, including the appointment of
election tribunals for the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with

39
elections to Parliament and to the Legislatures of States shall be vested in a Commission
Constitution of India
“The new articles” he contended “proposed to centralise the Elections Machinery in the
hands of a single Commission, to be assisted by Regional Commissioners working under the
supervision, direction and control of the Election Commission” and not under the control of
the State Governorxi
The centralization of electoral administration, he explained, was done “to prevent injustice
being done by the provincial Governments to people other than those who belonged to the
provinces racially, linguistically and culturally”. Ambedkar said:
The Fundamental Rights Committee came to the conclusion that no guarantee regarding
minorities or regarding elections could be given if the elections were left in the hands of the
executive of the day. Many people felt that if the elections were conducted under the auspices
of the executive authority and if the executive authority did have power, as it must have, of
transferring officers from one area to another with the object of gaining support for a
particular candidate who was a favourite with the party in office or with the Government of
the day, that will certainly vitiate the free election which we all wanted. It was therefore
unanimously resolve by the members of the Fundamental Rights Committee that the greatest
safe-guard for purity of elections, for fairness in elections, was to take away the matter from
the hands of the executive authority and to hand it over to some independent authorityxii.
A section of the Constituent Assembly including Pataskar pleaded strongly for the retention
of the original clause 289. Pataskar felt that the amended clause displayed a distrust of people
in the provinces, down from the Governor nominated by the President to the smallest local
authority and would be tantamount to depriving the provinces of the right to manage their
elections. It would take away the ‘last vestiges of the provincial autonomy’. Similar views
were expressed by Kuladhar Chaliha from Assamxiii. The amended version of Article 289
was, how-ever, carried through inspite of vehement opposition.
A reading of the relevant provisions of the Constitution relating to elections reveal that the
framers of the Constitution in their anxiety to ensure an independent position for such
election authority made power of Parliament and the State Legislatures to make laws with
respect to various electoral matters mentioned in articles 327 and 328 “Subject to the
provisions of this Constitution”, including the provisions of article 324 of the Constitutionxiv.
An independent Election Commission would ensure fair and free elections of the
representatives of the people at all level to generate illusion of difference to mass. The
conduct of elections in India after independence became the responsibility of the Election
Commission. It was in 1950 that the Election Commission of India was set up as a
constitutional body and entrusted with the task of superintendence, direction and control of
all national and state level elections. Article 324, Dr. Ambedkar contended, “proposed to
centralise the election machinery in the hands of a single commission, to be assisted by

40
regional Commissioners, working under the supervision, direction and control of the Election
Commission and not under the control of the state governor as envisaged earlier.xv
Composition, Tenure and Conditions of Service
Regarding the composition of the Election Commission, there were two divergent proposals
before the Drafting Committee: (a) either to have a permanent body of four or five members,
or (b) ad hoc body constituted at the time of peak electoral activity. The Drafting Committee
steered a middle course (Constituent Assembly Debates 1949 905). It decided to have
permanently in office one man, namely, the Chief Election Commissioner who formed the
permanent nucleus for organizing and conducting bye-elections and to arrange for general
elections to Legislatures in case of premature dissolution, and arrange for the preparation of
electoral rolls for the prospective general election. The structure of the Chief Election
Commissioner was to be augmented by large reinforcements, which could be seconded for
electoral duties from other work at the time of general elections to Union and States
Legislatures including the appointment of Regional Commissioner.
Constitutional Provisions
The Constitution of India provides for a permanent and independent body, the Election
Commission of India, and vests in it the superintendence, direction and control of the
preparation of electoral rolls for the conduct of all elections to Parliament and to the
Legislature of every State and of elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President’
(Article 324).
The Election Commission consists of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of
Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may fix from time to time. The Chief
Election Commissioner stands at the apex of the hierarchy of the Election Commission of
India. All these commissioners are appointed by the President subject to the provisions of any
law Article 324 (2).
The superintendence, direction and control of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all
elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections of the offices of
President and Vice-President held under this Constitution, including the appointment of
election tribunals for the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with
elections to Parliament and to the Legislatures of States shall be vested in a Commission.
The Commission may have one or more than one member to be appointed by the President,
i.e., the Executive. The Chief Election Commissioner enjoys a constitutional protection in
manner of removal from the position, which requires parliamentary impeachment [Article
324(5)]. Apart from the Commission, the Constitution or the law does not provide for any
other permanent structure to administer the elections. Administrative Officers at the State and
district level are assigned additional charge to look after the elections; some of them a
temporarily deputed to the Election Commission during the period of the general elections xvi.

41
When any other Election Commissioner is so appointed the Chief Election Commissioner
shall act as the Chairman of the Election Commission. Before each general election to the
House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of each State and before the first
General Election and thereafter before each biennial election to the Legislative Council of
each State having such Council, the President may also appoint after consultation with the
Election Commission such Regional Commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist
the Election Commission in the performance of the functions conferred on the Commission
by Clause (1)xvii.
Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of service and tenure
of office of the Election Commissioners and the Regional Commissioners shall be such as the
President may by rule determine.
The election Commission must enjoy a fixed tenure to enable it to function independently and
impartially without any fear of the legislature or the executive. The architects of the
Constitution provided deliberate safeguards to secure this goal. The Constitution of India
explicitly stipulates that the Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office “in
like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court In other words, the
Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office by an order of the President
“after an address by each House of the Parliament supported by a majority of the total
membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of
that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same Session for
such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacityxviii.
The words, ‘misbehaviour’ and ‘incapacity’ have, however, been left undefined in the
Constitution.These words have been borrowed from the American Constitution where the
final authority of interpreting the two terms rests with the Congress. In India also what
constitutes misbehaviour or incapacity is to be decided by the Parliament according to the
procedure laid down by it.1
The method of removal of the Chief Election Commissioner like that of the Judges of
Supreme Court or High Courts, doubtless, is complicated and difficult, but his tenure is
dissimilar to that of the Judgesxix.
A Supreme Court Judge holds office till the completion of a definite age, i.e., sixty-five years,
whereas the tenure of the Chief Election Commissioner depends upon the rules framed by the
President subject to statutory regulations. He may be appointed for any period of time. His
tenure may also be extended. This was actually done in case of the two former Chief Election
Commissioners, Sukumar Sen and K.V.K. Sundaram, both of whom held office for eight
years (approximately) though initially both of them were appointed for a period of five years
onlyxx.

1
The word ‘misbehaviour’ has been defined in dealing with the question of removal of the members of Union
Public Service Commission by Article 317(1) of the Constitution of India.

42
Any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner shall not be removed from
office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissionerxxi. This distinction
in the method of removal of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election
Commissioners was necessitated by the temporary nature of the appointment of the latter. By
this provision the position of the other Election Commissioners and the Regional
Commissioners was placed on a subordinate footing to, and not on the same or coordinate
footing as, the Chief Election Commissioner.
The salary and other conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other
Election Commissioners are to be determined by the President subject to statutory regulations
and the constitutional guarantee that “the conditions of service of the Chief Election
Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment” xxii
Excepting this safeguard, no provision in this respect has been made in the Constitution nor
has the Parliament, so far, passed any law regulating the same. This makes the position of the
Chief Election Commissioner in this regard different from the judges of the Supreme Court in
two vital respects: (a) the salary and allowance of the offices of the judges of the Supreme
Court have been determined by the Constitution whereas that of the Chief Election
Commissioner have been left to be fixed by the President; and (b) the salaries and allowances
of the Judges of Supreme Court are authorised to be charged on the Consolidated Fund of
India whereas that of the Chief Election Commissioner are not so authorised.2
Consequently, the salary and other conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner
are determined by the President in each case separately
Functions and Powers of the Election Commission
The Election Commission of India has to perform multifarious duties assigned to it under the
Constitution which are as follows:
Demarcation of Constituencies
To facilitate the process of elections a country has to be divided into several constituencies.
The task of delimiting the constituencies is generally performed by a delimitation
commission. But the power to delimit parliamentary and assembly constituencies for the first
general elections in 1951 was conferred on the President. The President's delimitation order
was to be released on the advice of the Election Commission which also consulted
Parliamentary Advisory Committees set by the Speaker of Parliament and the Speaker of the
respective legislative assembly to which the delimitation proposals pertained. The Indian
Constitution lays down certain grounds for delimitation3 but leaves the actual practical details
for Parliament to decidexxiii .

2
For salary & allowances of Comptroller and Auditor General and of the Judges of the Supreme Court see
Second Schedule to the Constitution of India
3
Artlicles 81, 82

43
Electoral Rolls
The second important but tedious function of the Election Commission is to prepare the list
of the eligible voters. The following figure demonstrates the electoral roll data prepared by
the Election Commission
ELECTORAL ROLL DATA–2017

(At the time of final publication)

NON RESIDENT SERVICE ELECTOR,
S. Name of State / UT GENERAL ELECTOR, 2017 INDIANS, 2017 2017

No. Third Third

Grand
Total

Men Women Gender TOTAL Men Women Gender Total Men Women Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

ANDHRA
1 PRADESH 17162603 17409676 3146 34575425 11 4 0 15 42267 11053 53320 34628760

ARUNACHAL
2 PRADESH 383804 389054 0 772858 0 0 0 0 2095 678 2773 775631

3 ASSAM 10627005 10004509 377 20631891 0 0 0 0 38001 9809 47810 20679701

4 BIHAR 36346421 32070788 2119 68419328 9 1 0 10 70737 33947 104684 68524022

5 CHHATTISGARH 9112766 8958481 721 18071968 1 1 0 2 7791 2056 9847 18081817

6 GOA 545531 562930 0 1108461 24 11 0 35 271 549 820 1109316

7 GUJARAT 22265012 20325250 553 42590815 8 6 0 14 28605 7042 35647 426264 76

8 HARYANA 9027549 7792344 0 16819893 14 2 0 16 73032 33221 106253 16926162

HIMACHAL
9 PRADESH 2458878 2352868 6 4811752 2 2 0 4 67459 18785 86244 4898000

JAMMU &
10 KASHMIR 3904982 3548312 45 7453339 0 0 0 0 52836 14243 67079 7520418

11 JHARKHAND 11 256003 10202201 123 21458327 3 0 0 3 3546 1319 4865 21463195

12 KARNATAKA 24837243 24045264 4404 48886911 0 0 0 0 37044 12101 49145 48936056

13 KERALA 12202869 13085516 6 25288391 21874 1682 0 23556 63883 25865 89748 25401695

MADHYA
14 PRADESH 26195768 23772022 1135 49968925 2 3 0 5 26482 9055 35537 50004467

15 MAHARASHTHRA 43940543 39542999 1645 83485187 19 12 0 31 101628 40791 142419 83627637

16 MANIPUR 925431 968312 0 1893743 0 0 0 0 8907 3074 11981 1905724

17 MEGHALAYA 850667 868802 0 1719469 0 1 0 1 1432 600 2032 1721502

18 MIZORAM 362181 377795 0 739976 0 0 0 0 4869 1062 5931 745907

19 NAGALAND 577793 560422 0 1138215 0 0 0 0 7223 1900 9123 1147338

20 ODISHA 15946303 14890584 2146 30839033 0 0 0 0 34280 15237 49517 30888550

44
 21 PUNJAB 10502868 9375422 415 19878705 240 124 0 364 115924 34623 150547 20029616

22 RAJASTHAN 23117744 20855740 45 43973529 5 1 0 6 88988 35567 124555 44098090

23 SIKKIM 200220 188836 0 389056 1 0 0 1 1146 92 1238 390295

24 TAMIL NADU * 29344124 29910531 5038 59259693 35 13 0 48 44916 13513 58429 59318170

25 TELANGANA # 14472054 13840715 2351 28315120 3 1 0 4 10030 2039 12069 28327193

26 TRIPURA 1275694 1230212 0 2505906 0 0 0 0 3646 1350 4996 2510902

27 UTTARAKHAND 3923492 3572029 151 7495672 0 0 0 0 66552 30772 97324 7592996

28 UTTAR PRADESH 76809778 64436122 7272 141253172 1 0 0 1 108701 40173 148874 141402047

29 WEST BENGAL 34592448 32443796 1017 67037261 11 10 0 21 113342 39586 152928 67190210

30 A & N ISLANDS 146524 131464 0 277988 0 0 0 0 104 46 150 278138

31 CHANDIGARH 305892 266194 13 572099 7 4 0 11 1790 1205 2995 575105

32 DAMAN & DIU 58698 57861 0 116559 8 17 0 25 5 3 8 116592

33 D & N HAVELI 122184 105399 0 227583 0 0 0 0 12 8 20 227603

34 NCT OF DELHI 7463731 6005703 829 13470263 27 10 0 37 3845 1826 5671 13475971

35 LAKSHADWEEP 25372 24904 0 50276 0 0 0 0 145 0 145 50421

36 PUDUCHERRY 446353 494860 80 941293 122 15 0 137 295 58 353 941783

TOTAL 451736528 414667917 33637 866438082 22427 1920 0 24347 1231829 443248 1675077 868137506

77**99Figure-1
Source: Election Commission of India http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/eroll_epic/ERDATA2017.pdf

Registration of Political Parties and Allotment of Symbols

The party system is an essential feature of parliamentary democracy. However, there is no
direct reference of political parties in the Constitution of India. Section 29 A of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951, provides for the registration with the Election
Commission of political parties on application. The application for registration has to contain
inter alia the names of party officer bearers, the numerical strength of party membership,
memorandum or rules and regulations (or the Constitution) of the party. The Commission has
been authorised to call for such has been authorised to call for 'such other particulars, as it
may deem fitxxiv.
The Commission registers a party which has at least 100 registered electors as its members
and is also charging a nominal processing fee of Rs 10,000 to cover the administration
expenses which it will have to incur on correspondence with the parties after their
registration. In order to ensure that the registered political parties practice democracy in their
internal functioning, the Commission requires them to hold their organisational elections
regularly in accordance with their constitutions. The measures taken by the Election
Commission to streamline the registration of political parties have shown effective results.
These have lessened the headache of the administrative machinery, as well as confusion of
the electoratexxv.

45
The decision of the Commission in the matter of registration ‘shall be final’. Under Section
170 of the same Act, the jurisdiction of the civil courts to question the legality of any decision
has been barred. The conduct of Election Rules, 1961 issued under the Representation of the
People Act 1 951, provides for the Election Commission specifying and assigning the
symbols under Rules 5 and 10. Jharkhand Election Symbols(Reservation and Allotment)
Order 1968, as modified by the Election Commission in exercise of the powers under Article
324 of the Constitutionxxvi
The Chief Election Commissioner is entirely within his rights to take the much needed
initiative for trying to discipline and democratise the political parties before they can be
allowed to take part in the democratic process of election, as registered and recognised
parties. The Election Commission's also has the power to deregister and derecognize a party.
The Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Sheshan announced that any party which did not
confirm to its declared constitutional structure and practices would be deregisteredxxvii.

Figure 2: Political Parties Registered and Participated over three Lok Sabha Elections
Source: Election Commission of India
http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/Electoral_Statistics_Pocket_Book2016_06102016.pdf
Scrutiny of the Nomination Papers
Another function of the Election Commission is to examine the nomination papers of the
candidates. These papers are accepted if found in order, but rejected otherwise. This duty is
performed by the Returning officer who notified to all the contesting candidates the date,
time and place for the formal scrutiny of nomination papers.
The Conduct of the Poll
Another stupendous task that the Election Commission has to undertake is the conduct of the
poll throughout the whole of India. In a Parliamentary or Assembly constituency, the
Returning Officer is to make suitable arrangement for conducting the poll with the prior
approval of the Election Commission. The Commission can order a re-poll for the whole
constituency under compulsion of circumstances. Article 324 confers on the Election
Commission necessary powers to conduct the elections including the power to countermand
the poll in a constituency a fresh poll therein because of hooliganism and breakdown of law
and order at the time of polling or counting.

46
Election Financing
The Indian Electoral Law, under Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,
requires that all candidates should disclose the correct account of all the expenditure incurred
in connection with the elections and that they are bound to submit the accounts between the
day on which they have been nominated for election and the day of declarations of the results
thereof. In addition, failure to furnish an account of election expenses within the time limit
prescribed under Section 77(6) of the Act, 1951 can lead to disqualification of membership to
the Parliament or State Legislature, which is enforced by the President of India after seeking
the opinion of the Election Commission. The Election Commission itself has the right to
disqualify a candidate, if it is satisfied that s/he has failed to submit an account of the
expenses incurred within the specified time limit and in the manner required by the Actxxviii.
The Supreme Court in the famous Kanwarlal Gupta vs Amarnath Chawla (1975 (3) SCC
646) case expressed the view that the expenses incurred by a political party should be
included in the candidate's election expenditure.
In another case Common Cause, the Court held that the integrity of elections was
fundamental to democratic government and the election Commission can ask candidates
about the expenditure incurred by them and by a political party. Accordingly, the Court held
that the Election Commission powers over the electoral process include the scrutiny of all
expenses incurred by a political party a candidate or any other association of body of persons
or by any individual in the course of the electionxxix
Model Code of Conduct
The EC has taken several initiatives in the recent past as a use of state owned Electronic
Media for broadcast or telecast by political parties, checking : criminalization of polities,
providing with electoral identify cars, streamlining the procedure for registration of political
parties and requiring them to hold regular organizational elections, a variety of measures of
strict compliance of Model Code of Conduct for providing a level playing field to contestants
during the elections, and so onxxx.
The Election Commission of India is regarded as guardian of free and fair elections. In every
election, the EC issues a Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to
conduct elections in a free and fair manner. The Commission circulated its first Code at the
time of the fifth general elections, held in 1971. Since then, the Code has been revised from
time to time.
The Code of Conduct lays down guidelines as to how political parties and candidates should
conduct themselves during elections. A provision was made under the Code that from the
time the elections are announced by the Commission, Ministers and other authorities cannot
announce any financial grant, lay foundation stones of projects of schemes of any kind, make
promises of construction of roads, carry out any appointments in government and public
undertakings which may have the effect of influencing the voters in favour of the ruling

47
party. Despite the acceptance of the Code of Conduct by political parties, cases of its
violation have been on the rise. It is a general complaint that the party in power at the time of
elections misuses the official machinery to further the electoral prospects of its candidates.
The misuse of official machinery takes different forms, such as issue of advertisements at the
cost of public exchequer, misuse of official mass media during election period for partisan
coverage of political news and publicity regarding their achievements, misuse of government
transport including aircraft/helicopter, vehicles. A model code of conduct for parties and
candidates contesting elections was first used in Kerala prior to the assembly elections of
February 1960 and circulated nationally in 1968 on the eve of State Assembly elections. The
Goswami committee report tried to give it a legislative basis by including it in the
Representation of the People Amendment Bill of 1990, however the bill got collapsed. The
then Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Sheshan used the model of conduct as a weapon in
his crusade against electoral malpractice backed up by the threat of postponement of elections
and the revoking of resultsxxxi.
During the 2002 Punjab Assembly elections, an aggressive advertisement campaign was
launched by the Congress against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, accusing
them of corruption and bartering away the interests of Punjab. The Akali Dal hit back with its
own set of equally aggressive advertisements against the Congress leadersxxxii.
Similarly, the EC also held Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi responsible for violation of the
Model Code of Conduct by making controversial remarks during election campaign in the
2007 Gujarat Assembly polls. The EC expressed its severe displeasure over its violation by
the two leaders and expected that both of them in future would adhere to the salutary
provisions of the Code.
Disclosure of Antecedents by Candidates
The Peoples Representation Amendment Act 2002 issued an order that each candidate must
submit an affidavit regarding the information of his/her criminal antecedents. If he is accused
of any offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or more in a pending case in
which a charge has been framed by the court of competent jurisdiction or sentenced to
imprisonment for one year or more and more than this if the assets (both movable and
immovable) of self and those of spouses and dependents as well and qualifications at the time
of filing his/her nomination papers for election to the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and the
State Legislative Assemblies. The Election Commission of India has always been of the view
that political parties should be required to compulsorily maintain their accounts and get them
audited by agencies specified by the Commission.
There is a strong need for transparency in the matter of the collection of funds by the political
parties and also about the manner in which those funds are expended by them. Therefore, the
political parties must be required to publish their accounts annually, for information and
scrutiny of the general public and all concerned, for which purpose the maintenance of such
accounts and their auditing to ensure their accuracy is a pre-requisite. The Commission,

48
therefore, strongly recommends the acceptance of the proposal and reiterates its earlier view
on the subject.
The Election Commission is in favour of the expenditure incurred by a political party to be
included in the election expenses of a candidate, for purposes of ceiling on election expenses.
In fact, the Commission has been insistently pressing for such a reform, right since the mid-
seventies. The Supreme Court of India has also, time and again, commented on the
inadequacy of the existing provisions in this regard. The role of money power definitely
disturbs the level playing field in the election process between contesting candidates and
contesting political parties. There is a great need to ensure that the role of money power in
elections and in the election, arena is curbed significantly if not curbedxxxiii.
The Commission felt that Article 324 of the Constitution should be amended to provide that
(a) there should be a maximum of two Election Commissioners, along with the Chief
Election Commissioner; and (b) the method of appointment and the constitutional protection
after appointment, should be the same for the Chief Election Commissioner and other
Election Commissioners. The Election Commission reiterated and urged early action on the
need to have an independent Secretariat on the lines of the Lok Sabha and the expenses of the
Commission should be ‘charged’ to the Consolidated Fund of India.
Criminalization of Politics
Criminalization of politics is one of the most urgent issues for the Parliament to consider and
legislate to tackle the problem. The Election Commission suggested a series of steps
including the filings of declarations by political parties with the Commission that they would
not field candidates and give tickets to those who were convicted as criminals, even if
imprisoned for a period less than five years for a cognizable offence, in any election. Another
suggestion to enable the Commission to crack the whip was that powers be given to it to
derecognise and de-register political parties, which were found to field such convicts, who
were imprisoned for five years or more, as candidates for the Parliament or Assembly
elections, after giving them an opportunity to be heard. The Commission felt that the
nomination form should contain a column seeking information if the candidate had ever been
jailed and its duration, criminal cases pending against the persons, and, if the person had been
charge-sheeted for any offence. In the event of any person providing false information or
suppression of any information, not only should the election be set aside, but it should be
cancelled as well, and the person should be punished with imprisonment up to 5 years or fine
or bothxxxiv.
In a significant order to curb the criminalisation of politics, the Election Commission on 28th
August 1997 passed an order, which prohibited convicted persons, regardless of whether an
appeal was pending in a higher court, from contesting elections. The Election Commission
felt that though Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provided that any
convict would stand disqualified from contesting elections to the Parliament and Legislatures
for six years, those on bail or with an appeal pending were being allowed to contest. The

49
Commission had referred to Article 324 of the Constitution and judgements of High Courts
(Madhya Pradesh High Court in the Purshottam Kaushik v. Vidya Charan Shukla Case, the
Allahabad High Court in Sachindra Nath Tripathi v. Doodnath Case and the Himachal
Pradesh High Court in Vikram Anand v. Rakesh Singh Case) on Section 8 of the
Representation of the People Act. It had directed the States, Union Territories and Chief
Electoral Officers that disqualification of candidates under section 8 of the Representation of
the People Act would commence from the date of conviction, irrespective of whether the
person was out of bail. The Election Commission had asked the Returning Officers to get
affidavits from candidates mentioning whether they were convicted by a court of law, beside
the date of conviction, the nature of offence, the punishment imposed and the period of
imprisonment, on a prescribed formxxxv.
The Commission, in continuation of its desire to curb the menace of criminalisation,
recommended to the Government sweeping changes in the election laws, suggesting that a
person sentenced for more than six months should be debarred from contesting in elections
for a period of six years and above. It further suggested that by clubbing Sections 8(1), 8(2)
and 8(3) of the Act, it would make it mandatory for a person convicted by a Court of Law and
sentenced to imprisonment for six months or more to be debarred from contesting elections
for a period totaling the sentence imposed plus an additional six yearsxxxvi.
Democracy within the Party
While pronouncing his order in the Janata Dal symbol case on October 16, 1994, the Chief
Election Commissioner, T.N. Seshan, warned the political parties that if they failed to hold
their organisational elections according to their constitution, necessary action would be
initiated according to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order. Thereby their
status of being legitimate democratic parties could be in jeopardy.
Strategic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP)
The innovation of best practices is part of tendency in election administration to conduct
elections in efficient management, one of the component is (SVEEP) wehich is voter
education programme. It was launched in 2008 in Jharkhand and ECI termed this initiative as
one of educating voters. The ECI professed that it was its responsibility to bridge the
knowledge gap among votes between what they should know and what they actually know
about the electoral processxxxvii.
Election Commission and its Reforms
In 1972, the Joint parliamentary Committee on reform of electoral law suggested that the
Chief Election Commissioner should be supported by the appointment of other Election
Commissioners as allowed by Article 324 of the Constitutionxxxviii.
The Tarkunde Committee on Electoral Reform 1975 appointed by the Citizens for
Democracy suggested a multi-member body and proposed that the selection of
commissioners rather than being in the hands of the Presidents alone, should be put in the

50
hands of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha
and the Chief /Justice. A similar proposal was made by the all-party Goswami Committee on
Election Reforms in 1990.The Chief Election Commissioner, Peri Sastri, thought the issue
worthy of consideration in the late 1980s but was not prepared for the sudden nomination of
two extra commissioners instigated by the Rajiv Gandhi government in October 1989. The
change was seen as an attempt to undermine the independence of the Election Commission,
the run upto the Lok Sabha election (S. S Dhanoa and VS. Seigal) were removed by the
incoming government of VP Singhxxxix.
The Government was fully within its jurisdiction to constitute a multi member commission
(Prasad 1995). Clause (6) Article 324 prescribes “the president or the Governor of the State
shall, when so requested by the Election Commission make available to the Election
Commission or to a Regional Commissioner such staff as may be necessary for the discharge
of the functions conferred on the Election Commission.
A determined effort to temper the influence of the Chief Election Commissioners was much
in debate in 1993 when a Presidential Ordinance reestablished a three member commission.
Two new Election Commissioners M S Gill and GVG Krishnamurthy were appointed to sit
alongside the Chief Election Commissioners
The decision of the Supreme Court in T.N. Seshan finally closed the much debated
controversy over the constitution of the multi-member Election Commission by declaring the
presidential ordinance constituting a multi-member Election Commission as valid. The
observations of the Supreme Court in T. N. Seshan on the role of election commission and
the importance of their opinion are noteworthy. For the first time T. N. Seshan case provided
an opportunity to the Supreme Court to dwell much upon the importance of Article 324 and
the Representation of the peoples Act, 1951. It also provided a fertile ground to the court to
explain the need to have an independent Election Commission, manned with persons of high
stature and integrity to ensure a free and fair poll in the Indian Electoral process.
The Supreme Court in T. N. Seshan case maintained that the scheme of Article 324 is that
there shall be a permanent body to be called the Election Commission with a permanent
incumbent to be called the Chief Election Commissioner. The Election Commissioner can
therefore be a single-member body or a multi-member body if the President considers if
necessary to appoint one or more Election Commissioners. The Supreme Court in its opinion
rightly held that the Chief Election Commissioner does not enjoy a status superior to Election
Commissioners. But, Article 324 envisages a permanent body to be headed by a permanent
incumbent, namely, the Chief Election Commissioner.
Therefore, in order to preserve and safeguard his independence, he had to be treated
differently because there can’t be an election commission without a CEC. That is not the case
with other Election Commissioners. They are not permanent incumbents. The service
conditions of the CEC are akin to those of the Supreme Court Judges, namely (i) the
provisions that he can be removed from Office in like manner and on like grounds as a judge

51
of the Supreme Court and (ii) his conditions of service shall not be varied to his disadvantage
after appointment.
On the status of the CEC vis-à-vis ECs’, the court came to a conclusion that the CEC does not
enjoy a status superior to Election Commissioners. Though it is in the case of the CEC that
the first proviso to clause (5) of Article after his appointment, where as such protection is not
extended to Election Commissioners, but by virtue of the ordinance the CEC and the E.Cs’,
are placed on a par in the matter of salary etc., of course, there can’t be Election Commission
without CEC. That is not in the case of Election Commissioners, but this is not indication for
conferring a higher status on the CEC. The court in the T. N. Seshan clearly maintained that
no superior status is conferred on CEC and that the amending Ordinance/Act treating CEC on
par with E.Cs’ not unconstitutionalxl (McMillan 2015).
The decision to make the Election Commission a multi member one was made by the
Government in the wake of certain recent controversial decisions taken by the Chief Election
Commission which had created a serious confrontation between Election Commission and
the Government in August, 1993. The Chief Election Commissioner has postponed certain
by-elections and biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha and State legislature councils unless
certain “unresolved” dispute about the exclusive powers and privileges of the Commission to
‘direct’ the Government about the deployment of Central police forces at the time of an
election.
The decision was made with the implied backing of the Supreme Court which had stated in
1991 that an institution like the Election Commission is entrusted with vital functions and is
armed with exclusive and uncontrolled powers to execute them, it is both necessary and
desirable that the powers to execute them it is both necessary and desirable that the powers
are not exercised by one individual however wise he may be (S S Dhanoa vs Union of India
AIR 1991 SC 1745).
Conclusion
Election is the contrivance through which a modern State creates amongst its citizens a sense
of involvement and participation in public affairs. Over the years, the Election Commission
has conducted a number of laudable electoral reforms to strengthen democracy and enhance
the fairness of elections. These reforms are quite adequate and admirable. Undoubtedly, the
election machinery, under the aegis of the EC, deserves credit for conducting elections in a
free and fair manner. To win votes, political parties’ resort to foul methods and corrupt
practices. Such maladies encourage the anti-social elements to enter the electoral fray. The
problem is not lack of laws, but lack of their strict implementation. In order to stamp out
these unfair tendencies, there is a need to strengthen the hands of the EC and to give it more
legal and institutional powers. The EC must be entrusted with powers to punish the
delinquent politicians who violate the electoral laws

52
 Summary of core arguments
 The basic idea after independence was to create an independent commission to conduct free
and fair elections in India. The superintendence, direction and control of all elections to the
Legislature, whether of the Union or of the states, including the appointment of Election
Tribunal, shall be vested in the Election Commission for the Union or Unit as the case may
be appointed in all cases in accordance with the law of the Union.
 The major functions and powers of the election commission is demarcation of constituencies,
to prepare electoral rolls, registration of political parties and allotment of symbols. In addition
to this it also scrutinise the nomination papers, implement the Model Code of Conduct and
finally the conduct of the poll.
Bibliography

i Singh, Prasad Bimal (2013). Electoral Reforms in India: Issues and Challenges.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 2(3), pp. 1-5.
ii DeSouza, Peter R. (1998). The Election Commission and Electoral Reforms in India.
In D. D. Khanna et al (eds)., Democracy, Diversity, Stability: 50 Years of Indian
Independence, New Delhi. Macmillan, pp. 1-14.
iii Rudolph, Susanne H. and Lloyd I Rudolph, (2001). Redoing the Constitutional
Design: From an Interventionist to a Regulatory State. In: Atul Kohli ed., The Success
of India's Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.127-162.
iv Katju, Manjari (2006). Election Commission and Functioning of Democracy.
Economic and Political Weekly, 41(17), pp. 1635-1640.
v Singh Kumar Ujjawal and Anupama Roy, (2018). Regulating the Electoral Domain:
The Election Commission of India, Indian Journal of Public Administration, 64(3),
pp.518-530.
vi Bhalla R. P. (1972). Electoral Mechanism in India (1951-1971). The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 33(1), pp. 27-57.
vii Rao, B. Shiva (1968). The Framing of India's Constitution. New Delhi: Indian
Institute of Public Administration.
viii Bhalla R. P. (1972). Electoral Mechanism in India (1951-1971). The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 33(1), pp. 27-57.
ix Constituent Assembly, Reports of the Committee, (1947). Constituent Assembly
Debates IV (29).New Delhi. p.917.
x Constituent Assembly, Reports of the Committee, (1947). Constituent Assembly
Debates IV (29).New Delhi. p.917.
xi Constituent Assembly, Reports of the Committee, (1949), Constituent Assembly
Debates VIII, New Delhi. p. 905.
xii Constituent Assembly, Reports of the Committee, (1947). Constituent Assembly
Debates IV (29).New Delhi.

53
xiii Constituent Assembly, Reports of the Committee, (1949), Constituent Assembly
Debates VIII, New Delhi. p. 916.
xiv Bhalla R. P. (1972). Electoral Mechanism in India (1951-1971). The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 33(1), pp. 27-57.
xv Constituent Assembly, Reports of the Committee, (1949), Constituent Assembly
Debates VIII, New Delhi. p. 905.
xvi Kumar, B. Venkatesh (2002). Critical Issues in Electoral Reforms. The Indian Journal
of Political Science, (63)1 .pp.73-88.
xvii Bhalla R. P. (1972). Electoral Mechanism in India (1951-1971). The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 33(1), pp. 27-57.
xviii Fadia, B. L. (1992). Reforming the Election Commission.The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 53 (1). pp. 78-88.
xix Santhanam, K. (1966). The Indian Constitution: Promise and Performance.Madras:
University of Madras.
xx Ali, Rehena (2001). The Working of the Election Commission of India. New Delhi:
Jnanada Prakrashan.
xxi Bhalla R. P. (1972). Electoral Mechanism in India (1951-1971). The Indian Journal of
Political Science, 33(1), pp. 27-57.
xxii ibid
xxiii Mc Millan, Alistair (2015). The Election Commission. In: Niraja Gopal Jayal eds.,
The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.
98-116.
xxiv Kumar, B.Venkatesh (2002). Critical Issues in Electoral Reforms. The Indian Journal
of Political Science, (63)1 .pp.73-88.
xxv Kaur, Sumandeep, (2008). Electoral Reforms in India: Proactive Role of
Election Commission Mainstream, XLVI, 49.pp.1-7.
xxvi Mc Millan, Alistair (2015). The Election Commission. In: Niraja Gopal Jayal eds.,
The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.
98-116.
xxviii Kumar, B.Venkatesh (2002). Critical Issues in Electoral Reforms. The Indian Journal
of Political Science , (63)1 .pp.73-88.
xxix Sondhi, Aditya (2016). Elections, In: Sujit Choudhary, Madhav Khosla and Pratap
Bhanu Mehta (eds.) The Oxford Hand Book of The Indian Constitution, New Delhi,
Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 196-212.
xxx Singh, Prasad Mahindra (1994), Communalism and Party Politics in India, Trends in
Social Science Research, 1(1).pp 18.
xxxi Mc Millan, Alistair (2015). The Election Commission. In: Niraja Gopal Jayal eds.,
The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.
98-116.
xxxii Prashar, A.S. (2002). Feeling the Heat, Parties Talk of Hung House. The Tribune, p.6

54
xxxiii Kaur, Sumandeep, (2008). Electoral Reforms in India: Proactive Role of
Election Commission Mainstream, XLVI, 49.pp.1-7.
xxxiv Kumar, B.Venkatesh (2002). Critical Issues in Electoral Reforms. The Indian Journal
of Political Science, (63)1 .pp.73-88.
xxxv ibid
xxxvi ibid
xxxvii Singh Kumar Ujjawal and Anupama Roy, (2018). Regulating the Electoral Domain:
The Election Commission of India, Indian Journal of Public Administration, 64(3),
pp.518-530.
xxxviii Ali, Rehena (2001). The Working of the Election Commission of India. New Delhi:
Jnanada Prakrashan.
xxxix ibid
xl Mc Millan, Alistair (2015). The Election Commission. In: Niraja Gopal Jayal eds.,
The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.
98-116.

55
 (b) Electoral Reforms

Elections provide an opportunity to the people to impart their faith in the government from
time to time and change it when the need arises. Elections symbolize the sovereignty of the
people and provide legitimacy to the authority of the government. Thus, free and fair
elections are indispensable for the success of democracy. Elections in India are always prone
to vulnerable influences like muscles, money and power. In respect of this Election of
Commission of India job is to minimize the influence and conduct free and fair elections.
Several measures are adopted to counter these pressures but the attempts made in this
direction so far are not adequate. In this direction the chapter will inspect problems in
election machineries and identifies various electoral reforms and its various modes for
successful implementation of electoral reforms in a democratic country like India. The
chapter also highlights the various challenges that the Election Commission has faced to
conduct free and fair elections.
Introduction
Elections form the most important and fundamental part of politics in a democratic system of
governance. Over the years, Indian electoral system suffers from serious ailments. The
election process in our country is gripped in political corruption, muscle and money power
etc. The ideal conditions require that an honest who is public spirited and desires to serve the
people, should be able to contest and get elected as people’s representatives. However, in fact
politically corrupt people are election with dirty and unfair means. The dire need to adopt
electoral reforms as one-third of MPs face serious criminal charges. Then there is rampant
vote buying parties.
Though some of the recent measures to check the criminalization of politics, illegitimate role
of money and the menace of participation of non-serious candidates are laudable, yet some
more meaningful electoral reforms are required. There have been many number of reports
and recommendations on what needs to be done. Some of the significant examples are the
Indrajit Gupta Report, the Dinesh Goswani Report, the 170 Report of the Law Commission of
India on Electoral Reforms, the Election Commissions Report of Electoral Reforms in India.
The remarkable fact however is that almost none of the recommendations of these
painstakingly prepared reports have been properly implemented.
Historical Study of Electoral Reforms: First, such major concern for Electoral Reforms was
discernible in 1971 when a Joint Parliamentary Committee on Amendments to Election Law
was appointed in pursuance of a motion adopted in the Lok Sabha and concurred by Rajya
Sabha on 22, June and 25, June 1975, respectively1. Under the chairmanship of Jagannath
Rao, the Committee submitted the report in 1972. The report was in two parts part I contained
recommendations for amendments to the Representation of People Act, 1950 and 1951, while
part II dealt with matters like voting age, electoral system, etc. The reform could have been
helpful in removing certain distortion but none could be implemented.

56
In 1974, Jayaprakash Narayan as President of the Citizens for Democracy (CFD) set up a
Committee under the chairman ship of justice V.M. Tarkunde to study and report on a
scheme for Electoral Reforms to combat various forms of corrupt practice like the use of
money power, misuse of official machinery, the disparity between the popular vote, and the
number of seats under the present system of election, defects in existing law and
administration, etc. The Committee submitted its report on February 9, 1975. Its important
recommendations were2 to restructure the elections commission and regarding the election
expense like all political parties should be required by law to give accurate income and
details of the expenditure and in every constituency all the amounts spent directly or
indirectly for the prospects of candidate in an election agents and the use of black money in
the election must be curbed.
After the 1977 elections Janata Government was formed. For the first time that years, was the
national and state political parties were given time on radio and television to broad cast
election messages during the State Assembly elections. Beside passing the Constitution
(forty-fourth Amendment) Act to remove distortions brought, a cabinet sub-Committee to
consider proposals for Electoral Reforms. The Committee was headed by the then Union
Home Minister, Charan Singh, At the same time, the then Chief Election Commissioner, S.L.
Shakdhar, made significant suggestions on various issues ranging from election expenses to
booth capturing. An agreement to reduce voting age from 21 to 18 years was also reached.
But the Janata party government had to resign from office before it could initiate any
electoral reform.
Electoral reforms as envisaged by the Election Commission have a long history, initially the
Commission used to make its recommendation for amendments to elections law and
procedure and electoral reforms though its reports on general elections brought out after the
completion of each general election. It is interesting to note that no major or vital changes
were proposed in the basic provision of election law till 19703. For the first time in 1977, a
review of all recommendations made by the Commission earlier was undertaken and
consolidated recommendation of the Commission on electoral reforms, including both the
fresh and unimplemented recommendations, were sent to the Government of India on 22
October 1977. Since 1980 these recommendations have been reviewed time and again and
new proposals were added to the earlier ones and sent to the Government of India.
In main recommendations which were reiterated with or without modifications are": ban of
defection and fresh Delimitation of Constituencies by suitable amendment to the relevant
provision of Constitution and creation of election fund and also Commission should be
empowered to order fresh poll in case of destruction of ballot papers, ballot boxes, prevalence
of coercion intimidation and impersonation at the polling stations and law should be amended
to empower the Commission to order repoll in the entire constituency or an Assembly
segment of a Parliamentary constituency;
In 1983 the Hegde Government come in power in Karnataka and put forward some
suggestions for Electoral Reforms. It suggested Election Commission to be invested with the

57
statutory powers to issue mandatory directions direct to all authorities in India-Central, State
and local whether suo moto or on the complaint of an aggrieved individual or on the report of
its observers who should, likewise, enjoy, statutory authority. The Chief Election
Commission should not be eligible for any further appointment. Immediately after the
issuance of notification of the elections to the Lok Sabha and to the State Assembly, the
Centre or the State Government, as the case may be, should resign and function only as a
care-taker government until the new government is formed. A Committee of the
representatives of the national parties should be formed without delay to formulate a scheme
for electoral reforms, embodying the points on which consensus already exists. Also, after
framing the scheme, the Committee should consider change in the election laws including the
introduction of state funding of elections4.
Committee on electoral reforms was constituted by the National Front Government under
Prime Minister Shri V.P. Singh in 1990, after discussing various aspects of Electoral Reforms
with the representatives of political parties in Parliament. Comprising Members of Parliament
and experts and headed by the then Law Minister. Dinesh Goswami, the Committee
submitted its report made one hundred and eight recommendations in thirteen chapters. Most
important recommendations are as follows5 The election commission of India should be a
multi-member body, and the chief electoral officers should be entrusted with the work of
elections only and not any other kinds of work and a fresh delimitation of constituencies on
the basis of 1981 census to be carried out. Photo Identity card should be implemented. A
person should not be allowed contest from more than two constituencies. They must set up a
model code of conduct to have the statutory backing, etc. but the recommendations of this
committee were not implemented.
Vohra committee was set up in July, 1993 to take stock of all the information agencies about
the activities of mafia organizations and their growing nexus with the politicians and
bureaucrats and pursue cases against them. The committee was headed by the then union
home secretary N.N. Vohra. According to the report the network of the mafia is virtually
running a parallel government, putting the state apparatus into irrelevance. The committee
recommended the creation of a model agency to collect information available with the
intelligence agencies about the activities of the mafia organizations and bureaucrats and
pursue cases against them. The committee had identified the nexus between criminal gangs,
police, bureaucracy and politicians which had become a countrywide phenomenon. A person
should not be allowed contest from more than two constituencies. To set up a model code of
conduct to have the statutory backing, etc. but the recommendations of this committee were
not implemented6.
Indrajit Gupta Committee presented the report in 1999, in which the recommendations were
to state fund the parties during elections. It should be available to candidates of the parties
recognized by the E. Commission. This assistance should be in the form of materials and not
in cash. Separate state funds (600 crores) should be created for this purpose. Elections should
be made free from the influence of criminal and use of money and muscle power should be

58
checked. Restrictions should be imposed on wall writings & display of banners. All donations
above RS.10,000/ upwards should be accepted in the form of cheques or drafts and names of
the donors be disclosed. Political parties must file a return of their income and expenditure
after every general election to the Election Commission.
The Law Commission of India, in its 170th Report, came out with several proposals relating
electoral reforms, which are worth implementing. The Law Commission's suggestion for
amending the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to checkmate unprincipled defections and
desertion under the guise of a 'split' is most welcome. The Commission suggested that once a
candidate's elected to a party, s/he will remain thus till the dissolution of the House or the end
of his/her membership and the concepts of 'split' and 'merger' should have to be given up. If
one or more members decide to leave a party and join another, they should resign their
membership of the House forthwith, and seek a fresh mandate on the ticket of another party7.
In spite of so many committees and reports, the concern on electoral reforms still continues
mainly because, except for bringing some procedural changes in the electoral system, most of
the suggestions of these committees have not been implemented by the government. Reforms
brought about in the recent past have been reducing the number of campaigning days from
three to two weeks time, raising the ceiling limit of election expenditure for contesting the
Lok Sabha Elections to Rs 15 lakh and for Vidhan Sabha elections to Rs 6 lakh, raising the
security deposit for contesting the Lok Sabha elections to Rs 10,000 and for contesting the
Vidhan Sabha election to Rs 5,000 in case of general candidates.
For candidates belonging to the scheduled caste (SC) or the scheduled tribe (ST) category,
the security deposit has been fixed for Rs 5,000-for contesting the Lok Sabha election and Rs
2,500 for contesting the Vidhan Sabha election. Under the revised rules, a restriction has been
im posed on a candidate on contesting election for not more than two constituencies at one
time. Under the new election law, election can be countermanded only on the death of a party
candidate and not in case of the death of an independent candidate. As per the modified rules,
a person convicted by the trial court attracts disqualification and even those who are released
on bail during the pendency of their appeals against convictions are disqualified for
contesting elections. All these reforms have been given effect by enactments of the
parliament8.
In July, 2013 the Honorable Supreme Court ruled that Parliamentarians and State Legislators
who were convicted of serious crimes, meaning carrying a jail term of two years or more
would be barred from contesting elections. The court struck down section 8 of the
representation of the People Act which allowed convicted members of Parliament and
Legislative Assemblies to continue in office while their appeals journeyed through courts
often for indefinite periods. The Government, backed by support from almost all political
parties, had introduced a bill in Parliament to override this Supreme Court judgment and then
passed the ill-fated Ordinance which now stands withdrawn9.
The Initiation of NOTA (None of the Above) was introduced in the electronic voting
machines in India after the landmark judgment delivered by the Supreme Court (the apex

59
court in the Indian Judicial system) in PUCL vs. UOI .The main advantage of the
incorporation of NOTA is upholding and recognition of the right of the citizens to not cast a
vote while maintaining secrecy during such abstinence. The true spirit of democracy lies in
the right of the citizens to be able to choose their representatives periodically. However, at
the same time it must be ensured that the citizens are not compelled to choose the best from
the worst (which unfortunately is the case more often than not). This is exactly what NOTA
seeks to achieve10
Recent Challenges to the Election Commission
The management of elections in India is continuously evolving with the phase of time . From
separate ballot boxes for each candidate to the EVMs (electronic voting machines) has been a
long journey. It has revolutionised the election process by bringing total transparency,
efficiency and removal of human discretion11.The Election commission faced a lot of
challenges to execute the elections in a fair manner. The diversity of geography and
demography of India is truly reflected in the challenges faced during the election process.
Some challenges are : Increase in population. execution in EVM, One nation One Election,
Model Code of Conduct, First –Past- the- Post- System:
Increase in population and increase in number of polling stations There has been an
increase of about 10 crore (100 million) voters between the 2009 and 2014 general elections.
It means there is need of more polling stations. About 100,000 thousand polling stations were
added across the country. This also means an increase in the size of the election machinery
and security personnel which is great challenge for the election commission. Besides, there is
also need to create auxiliary polling stations where the number of electors in a particular
polling station is higher12.
Model Code of Conduct evolved with the consensus of political parties in India and is a
singular significant contribution by them to the cause of democracy. The Election
Commission enforces it right from the day it announces any election schedule. MCC has no
statutory backing and many of its provisions are not legally enforceable. But the harsh reality
is that political parties never obey the code of conduct. The predicament is not lack of laws,
but want of any strict execution. In order to squash out this iniquitous inclination, there is a
need to reinforce the hands of the EC and to give it more officially authorized and
institutional powers13.
First –Past- the- Post- System: One of the basic reasons for these many inconsistencies is
the structural defect in the procedure of election and it is a huge challenge for the election
commission. The process followed in our country is first –past- the- post- system. The ideal
principle of election is the ‘majority rules principle’, whichever party gets more than 50 %
votes emerge out to be victorious in the polling. But the principal followed in our country i.e.,
the First-past –the-post-system is based on irrational ground. Since, according to this
principle a person can win elections even if the margin is less than 100 votes and the party
which gets just 30% – 35% votes will count to emerge victorious in the elections. Hence he

60
49
or she cannot be the choice of majority. The National Election commission therefore,
proposed to replace this system with two staged election. If no candidate gets majority more
than 50% then second round will take place consisting of top two candidates and whoever
gets more than 51% shall be deemed elected14.
The recent challenge is related to prove the effectiveness of the EVMs. It can be tampered
with while polling and second that tampering can take place while the machine is kept in the
EC’s custody. But election commission have clearly subjected that the EVMs are devised to
self-destruct if tampered with rather than storing that change in information.15
Accordingly, the recent challenge which is in debate is, the term “One Nation One Election
which is defined as structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner that elections to Lok
Sabha and State Assemblies are synchronized together. In such a scenario, a voter would
normally cast his/her vote for electing members of Lok Sabha and State Assembly on a single
day and at the same time. To clarify further, simultaneous elections do not mean that voting
across the country for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies needs to happen on a single day. This
can be conducted in a phase-wise manner as per the existing practice provided voters in a
particular constituency vote for both State Assembly and Lok Sabha the same day.16.If
simultaneous elections are held for Parliament and State Assemblies in future, the next stage
of evolving would aim at simultaneous elections by State Election Commission for all Urban
Local Bodies and Rural Local Bodies respectively. This would be very complex considering
the high number of contestants and very high voting percentage17. The election commission
has to deal with the pros and cons of the system if it is implemented.
Suggestions
The EC does not have independent staff of its own, it has to depend upon staff of Central and
State Governments whenever there are elections in the country. Along with it comes the
problem of disciplinary control over the staff deputed to do election work which generally
generates confrontation between the Government and the EC. The money and muscle powers
are the basic evils that poison and taint the process and motivate participants to resort to mal
practices in elections18. This leads to the decline of moral values in the arena of electoral
politics. Stringent measures- legislative administrative and reformatory are needed to
reenergize the whole election process. Foremost people must be honest and true to its spirit if
the whole process has to be corrupt free.
Conclusion
The reforms are quite adequate and admirable. Undoubtedly, the election machinery, under
the aegis of the EC, deserves credit for conducting elections in a free and fair manner. To win
votes, political parties’ resort to foul methods and corrupt practices. Such maladies encourage
the anti-social elements to enter the electoral fray. The problem is not lack of laws, but lack
of their strict implementation. In order to stamp out these unfair tendencies, there is a need to
strengthen the hands of the EC and to give it more legal and institutional powers. The EC
must be entrusted with powers to punish the delinquent politicians who violate the electoral

61
laws. Election is a soul of democracy, that not only nourishes the faith of common person in
the ideals of democracy but also protect the nation from the threat of dictatorship. Electoral
Reforms of radical nature can only save this glorious nation from political deterioration.
Sanctity and purity of elections must be protected at any cost, as the future of India depends
on it.
Summary of Core Arguments
 The basic idea after independence was to create an independent commission to
conduct free and fair elections in India. The superintendence, direction and control of
all elections to the Legislature, whether of the Union or of the states, including the
appointment of Election Tribunal, shall be vested in the Election Commission for the
Union or Unit as the case may be appointed in all cases in accordance with the law of
the Union.
 The major functions and powers of the election commission is demarcation of
constituencies, to prepare electoral rolls, registration of political parties and allotment
of symbols. In addition to this it also scrutinise the nomination papers, implement the
Model Code of Conduct and finally the conduct of the poll.
 Several reforms were initiated to improve the functioning of the election commission
like the Tarkunde Committee on Electoral Reform. It suggested a multi-member body
and proposed that the selection of commissioners rather than being in the hands of the
Presidents alone. Supreme Court finally closed the much debated controversy over the
constitution of the multi-member Election Commission by declaring the presidential
ordinance constituting a multi-member Election Commission as valid.
 To initiate Electoral reforms several committees are formed like Indrajit Gupta
Report, the Dinesh Goswani Report, the 170 Report of the Law Commission of India
on Electoral Reforms and the Election Commissions Report of Electoral Reforms in
India.
 Reforms brought about in the recent past are reduction of the number of campaigning
days from three to two weeks’ time, raising the ceiling limit of election expenditure
for contesting the Lok Sabha Elections, the right of the citizens to not cast a vote
while maintaining secrecy during such abstinence with the inclusion of NOTA
 The Election commission faced a lot of challenges to execute the elections in a fair
manner. Some challenges are: increase in population. execution in EVM, One nation
One Election, Model Code of Conduct and First –Past- the- Post- System:
Key Words
The word “Delimitation” literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of
territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The main
purpose of undertaking the delimitation exercise is to rationalize the structure and
composition of the electoral constituencies

62
Voting behaviours is not confined to the examination of voting statistics, records and
computation of electoral shifts and swings. It also involves an analysis of individual
psychological processes (perception, emotion, and motivation) and their relation to political
action as well as of institutional patterns, such as the communication process and their impact
on election.
Criminalization of Politics means that the criminals entering the politics and contesting
elections and even getting elected to the Parliament and state legislature. It takes place
primarily because of the nexus between the criminals and some of the politicians. The
criminals need the patronage of politicians occupying public offices to continue with their
criminal activities and the politicians need the money and muscle power that the criminals
can offer to the politicians to win elections. In course of time, the nexus led the criminals
themselves to contest elections.
Electoral reform is a broad term that covers, among other things, improving the
responsiveness of electoral processes to public desires and expectations. However, not all
electoral change can be considered electoral reform. Electoral change can only be referred to
as reform if its primary goal is to improve electoral processes, for example, through fostering
enhanced impartiality, inclusiveness, transparency, integrity or accuracy.
The (Model Code of Conduct) MCC is a set of instructions to be followed by both political
parties and candidates contesting elections. The MCC is a set of guidelines and instructions
on general conduct, campaigning, meetings etc. during elections. The MCC is in place till the
entire process of elections is complete
Review Questions
1. What is tenure, conditions of service composition of the Election Commission?
2. What are functions and powers of the election commission?
3. Explain the changing role of Election Commission’s functions with the changing
political scenario?
4. What role did Election Commission play in the democratic governance?
5. To what extent Election Commission guarantee regarding Fundamental Rights?
6. What is role of election commission in the registration of political parties and
allotment of symbols?
7. How the Election Commission resolves conflicts on party symbol disputes?
8. Do you think that election commission has strengthened the Indian democracy?
9. To what extent Election Commission has succeeded in preventing the criminalisation
of politics?
10. How did Election Commission create amongst its citizens a sense of involvement and
participation in public affairs?

63
References

1 Hegde, Ramakrishna (1987), Electoral Reforms: Lack of Political Will, Kamataka State
Janata Party, Banglore,
2 Tara Kunde Committee Report on Electoral Reform (1975), New Delhi.
3 Shakdhar S.L.(1980) , Electoral Reforms', Journal of Constitutional & Parliamentary
Studies, XVIII( 1-2,)
4. Gehlot, N.S (1992), Election and Electoral Administration in India New Delhi: Deep
and Deep Publications.
5 Report of the Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms, Ministry of Law and justice,
Legislative Department, Government of India (1990), New Delhi
6 Singh, Prasad Bimal (2013). Electoral Reforms in India: Issues and Challenges.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 2(3), pp. 1-5.

7 Kumar, B.Venkatesh (2002). Critical Issues in Electoral Reforms. The Indian Journal of
Political Science , (63)1 .pp.73-88.
8 Kumar Sanjay (2002), Reforming Indian Electoral Process. Economic and Political
Weekly, 37(34): 3489-3491
9 Reddy, K Eswara (2014), Electoral Reforms in India - Issues and Recent Reform.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 3(8): pp.26-29
10 ibid
11 Jain Bhatnagar Anita, (2018). State Election Commission: Unravelled, Indian Journal
of Public Administration, 64 (3): pp-531-542.
12 Meenu (2015), Challenges Before Election Commission Of India, 3(12).
13 Shruti, Sia (2016), Election Reforms in India and Challenges before the Election
Commission H:\New folder\Election Reforms in India and Challenges before the
Election Commission.html
14 ibid
15 Thakur , Meenal (2017), Election Commission says EVM challenge to begin from 3
June
https://www.livemint.com/Politics/6ZUrvUi6wmIRjzoXeECCUL/Election-
Commission-to-announce-schedule-for-its-EVM-challe.html
16 Debroy, Bibek and Kishore Desai (2014) Analysis Of Simultaneous Elections : The
“What”, “Why” And “How”

64
 http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/Note%20on%20Simultaneo
us%20Elections.pdf
17 Jain Bhatnagar Anita, (2018). State Election Commission: Unravelled, Indian Journal
of Public Administration, 64 (3): pp-531-542.
18 Ekka, Nilesh (2018), Electoral Reforms in India - Issues and Reforms, “Electoral
Politics in North-East India: Analysis of 2018 Assembly Elections”, 21st April 2018 at
ICSSR-NERC, NEHU Campus, Shillong, 1-15.

65
 Unit-III : Religion and Politics
Lesson-1

(a) Debates on Secularism in India

Outline
Introduction
Secularism: The Western Way
Secularism and Indian Constitution
Indian Secularism: Key Features
Diverse Understanding of Secularism
Debates on secularism in political theory
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction
Defining secularism has been a tough task as there has been no fixed definition used in theory
or in practice. Broadly, secularism has been defined as a system of belief that essentially
rejects religion or at least forwards the notion that religion should be separated from politics;
affairs of the state. The idea aims at creating a social system which accommodates people of
all religion that they live peacefully. It does not allow discrmination in the hands of state on
the basis of people’s religious beliefs. Secularism is understood differently in diverse Indian
political structure. There exists a variety of stands among policy makers, the judiciary and the
election campaign politics. Sometimes, the ideas of secularism practised even go beyond the
constitutional vision which creates tensions. To understand Indian secularism, we will have to
evaluate the relationship between state and religion in all spheres of political life of a citizen.
Secularism: The Western Way
The western notion of secularism is different from what Indian secularism connotes. The west
separates religion from state. Western democracies have made this principle the core of their
Constitutions. This works by giving the state authority to rule and the state accepts the right
of individuals to any religion and the right to pursue it. The law for every individual is the
same regardless of different religions.
Thomas Pantham in Indian Secularism and its critics: Some Reflections, states that,
“Secularism in the west is usually taken to be emphasising the separation of the state and
religion, where as Indian Secularism stresses the equal tolerance of all religions (sarva
dharma sambhav) even though it also upholds a certain differentiation and relative separation
of the political and religious spheres.” (Pantham, 1997)

66
Panthan also gives a sharp meaning of the term secularism as understood in the west; A clear
separation of the religious sphere and the political sphere. He goes on to say that beyond the
separation of religion and politics, secularism also means diminution of the role of religion,
worldly and not supernatural orientation, the understanding that the world is rationally
manipulated or socially engineered rather than sacred and mysterious and lastly, that religions
are institutions which are constructed by humans and not ‘divinely ordained mysteries’. Thus,
a clear meaning of secularism brings out what western secularism means; state separation
from religion and indifference towards religion. Indian secularism is also different from the
French understanding of the term. The French notion of secularism which is called ‘laïcité’
demands that the government and its institutions such as schools should have complete
absence of religion and vice versa. In contrast, Indian secularism diverges from this form of
secularism of clear separation, for eg. Indian state provides support to religious educational
institutions. This will be discussed later in the chapter.
Secularism and Indian Constitution
The word secularism was not included in the Indian Constitution, neither did the founding
fathers explicitly defined the term. It was only in the 42nd Amendment to the Indian
Constitution in 1975 that the term was incorporated into the Preamble of our Constitution. It
was interesting that the Congress party which had its number in then Rajya Sabha in 1978,
couldn’t define the word in its attempt to the meaning as “equal respect to all religions”
although the bill that had been cleared in the Lok Sabha. It is a different question to think if
the Constitution needed the definition at all.
The Constituent Assembly had a vision which aimed at securing the citizen of India justice,
equality and liberty. While these three political remains at the core of the Constitution,
fraternity remains the basic aim, assuring unity and integrity of the nation with dignity.
Religious harmony is one such aims that goes along with the idea of fraternity and most
particularly in the Indian context. The Constitutional mandate therefore can be said to
promote religious harmony and promotion of fraternity on face of the huge diversity of Indian
society. It was thus imperative to make positive actions to promote fraternity. It is very
important to be familiar with the text of the Constitution as to understand what it tries to say
and do. The following are the Articles of the Constitution with respect to Indian secularism:
Art. 25: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion
(1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all
persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
practise and propagate religion
(2) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State
from making any law
(a) regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity
which may be associated with religious practice;

67
 (b) providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious
institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus Explanation I
The wearing and carrying of kirpans shall be deemed to be included in the
profession of the Sikh religion Explanation II In sub clause (b) of clause reference
to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the
Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion, and the reference to Hindu religious institutions
shall be construed accordingly
Art. 26: Freedom to manage religious affairs Subject to public order, morality and health,
every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right
(a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes;
(b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;
(c) to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and
(d) to administer such property in accordance with law
Art. 27: Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion No person
shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in
payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religions
denomination
Art. 28: Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain
educational institutions
(1) No religion instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly
maintained out of State funds
(2) Nothing in clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by
the State but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires that
religious instruction shall be imparted in such institution
(3) No person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid
out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be
imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in
such institution or in any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person
is a minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto Cultural and Educational Right.
Indian Secularism: Key Features
Indian Secularism is a variant of western secularism but it does not blindly follows it. It is a
result of Indian diversity and its social experiences. While the original western idea was
based on the separation of politics and religion, Indian secularism goes beyond such a
definition. Indian secularism is in practice an idea of respect and equality on religious
grounds.

68
To understand how Indian secularism is different from its westerm form is easy to find in the
matters of personal law. Religious affairs in India continue to have authority over people in
that way. It is a unique feature of Indian politics where different laws are applicable to
individuals of different religions. Indian secularism gives incentives to support different
institutions even as financial aids. Some of the key features of Indian secularism are as
follows:
1. Every citizen has the freedom to choose their religion and faith
2. The state cannot discriminate on the grounds of citizen's religion
3. The state shall not make communal electorates
4. The state can regulate economic activity related to religious affairs
5. The state can make social schemes for welfare and reform.
6. Article 17 abolishes untouchability on the grounds of religion
7. Every religion denomination has the right to form institutions for religious and
charitable purposes.
8. State gives right to religious minority to establish educational institutions of their
choice.
9. These institutions cannot be discriminated against by the state in relation to the grants
given by the state.
10. In the matters of employment or office under the state cannot discriminate against
citizens on the grounds of religion.
11. In the matters of admission into educational institutions maintained by the state, it
cannot discriminate against citizens on grounds of religion.
12. The state cannot use public revenues to promote any religion.
13. In schools run by the state, no religious preaching or instruction can be given
14. By constitutional amendment in 1976, all citizens are enjoined to consider it their
fundamental duty to “preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture". (Pantham,
1997)
The citizens are thus not only given right to profess their religion but also to propagate their
faith. They are free to establish and maintain educational institutions. In the sense this gives
right to communities and thus the idea of secularism goes beyond the notion of rights of
individuals. Indian society is essentially diverse and with this multi religious society, Indian
secularism has become unique, the acceptance of community rights makes character of Indian
politics multicultural and pluralistic and in a way beyond liberal framework of individualism.
On top of that Indian secularism is concerned with both inter religious and intra religious
domination among citizens. Therefore, Indian secularism is nothing like western secularism

69
and does not have a clear separation of religion and politics. Rather, it has ‘principled
distance’ between religion and politics.
Rajeev Bhargav has given the concept of principled distance. He explains, ‘principled
distance’ by taking the example of Indian secularism which does not create a wall of
separation but a proposed principle distance between state and religion. By that, it does not
say that there are no boundaries but these boundaries are essentially porous. Indian state
intervenes in religious matters as mentioned above. Grants to educational institutions, state
interference on religious institutions that deny equal dignity such as denying temple entry and
cases of untouchability are some of the examples of how there is no clear wall. The
separation that Indian secularism talks about is based on principles distance and not strict
exclusion or neutrality. (Bhargav, 2011)
Indian state does not identify any religion as its official religion, but religions are recognised
officially. Religions in India are actively respected and Indian secularism disrespect hostility.
With this idea of principle distance, comes the notion of state distancing itself from public
and private religious institutions, be it individual or community. This is done to foster values
like peace, dignity and liberty. In this sense, Indian secularism becomes essentially sensitive,
it negotiates plurality in groups and value. Bhargav terms it Indian secularism as ‘contextual
secularism’. (Bhargav, 2011) Contextual secularism quite literally would mean that it
depends on the context and would vary from one place to another. Bhargav invokes this
model because it contextualizes moral reasoning. It comes from the character of secularism
which values a number of doctrines, namely equality and liberty and it is essentially
committed to principled distance. This way, Indian secularism is deeply committed to
constitutional values. But the part which enhances contextual character of secularism in India,
is the internal conflict which are frequently observed. There are instances of instability and
discord and contextual secularism recognises that there exists conflict among citizens;
individuals as well as groups. Thus, there is a need for fresh interpretation and adjustments.
Bhargav argues that secularism cannot be adjudicated by general principles, rather it can be
seen as different cases and a process of balancing of different claims. It will then
accommodate or at least encourage doing so.
Diverse Understanding of Secularism
Sarva Dharma Samabhava
Indian secularism is often associated with Sarva Dharma Sambhava. It is essentially a Hindu
concept. It believes that religions might have different paths but they have to reach an equal
destination. Well known social reformers and political thinkers followed and embraced this
concept. People like Ramakrishna, Vivekenanda and Gandhi embraced it. It is believed that
Indian secularism draws from this traditional concept and therefore does not follow complete
separation of state and religion, rather respects all religions.

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Pseudo secularism
Another understanding of secularism in India is that the policies have been made to appease
the minority. The pseudo secularism has been used to describe such policies. Congress is
often charged with such allegations. Policies in the matters of personal law such as Shah
Bano case, where the Parliament overturned Court’s judgement and reservations based on
religion on educational institutions are seen as examples of pseudo secularism. On the other
hand BJP has been accused of presenting a communal narrative in Indian politics. Indian
secularism has been affected with electoral politics and it remains such in current times too.
Problems with vague definitions
It is evident that there is a lack of clear definition of Indian secularism. It has essentially
created problems. It has created troubles understanding what is secular in actuality and what
is communal. Political parties use different definition of both these terms at their own
convenience.
The practice of secularism as a concept in India has been essentially reduced to a viewpoint
which believes that Indian secularism is anti-hindu and is pro-muslim. These differences in
opinion about the concept are created because there is no strict definition of it. There exists a
debate among the political thinkers in Indian discourse as well which will be dealt with in the
next section.
Debates on Secularism in Political Theory
Uphadhay and Robinson in Revisiting communalism and Fundamentalism in India, writes
about the four strands of debates of secularism in academic discourse in India; classical, soft
hindu state, hard hindu position and attempts to go beyond secularism and religion. The
classical, looks at it in terms of modernity and individuals who emerged to be secularized.
They were basically leaving aside identities and participated in the modernist project.
Nehru’s vision of secularism covers in this branch. Uphadhay writes, “Akeel Bilgrami calls
Nehruvian secularism ‘Archimedean’, that is legislated as priori from above and beyond the
sociopolitical fray, rather than the outcome of the negotiations and debate within civil society
among various religious and other communitarian groups.” (Upadhaya, 2012) Secondly,
thinkers such as Madan forward an argument of secularism which talks about attachment to
religion identify and that it has to be acknowledged in public sphere. According to Madan,
Upadhyaya writes, “Madan asserts that secularism is a social myth. Madan argues that in
India a secular state cannot survive because the recognition of secularism as a social and
political value is limited.” Such positions can be understood as soft Hindu positions. Hard
Hindu position includes the vision which problematizes secularism. Nandy calls ‘Secularism
is dead’. He essentially refers to the philosophy of secularism and the gaps there exist in
theory and practice.
In theory, secularism is seen as non partisan and non religious, the problem arises in practices
such as in India. In practice its alignment with grouping and politics of community creates

71
60
issues in secularism. Here communalism implies identity based on religious community but
secularism gains when they are seen as group rights.
We have already discussed about Sarva Dharma Sambhava, when we talk about secular
identities, acting as non partisan way towards all religions, becomes the traditional concept of
Sarva Dharma Sambhava. Thus this can be seen as the process of Secularization without
which secularism is impossible to understand. Upadhaya writes, “The challenge of
actualizing it through concrete social, political, economic and educational measures is an
enormous task.” (Upadhyay, 2012) Imagining secularism with non religious language terms
and symbols is important. Groups and individuals have to learn their ‘primordial identities’
and narrow communitarian groupings and see themselves as subjects of a nation.
Thinkers such as Ashish Nandy, Partha Chatterjee and T.N. Madan have a strong criticism of
Hindu nationalism as well as present a critic of secularism in Indian state in theory and
practice.
Partha Chatterjee and TN. Madan have talked about ‘positive secularism’. They criticize the
ideology by saying that setting up of a positively secular state, India has been brought to a
‘potentially disastrous’ political impasse. This positivism is seen along with the campaign of
the Hindu right. Chatterjee questions the modernist mission of secularization. The mission
included two projects; separation of politics and religion and reformist intervention of state in
the sphere of socio-religious of mostly Hindu politics. (Pantham, 1997)
Chatterjee sees, this intervention as a violation of the principles of secularism. Thus the claim
based on non religiousness cannot be made by the state which decides to reform personal
laws of Hindu and cannot be justified as public interest. Another such contradiction is that the
principle of equality of religion is essentially compromised when the people of some religion
benefit from state sponsored positive discrimination which is provided to Scheduled caste.
The point that Chatterjee is trying to make is that, the positive secularism deflects being anti
secular and rationalizes intolerant interventions by state which is modernly against religious,
cultural or ethnic minorities. The state here can be seen as rationalising a ‘national culture’ in
a mission to homogenise the notion of citizenship. Thus the secular state in India has a
‘potentially dangerous nature’ when it practices the politics of ‘positive secularism'.
According to Chatterjee, India needs toleration of religious, cultural and ethnic differences.
In this sense Indian secularism promotes religious communalism and religious intolerance.
The argument of politics of interventionist secularisation made by Chatterjee is also agreed
by Nandy. They differ when they make different alternatives to positive secularism. Nandy
gives a ‘anti-secular manifesto’ of religious tolerance which is non modern, preciberal
philosophy, symbolism and presents the idea of theology of tolerance in every faith. (Nandy,
1988)
Nandy reaches to this alternative by discussing problems with Indian secularism which
separates state and religion which has been imposed on people. He calls it a Western package
of scientific growth, nation building, National security and development. In the name of these

72
ideologies, secularism is demanding dilution of people's faith to become a part of nation state,
while guaranteeing no safeguards from state's intervention. In this way, the state becomes
elitist and helps emitted to legitimise themselves as the role albiters among traditional
community and try to claim monopoly on religious and ethnic tolerance. Nandy writes, “to
accept the ideology of secularism is to accept the ideologies of progress and modernity as the
new justification of domination, and the use of violence to achieve and sustain the ideologies
as new opiates of the masses” (Nandy, 1988).
Nandy criticises Nehruvian secularism as he believes that Nehru sought to impose a Western
rational scientific secularism on Indian society. This has essentially failed to eliminate
religion from politics or to promote greater religious tolerance. Indian secularism according
to Nandy, no longer pretend to guide moral or political action. On the other hand, Nandy does
not legitimise communalist ideology. In his view, communalism is a pathological by-product
of modernity and are the dialectical ‘other’ or counter players of modernity's secular state.
They are condemned as the perverse gifts or inevitable product of western modernity. Nandy
forwards an alternative which is ethico-politically appropriate in the non modern, presecular
conception of religions where religions are accommodative, tolerant ways of life like the ones
practiced by Ashok, Akbar and Gandhi. (Nandy, 1988).
According to T.N. Madan in Secularism in Its Place, published in Journal of Asian Studies,
religiousness that contribution to fanaticism by making it a mere political bickering and doing
so because they give no importance to religion in social life. Secularism, thus becomes an
impossible credo which is not practical for state action and cannot solve the problem of
fundamentalism. Madan mentioned that there lies an underlying threat that things might go
the wrong way as there will be a threat of establishment of Hindu state. For Madan, the only
way secularism can succeed is if it takes both religion and secularism seriously and does not
reject religion as superstition also not use secularism merely to reduce communalism.
(Madan, 1987)
He also talks about Gandhi who emphasised that religion and politics cannot be separated as
it opens an understanding of interreligious harmony.
In Chatterjee's view, an appropriate alternatively or rather the way forward has to be build a
proper relationship between the state and the religious, ethnic and cultural groups. Thus, in a
way, moving towards acknowledging group rights and moving beyond the 6 state sovereignty
vs individual rights dominant in liberal discourse. Chatterjee in calling for toleration
recognises it as, “would be premised on autonomy and respect for persons, but it would be
sensitive to the varying political salience of the institutional contents in which reasons are
debated.” (Chatterjee, 1994)
Amartya Sen defends the idea of secularism and sees it as a part of a more comprehensive
idea. The plurality of the state comes from diverse beliefs and practices. The project of
secularism according to him is a recognition of heterogeneity of India. The commitment to

73
secularism includes symmetrical treatment to every religion and religious communities as
well as balanced political treatment. (Chandhoke, 2010 )
Neera Chandokhe believes that secularism can only be understood as an important part of
historical, constitutional, and political practices of democracy, equality, freedom and rights.
She writes, “secularism is not an autonomous concept. Therefore, in order to unravel the
meaning of secularism, we should first try to unravel the implications of the attendant
concepts that give it meaning-equality, freedom and democracy.” (Chandhoke, 2010)
Conclusion
The idea of secularism cannot be abstracted from the historical context of the practice of
secularism. It has to be evaluated vis-a-vis the ideas which are formulated in other contexts as
well as recognizing the Indian way of secularism in practice and theory. The idea of
secularism embedded in the Constitution is quite close to what Chandhoke writes; the
practices of democracy and the core political values of equality, freedom and rights.
Secularism doesn’t need to be followed, we can simply give allegiance to the provisions of
the Constitution.
Bibliography
1. A. Bilgrami, (1999) ‘Two Concepts of Secularism’, in SudiptaKaviraj (ed.), Politics
in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.349-361.
2. T. Pantham, (2004) ‘Understanding Indian Secularism: Learning from its Recent
Critics’, in R. Vora and S. Palshikar (eds.) Indian Democracy: Meanings and
Practices, New Delhi: Sage, pp. 235-256.
3. P.R. Brass, (2003) ‘Introduction: Explaining Communal Violence’, in The Production
of HinduMuslim Violence in Contemporary India, New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, pp.5-39.
4. B. Chandra, (1999) ‘Communalism as False Consciousness’, in SudiptaKaviraj (ed.),
Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.299-304.38
5. Bhargava, R. (2011) State, Religious diversity and the crisis of secularism.
source:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/states-religious-diversity-and-crisis-of-
secularism-0/
6. Nandy, A. (1988) The Politics of Secularism and the Recovery of Religious
Tolerance. Alternatives. 192
7. Chandhoke, N. (2010) Secularism in Oxford Companion to Politics in India (ed)
Nirjajayal and PratapBhanu Mehta. 333-346
8. Madan, T.N. (1987) Secularism in its Place. Journal of Asian Studies. Engineer, A.A.
(1983) From Nationalism to Communalism. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol
18:29. 1259-61.

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 9. Chatterjee, P. (1994) Secularism and Toleration. Economic and Political Weekly. ( 9
July 1994)
10. Pantham, T. (1997) Indian Secularism and Its Critics: Some Reflections. The Review
of Politics. Vol 59: 3. 523-540.
11. Upadhayay, S.P, Robinson, R. 1988) Revisiting Communalism and Fundamentalism
in India. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol 47:36. 35-57

Learning Outcome
After reading the above chapter, the students will be familiar with the basic tenets of
secularism; the idea and its various definitions. The students will get clarity of how and why
secularism has a rich political theory debate around it. The chapter also tries to accommodate
the features of Indian secularism as understood in the Constitution of India and practice of the
term in Indian politics.

Questions
1. What do you understand by the idea of Secularism in India? What are the debates
around it in academic discourse?
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2. How do you think the idea of secularism is contested in Indian politics? Give a brief
account presented by Indian political thinkers.
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.....................................................................................................................................
3. How do you think Indian secularism differ from western idea of secularism?
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 Unit-4 : Caste and Politics
Lesson-1

Caste in Politics and the Politicisation of Caste

1. Abstract
In order to get understanding regarding the Indian politics, first of all, we need to
understand the power-structure in India i.e., Caste, class, patriarchy. All these are inherited in
traditions of India for long span of time. Thus, it becomes necessary to understand these
structures in our society and how it is interpreted by many scholars over the time and how is
it functioning with the changing scenario of social-economic-political milieu. We need to
understand the emerging politics in relations with these tenets to understand the converted
Indian politics. In this chapter, we analyze the power structure in India in terms of caste and
its relationship with politics and will interpret that how caste politics have been an important
and inalienable part of Indian government and politics.
2. Objectives
1) To know the power structure in India particularly in the context of caste.
2) To get knowledge about how the Caste is structured in social perspectives.
3) Imbibe with the structure of caste in political terms.
4) How the Caste associations reflects the Indian democracy, how it has been emerging
and how it has influenced the bottom of Indian society as well.
5) Constitutional safeguards for backward caste and;
6) We will be able to know how caste have been emerged in the political structure of India
and its impacts on Indian society as well.
3. Introduction
Prior to the government of India act, 1935, the “schedule” caste was classified as the
‘depressed classes’. “This social group is categorized amongst the poorest and most
subordinated in terms of human development in Indian society. In five states of India i.e. UP,
West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, more than half of SC population is
concentrated. The historical processes of economic and social exclusion, and discrimination
based on caste are responsible for the depreciation of this group”.
“Schedule” refers to a schedule to the Constitution, and “scheduled caste” belongs to
such castes, races, “tribes, or parts of groups within castes, races, or tribes as deemed under
article 341 of the Indian Constitution” for the purpose of the constitution. Government of
India act 1935, considered these scheduled caste population to be determined on the basis of
following deprivation, particularly socio-economic; that they:

76
 • Occupy low position in Hindu social structure
• Have inadequate representation in government services
• Are inadequately represented in the trade, commerce and industrial sector
• Suffer social and physical exclusion from the rest of community
• Lack educational development amongst the whole community.
4. Power Structure Of Caste: A Social Perspective
The nomenclature of ‘caste’ is derived from the Portuguese word ‘casta’ 'which means
‘breed’ or ‘lineage’ or ‘race’; known as ‘jati’ in Indian context that refers 'birth'. The
structuralists define caste as a ‘closed rank group' and cultural system viewed this as a ‘set of
values, believes and practices'.
Ketkar – “A caste as a social group having two characteristics: -
• First, membership is confined to those who are born of the members i.e., hereditary
membership
• Secondly, members are forbidden by an inexorable social law i.e., endogamy.”
C. H. Cooley– “when class becomes strictly hereditary, then it is a caste.”
Caste as a form of social stratification that is associated with ritual status in hierarchical
system of society, which is based on the concept of purity and pollution. According to
Manuscript, the Brahman occupies uppermost rank followed by Kshatriyas, Vaishya and
Shudras and untouchables stands even below the Shudras and made them to be discriminated
with various disabilities as follow:
• Denial of access to public facilities i.e. roads, Wells, courts, post offices, schools.
• Restriction of access to temples or where their presence was sought to pollute the
higher class.
• Not allowed to learn Vedas and cannot become a holy man.
• Excluded from honorable and profitable occupation and therefore, restricted to do
menial job.
• Remain outside the village due to residential segregation.
• Denial of using comforts and luxury goods and were denied to right to ride on
horseback or bicycle, umbrella, gold, silver ornaments and palanquins to carry brides.
• Restrictions of access to services.
• Uses of different utensils were compulsory requirement
• Not allowed to do movement within prescribed distances of residences of higher
caste.

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 • Imperatives of deference in forms of address, language, sitting and standing in the
presence of higher castes.
“Caste as an epitome of the Indian ‘traditional’ society, represent a ‘closed system' in
which generation after generation opt for similar kinds of work” that is in contrast of the
modern Western industrial societies as ‘open system' of the social stratification, where
individuals can opt for their occupation according to their abilities and could move up in the
hierarchy system of society. Such mobility was impossible in the caste system. It is different
from class system. While caste is traditional, class has emerged with the process of
secularization of occupation and industrialization.
4.1 Non - Dalits: Who They Are
Two perception about non-Dalit community, are predominantly famous:
• First, the non-Dalit are the one which are Dwija-born (twice-born); the Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
• Second, racially different and historically outsiders- the Aryans. This Aryan theory,
invented by Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900), considered Shudras, untouchables
and tribal as the ‘natives'- the original inhabitants of the land called ‘Bharat’, and the
Dwija-born as outsiders.
4.2 Ambedkar On Caste
B.R. Ambedkar viewed the rigidity of the caste system as it is based on graded inequality
that is inherited in society “as a fundamental principle beyond any kind of controversy. These
four classes are not only different but also unequal in status in the hierarchical social system
and does not recognize equal need, equal work or equal ability as the basis of distribution of
reward for labor”. It is founded on the prescribed graded occupation that is inherited from
generation to generation. There is confinement of interaction of people in the Hindu social
order to their respective classes that is reflected in the “restriction on inter-dining and inter-
marriages between people of different classes. He says that Hindu social order is primarily
based on the ‘Varna’ or class as the unit of society rather than an individual. There is no room
for individual merit and no consideration of individual justice.
He decries the division of society into varnas as it has failed to uphold liberty, equality
and fraternity- the three pillars of a free democratic social order. He adds–“the most extensive
manifestation of this spirit of isolation and separation is that castes are divided into sub
castes. So, what fraternity can there be in a social order based upon such sentiments?” He
considered “Hindu social order as against the ‘equalitarian temper’ that do not allow equality
of a circumstances, institutions and lifestyle to develop. There is absence of ‘liberty of action’
because the occupation and status of the individuals are all fixed on the basis of their birth in
a particular family. He was of the opinion that Hindus believe in the law by which people are
to be governed, already exist in the Vedas and no human being is empowered to bring about a
change in the existing laws”.

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 According to Ambedkar, “this subdivision of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural
thing about these subdivisions is that they have lost the open-door character of the class
system and have become the self-enclosed units called castes. The question now arises were
they compelled to close their doors and become endogamous, or did they close themselves of
their Accord? For this, Ambedkar answered some have closed their doors, others found it
closed against them. The one is a psychological interpretation and other is mechanistic, but
they are complementary”.
Ambedkar recites GABRIEL TARDE's laws of imitation in this context–“imitation flows
from higher to lower. The intensity of imitation varies inversely in proportion to
distance……and distance is understood here in the context of sociological meaning. By
criticizing the caste and its division of labor or stratification of occupations; Ambedkar was
of the opinion that caste system does not permit the readjustment of employment and hence
caste becomes a cause of much of the unemployment in the country. It is based on the dogma
of predestination”.
Furthermore, he questions the wisdom of socialists and suggest that “religion, social
status, and property are all sources of power and without bringing reform in social order, one
cannot bring about the economic change. He also cautioned the socialists that the proletariat
or the poor do not constitute a homogeneous category. Indeed, they are divided or categorized
not only on their economic status but also on the basis of caste and creed. Therefore, they
cannot unite themselves against those who tend to exploit them. Communities in a graded
order in the Hindu religion makes it impossible to organize a common front against the caste
system. Castes form a graded system of sovereignty, high and low which indicates the
jealously inherited of their status and are feared about the general dissolution of caste. They
have fear about if this dissolution would happen, some of them would lose more prestige and
power than others. Hence, it is not possible to organize a mobilization of the Hindus”.
He was of the opinion in his “Annihilation of caste” that caste is a notion; it is a state of
the mind. It is essential to attack on the sacredness and divinity of the caste in order to abolish
or annihilate the caste system. In other words, the real way to annihilate the caste system is
“to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the Shastra”. Thus, he emphasized on the need to
formulate political laws in a constitutional way in order to dismantle the caste system to
promote the wellbeing and to empower the vulnerable people owing lower status.
4.3 The constitutional approach towards Dalit empowerment
The approaches and intervention of government towards the uplifting scheduled caste are
primarily based on the following two considerations: -
• First, to overcome the deprivation, that the backward castes have inherited due to
historical exclusion and, to possible extent, to bring them at par with others in the
society.

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 • Finally, encouraging their effective participation in the social, economic and political
processes of the country by providing them protection against exclusion and
discrimination in the society.
In order to achieve these ends, government institutions needed a two-fold strategy
consists of:
• Anti-discriminatory or protective measures;
• Development and empowering measures through their participation in the decision-
making process of the country.
Therefore, the educational development of these vulnerable castes is thrust area for the
government as these communities have a “low literacy rate; high dropout rate at the primary,
secondary and higher qualification level; low quality education and the existence of highly
discriminatory and exclusionary practices, which are deterrent to their participation in the
participatory empowerment”. Therefore, the government entails:
• Improved qualitatively the educational infrastructure, especially in those areas
inhabited predominantly with these backward castes;
• to ensure implementation of reservation system in educational institutions;
• providing financial support in terms of scholarships and fellowships at local, regional,
national and international level;
• providing coaching facilities to these vulnerable social groups to build their
qualitative capability;
• providing special hostels for the boys and girls;
• promote equal opportunities to these vulnerable social groups by ensuring and
emphasizing particularly on girl/ women education.
The safeguards have been provided in Indian Constitution to facilitate the
implementation of the directive principles contained in Article 46 “The state shall promote
with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people
and in particular, of the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes, and shall protect them
from all social Injustice and all forms of exploitation.” For this purpose, various provisions
related to SCS are contained in part 3(fundamental rights);4 (The Directive Principles of the
state policy); 6,14,16, and 19 (appointment of ministers for the welfare of the SCs) of the
Constitution. The Constitution of India guarantees-
• Article 14 – Equality before law
• Article 15(4)–Advancement of any socially-and educationally backward class or for
SCs
• Article 16(4)–Empowers the state to make provisions for reservation in appointments
or posts in favor of any backward castes as citizens.

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 • Article 17–Untouchability stands abolished and its practices in any form is forbidden.
• Article 46–Promote, with special care, the educational and economic interests of the
weaker sections of society and promises to protect them from social injustice and all
forms of exploitation.
• Article 330–Reservation of seats for SCs in democratic institutions and article 335 in
the services, is a measure of positive discrimination.
• Article 340–Empowers the state to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions
of the socially and educationally backward classes; and
• Article 341(2)–Specify the castes to be deemed as SCs.
The reservation policy plays an important role in the government services, state-run and
state-supported “educational institutions, and various democratic political bodies; is part of
the anti-discriminatory or protective measures”. This is to ensure proportional participation of
backward castes in public sector as well as in various political democratic bodies and
institutions. This proportional participation of backward castes might not have been realized
without this “positive discrimination” or “affirmative action” due to the prevalence of
historical existing discrimination and exclusion. Thus, reservation policy is to ensure social
justice to the disadvantaged groups by providing: -
• Safeguards for public employment/ services,
• Provisions regarding entry into government educational institution
• Provision related to reservation of seats in Central and state legislation in political
bodies and institutions.
5. Caste, Modernity and Democratic Politics in Developing India: A Political Perspective
Caste as an important variable, the functioning of the Indian political process; determine
the electoral outcomes; work as pressure groups a; influence in governance agenda of the
Indian state and local, regional, international levels and structure political parties, their
leadership and programs. MARC GALANTER in “Competing Equality: Law and the
Backward Classes in India” (1984) describes that the leaders of the independent India decried
the caste as foundation of nation not just only because of the moral position against this
‘traditional’ institution, but, also recognized the crippling impact of the caste system over the
centuries on the subordinated sections of the Indian people and hence, its implications on
building a true democracy and individual citizenship. Thus, Indian constitution ensured legal
and institutional measure to empower the “communities of disadvantaged people to
participate in the game of Democratic politics on equal basis”.
G. S. GHURYE in ‘Features of Caste System’ (1991) has “identified basically six
features of the Hindu caste system as follow:
1. Segmental division of society

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 2. Hierarchy
3. Restriction on feeding and social intercourse
4. Civil and Religious disabilities and privileges of different sections
5. Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation and
6. Restriction on marriage”
Thus, cast as a unitary system.
DUMON, L. (1998) in “How Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications”
describes about the specific relationship “between status and power in Hindu society. Unlike
the West, where power and status generally exist simultaneously; in the caste system there is
divergence between these two that reflects in caste society, status as foundation of social
organization is superior to power”. In other words, “Status encompassed power”.
There is an ideological unity and cultural consensus across caste groups. However, M. N.
SRINIVAS talks about “Sanskritization” that denotes a “process by which a 'low’ Hindu
caste, or tribal or other group, changes its customs, ritual, ideology and way of life in the
direction of high and frequently, 'twice-born’ caste. So, now they claim the higher position in
the caste hierarchy”. This is reflected in the modern Indian self- image where the “Indian past
is constructed as an unchanging ‘tradition’ and its future is imagined in an evolutionary
schema as a model for imitation in the name of modernization”. It is believed that in an
evolutionary imagining of India, caste will be disappeared with the emerging processes of the
industrialization, urbanization and modernization.
In “spite of completely replacing the traditional ‘ascriptive parochial structures’ of caste
society with an open system of social stratification based on individual choice, new modes of
governance and growing use of modern technology could strengthen caste”, to some extent at
least, while weakening its structural logic.
GHURYE, G.S in “Caste and Race in India” (1932) comments on this “nature of change
was experienced in southern provinces with the rise of non-Brahmin movements; and argued
that this attack on hierarchy by such mobilization does not mean the end of caste. Instead
these mobilizations have generated a new kind of collective sentiment, ‘the feeling of cast
solidarity' or in other words”, it is a “caste patriotism”.
SRINIVAS, M. “Caste in Modern India and Other Essays” (1962) has talked about the
“consequences of modern technology and the representational politics, which were
introduced by the colonial rulers in India” that cast is experiencing a “horizontal
consolidation” instead of disappearing with the process of modernization. In the context of
impact of modern technology, he wrote- “the introduction of printing, regular postal service,
vernacular newspapers and books, telegraph, Railways and buses, has enabled the
representatives of a caste living in different areas to meet and discuss their common problems
and interests. Western education gave a new political value such as liberty and equality. The
educated leaders started caste journals and held caste conferences. Funds were collected to
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organize the caste, and to help the poorer members. Caste hostels, hospitals, co-operative
societies etc., became a common feature of urban social life. In general, it may be confidently
said that the last hundred years have seen a great increase in caste solidarity.”
Similarly, in the context of representation in politics done by British, helped in the
horizontal consolidation of caste. “British gave certain amount of power to local self-
governing bodies, preferences and concessions to backward castes; provided new
opportunities to cast and in order to take advantage of these opportunities, caste group
entered into the alliances with each other to form bigger entities”. However, this “horizontal
solidarity of caste also meant a kind of ‘competition’ among different castes at the political-
economic plane and therefore, eventually has weakened the vertical solidarity of caste”.
DUMONT, LOUIS (1998) also followed Srinivas and argued that caste did not
disappeared with the “process of economic and political change, but their logic was altered
from ‘structure’ to ‘substance’ i.e., substantialization of caste, refers – the transition from a
fluid, structural universe in which emphasize is on interdependence, in which there is no
privileged level, no firm units; to a universe of self sufficient and competition with one
another and caste appears as a collective ‘individual’ as a ‘substance”.
5.1. Caste Associations
LLOYD RUDOLPH and SUSANNE RUDOLPH “study the phenomenon of caste
associations in a democratic India and viewed it as agents of modernity in a traditional
society like India. The caste associations work as a pressure group and have an important role
in the upward social mobility of the caste communities”.
RAJNI KOTHARI in “Caste in Indian Politics” (1970) “argued against the famous
ideology that the democratic politics is helping traditional institutions like caste to resuscitate
and re-establish their legitimacy”. Instead, this could lead to “disintegrative tendencies” and
could “disrupt the democratic and secular framework of Indian polity”. In his words, “the
consequences of caste politics and interaction are reverse of what is generally stated.
However, it is not politics that gets caste - ridden; it is caste that gets politicized. It is because
the competitive politics has brought caste out of its apolitical context and given it a new
status that the ‘caste system' hitherto has eroded and has begin to disintegrate and has made
caste federations on the basis of caste identities but acquire non- caste functions, become
more flexible in organization, started to accept members and leaders from castes other than
those with which it is started, stretches out to new region and find common cause with
voluntary organizations, interest groups and political parties and hence, over the time, these
federations becomes a distinctly political group.”
SHAH, GHANSHYAM also make similar view that, albeit, “in the long run the cast
associations did promote competitive politics and participation, it also exacerbated
parochialism. ARNOLD argued - notwithstanding this deviation into the democratic politics,
caste associations has played an important role in spreading the culture of Democratic politics
in those areas that were hitherto governed by tradition”. The caste association as a social

83
adaptor connecting social and political forums at the same time. While reconciling the values
of traditional society by using “caste as the basis for social organization; also introducing new
objectives i.e. education and Supra- local political power”. He analyzed the caste associations
in South India where the “leaders of these associations did not come from the traditional caste
authorities but from the most enterprising of the misfits- the Western educated, the lawyer,
urban businessman, the retired government servants to establish themselves more firmly in
their non traditional careers”.
“Two most important developmental initiatives taken by Indian state during the post-
independence period, that has changed the power structure in India in terms of caste patterns
particularly:
1. Land reforms legislation, designed to weaken the hold of the non cultivating
intermediaries by transferring ownership rights to the tillers of the land.
2. Rural social change, such as the Community Development Programme, Panchayati
Raj, and Green Revolution; that directly helped the rich and powerful in the village,
who belonged to the mostly locally dominant castes groups, to further consolidate
their hold over local and regional politics.”
So, “when electoral politics based on the principle of universal adult franchise was
offered them new opportunities, these locally middle level dominant caste groups were able
to politicize themselves rather easily. The decade of 1980s and 1990 transformed the caste
politics relationship from the Politics of ideology to the Politics of representation” (YADAV,
YOGENDRA and PALSHIKAR, SUHAS)
The geopolitics of the world was transformed such as “collapse of the Soviet Union, end
of the Cold war, unleashing of new technology of communication; which saw the beginning
of New phase of global capital known as, ‘globalization’ that was not parochialized merely to
the economy alone but also influenced culture and politics” and led new possibilities for
networking and therefore, social action was possible on large scale. It was the phase when
new political questions like environment, human Rights, gender rights, were emerged
simultaneously across the world and most importantly, these new movements found a new
kind of legitimacy and strength due to networking across national boundaries with the help of
growing technologies. For instance, Narmada Bachao movement against the dam
construction “invested considerable amount of energy in mobilizing internal public opinion
and global funding agencies”. Thus, as JODHKA views that “these new social movements
questions the wisdom of developmental agenda promoted by post colonial state in India and
saw the beginning of liberalization policies and withdrawal of state from the sphere of
economy and gradually disenchantment with the Nehruvian framework of social change and
development”.
As SUDIPTA KAVIRAJ put this in a new context that due to these new social
movements, the question of caste and politics was framed in the “language of Identity politics
particularly by Dalit groups. Thus, the Identity of scheduled castes or ex- untouchable

84
communities is a constructed, modern identity, mobilized by new leadership arose from
within the Dalit groups itself and used the language of equality and democratic
representation. Over the years, due to the reservation policy in government jobs and
educational institutions, Dalit middle class numbers grew and hence become easy in
articulating their experiences of discrimination” at the workplace or The prejudices against
their communities at large in the society; that helped them to form themselves in separate
associations to mobilize their caste- fellows. ZELLIOT, E. in “From Untouchable to Dalit:
Essays on the Ambedkar Movement” (2001) poor it as–“this was the period when Ambedkar
was re-discovered as a universal icon of Dalit identity and a symbol of their aspirations.”
SHAH, S. in “Caste and Democratic Politics in India” (2002) supports this–“the new
class of political entrepreneurs such as Kanshi Ram and Mayawati has “emerged from
amongst the ex-untouchable communities used the idea of Dalit identity and mobilized the
schedule Caste community as a United block on the issues of development with dignity”.
All these transformations were termed as ‘development in ideological and social
environment'. The continued participation in the democratic political process has led the
“upper segments of the rural economy to look towards cities for further mobility and also
gave a sense of self worth to those at the bottom segments of society”. However, it is argued
that it did not lead to a “democratization of rural society because in the context of the caste,
the rural power revolved around the land-owning dominant caste; and in the context of class,
the rich land owners and money lenders used to control the rural economy. In rural India, the
panchayats too became an arena of influence and power of the dominant groups”.
Here, one question arises that whose caste and politics are we talking about? Because
“notwithstanding the rise of autonomous Dalit politics and their substantial empowerment in
certain context and in some arena of the country, the realities regarding power and dominance
have not disappeared. Albeit, caste has weekend ideologically and older forms of
untouchability are receding on one hand, atrocities committed on Dalit by the locally
dominant caste remained unaltered”.
6. Decline of Backward Caste Politics in Northern India
Backward Caste politics in North India took a significant change during the 1980s and
1990s as a result of ‘Second democratic upsurge’ as YOGENDRA YADAV has talked about
political entrepreneurs such as Kanshi Ram and Ram Manohar Lohia were able to achieve
backward caste homogenization only partially because backward caste politics took a new
trajectory with other marginalized groups i.e. subaltern class to displace ‘caste-politics’ by
‘class politics’, where ‘economic’ phenomenon is predominant over the 'social’ and the
'political’. It reflects that caste groups are no more threatened by 'identity crises', instead they
have learnt to reassert themselves in their respective caste identities. In fact, they are
disappointed with their caste based political parties which have capitalized on their identity
but without addressing their economic problem that has necessitated restructuring new social
coalitions through inclusive politics.

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 One of the most important reason for decline of the backward movement in North Indian
states may be the rise of elite based leadership of backward caste and this failed to become a
mass based radical movement. A.K. VERMA has stated that the focus in North Indian states
has been shifting from inter caste exploitation to intra-caste exploitation, as caste relations in
India are governed by relative caste superiority- inferiority in caste hierarchy and each caste
is in coniflictual relationship. Verma put that Western liberal societies insist upon ideology
based political contestations where mobilization is possible only on the basis of the political,
i.e. ideology; while India accepted Western liberal Democratic model for its polity based on
the society which is Rich in diversity, multiculturalism and heterogeneity, that means, we had
primordial factors such as caste, religion, language, ethnicity and so on. But we had also
ideologies, and at the time of independence we could use either of these two factors as
instrument of effective political mobilization. However, we opted for the social (caste) over
political (ideology). Why it is so? For this VERMA argue that was because of historical
reasons, means, during the period of independence struggle, all social denominations came up
in the rainbow social umbrella of the Indian National Congress and acquiring common
political orientation. So, it was ideological homogenization.
7. Conclusion
Notwithstanding the pan-character of the structure of caste, it varies from regions to
regions due to having the different structures in different societies with different
specifications. They vary from one caste structure to another caste structure even
ideologically. Their understanding regarding the participation in the political institutions and
structures are not identical for everyone and hence, caste is not arigid or unidirectional unit,
after all, instead it is of a dynamic identity. SUDIPTA KAVIRAJ argued, that “instead of
crumbling with historical embarrassment, caste group, in fact, adapted themselves well to the
demands of the parliamentary politics and in this sense, it created a democracy of castes in
place of a hierarchy”.
Hence, we can say that caste represents the core of India in the power structure, and this
is not only such institution which give characteristics of the structure of social stratification.
Instead, it is both an institution as well as an ideology. When we see this institutionally, then
caste provides a definition for managing and organizing the socially organized groups in
terms of their status in the socio-economic-politico milieu. On the other hand, when it is
looked from the lenses of an ideology, then caste becomes a system of beliefs that provide
legitimacy and reinforcing the prevailing framework of social inequality and discrimination.
However, the transformation and alteration of existing realities of caste has led many
possibilities for dynamic relationship between caste and the democratic political processes.
Ergo, political scientists, with the coming up of 1960s, began talking about caste and politics
in a different way. The eventual process of the institutionalization of Democratic politics has
altered the caste equations from the so-called ‘traditionally pure upper castes’ to the ‘middle
level dominant castes’ and thus, established a process of ‘different power structure of caste in
India’.

86
Bibliography
1) Thorat, S—“Dalits in India: Search for a Common Destiny” (2009).
2) “The Oxford Companion to politics in India” edited by NIRJA GOPAL JAYAL and
Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
3) Ambedkar, B. R.—“Annihilation of caste” (1936).
4) Kothari, Rajni—“Caste in Indian Politics” (1970).
5) Srinivas, M.N—“Caste in Modern India and Other Essays” (1962).
6) Verma, A.K—“Decline of Backward Caste Politics in Northern India: From Caste-
Politics to Class”.
7) Kaviraj, Sudipta—“Democracy and Social Inequality” in Francine R. Frankel, Zoya
Hassan, Rajeev Bhargava and Balveer Arora (eds), TransformingIndia: Social and
political Dynamics of Democracy. New Delhi : Oxford University Press.
8) Jodhka, Surinder S.—“Caste and Democracy: Assertion and Identity among the
Dalits of Rural Punjab”, Sociology Bulletin, (2017).
9) Chikkala, K.K.—“Socio-economic Impact of Tobacco Cultivation on Dalit
Agriculture Laborers: A Case Study from Andhra Pradesh, India”, Journal of
Developing Societies (2015).
10) Beteille, A.—“The Scheduled Castes: An Inter-regional Perspective”, Journal of
Indian School of Political Economy, XII (3-4).
11) http://www.dalitstudies.org.in/
12) http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/handle/123456789/1
13) http://ww25.democracy-asia.org/
14) https://inflibnet.ac.in/
Some important questions from this chapter:
1) Describe the power structure in India particularly with reference to caste context.
2) How does the caste is structured in a social perspective as well as in a political
perspective?
3) Write a short note on:
a. Constitutional safeguards for backward castes
b. Rajni Kothari on caste
c. Relationship between Caste and politics
d. From caste-politics to class politics in Northern India

87
4) How did the caste was emerged in the political structure of India and what are its
implications on caste in society?
5) How caste associations reflect the caste politics in India? To what extent it has
Empowers the caste communities on the bottom level?
6) Write a summary on what Ambedkar has imbibed in his “Annihilation of caste”.

88
 Lesson-2

Affirmative Action in India: Intersectionality of Caste, Class and Gender

Structure

• Objective
• Caste System in India: Theoretical Explorations
• Other Backward Classes where caste and class intersects
• Courts Stand in OBC reservation
• Women, caste and reservation
• Women’s Movement in India
• Intersectionality of Caste and Gender
• Case of Reservation for women in India
• Conclusion
• References

Objective
• The aim of this chapter is to understand the implementation of affirmative action policy in
India
• Indian case presents a unique case where disadvantaged among disadvantage group is
considered.
• This phenomena is explored by understanding intersectionality of caste, class and gender
• There would be special focus on why reservations were extended to Other Backward
Classes (OBC) and Dalit women
Affirmative action is process to lessen inequality that is the result of certain ascribed
identities in the society. Democratic countries all round the world have adopted some kind of
affirmative action programme for groups that are at the bottom of the ladder due to structural
in equality. In India one such identity is caste that had drawn constituent makers to take
certain steps to redress this inequality. Over the period of time with strong mobilization all
round the world, affirmative action programme was implemented for women also as they
were seen invisible in all the spheres of life. The aim of this chapter is to understand the
practise of affirmative action in India. This would be done but first trying to understand what
is caste? Then we would see how affirmative action programme constitutional provisions that
were inserted for removal of caste inequality. We would then discuss affirmative action
programme in India with special focus on caste. Finally last section would discuss affirmative
action programme for women with special focus on intersectionality between caste and
gender.

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Caste System in India: Theoretical Explorations
G S Ghurye (1932) while discussing Caste system in India tried to underline some
characteristics of caste system which are as follows:
(a) Hierarchy
(b) Restrictions on inter-dining
(c) Restrictions on inter-caste marriage
(d) Restrictions in freedom of occupation
(e) Segmental division of society
B.R Ambedkar (1936) while agreeing with G.S Ghurye characteristics also pointed out this
fact that caste system kills the unity and prevents nation to be built up. In order to prevent the
menanace of caste system to further infiltrate the new independent Indian Nation, Ambedkar
had categorically crafted Article 15 of the Indian constitution that prohibits any kind of
discrimination based on caste, religion, race.sex etc and this was re enforced through Article
38 that said that welfare of the people would be done by the state irrespective of religion,
caste class etc. Despite making such forward looking law, makers of the Indian constitution
saw that caste was rejuvenating itself. This was because caste system was used by politicians
to further their ends on one hand and on the other it was enacted in the society through
various ways. Bernard Cohn while tracing the history of Caste system in India points at
British policy of use of census as a tool in dividing the society on basis of caste and religion
by stratifying the caste system that was not prevalent then. M.N Srinivas (1956) while
studying the nature of caste system in Independent India discovers ‘sanskritization’ process,
where lower caste performs same rituals as upper caste do. This is done to uplift their status
and it is promoted through discussions in print media, representative culture and thirdly use
of English education. Rajni Kothari (1973) says that casteism in politics is no less then
politicisation of caste. It is a system in which both the forces of caste and politics are brought
nearer to each other. Specific purpose of organising public activity is through nature of
interaction and differential organisation of caste system. Rajni Kothari has deciphered three
ways where politics uses caste organisation. Firstly through secular aspect that is based on
segregation principle of endogamy. This works on the principle of pollution and purity.
Factionalism, caste cleavages, patterns of alignment and realignment has led to continuous
social mobility. This secular tendency is seen through two ways first through governmental
aspect and secondly through political aspect. Secular aspect is through education and regional
variation. Brahmins responded to English education there was slow expansion of franchise.
Since Brahmins were not powerful so vertical inter-caste ties provided an ongoing structure
of political recruitment? Spread of new religious sects made different models of sequence for
accession to power. Breaking through territorial restraint and widening of occupational
forces. Secondly Integrative approach strengthened by caste system. In this wider loyalties
are structured through prevailing differentiation and it involves competitive style of
democratic politics by broadening ideological base. This involves segmentation and
identification system in which leadership was forced to make concerns to local opinion. It
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involves not only distributive and conflictual aspects but also group actions and cohesions.
This happens through fusion and aggregation and fission and segmentation. Interaction
between caste and modern institutions distribution of economic benefits leads to caste
consciousness and perceptions. Feeling of deprivation gave rise to ascendant caste. Bilateral
struggle of power led to string of demands which gave rise to demands for benefits that
exceeded availability of resources. Weakening of older identities created space for creation of
politicised values and gave rise to new changes. Consciousness is third aspect which was the
result of sanskritization, westernization and secularization processes that has occurred
through liberal education, patronage and slowly expanding franchise. Secular involvement
has fostered new attitudes and offered new rewards. It has exposed caste and communal ties.
Close identification with one caste alienates other caste. Political parties gain stability only by
involving all major communities. Politicisation of caste leads to operation of competitive
politics. It has drawn caste out of its apolitical context and given new status to caste system.
There emerges dominant elite where different groups share common outlook. Caste takes
new association in form of association of caste members, Creation of caste institutions and
caste federation.
One direct result of interaction between caste and politics has been mapped by Rudolf and
Rudolf (1987) who discussed about rise of bullock cart capitalist after green revolution was
implemented in 1960’s. These groups belonged to lower caste that rose to prominence and
asserted themselves in Indian politics. This led to setting up of Mandal commission that
ultimately created other backward classes who were erstwhile lower caste groups and who
gave new direction to Indian politics. This was mapped by Christopher Jaffrelot (2003) when
he saw rise of Other Backward Classes in North Indian states as India’s Silent revolution.
Other Backward Classes where Caste and Class Intersects
While the policy of reservation for scheduled caste and tribes was implemented at the time
framing of Indian constitution. This was not extended to other backward classes. This was
due to contested power politics emerging at that time that failed to see them as disadvantaged
group. The policy of reservation was extended to gain political benefits rather than actually
trying to institutionalize equality for this category. Showing disdain towards caste structure,
Nehru brought in category of ‘Other backward classes’. However there was silence in the
Constitution, on the definition of “classes”. Only in Article 340, was there a reference to
President having powers to appoint commission to identify ‘socially and educationally
backward classes’. With no entry point as to how to define this category it has led to a big
debate and has ended up in recognizing “castes” as “classes”. The semantic equivalence
between “class” and “caste” goes against the meanings of these two words. One of the
reasons for extending reservations to OBC’S was that it reflected in graded inequality rather
than a sharp distinction between Scheduled Castes and caste Hindus.
The insight is gained through experience of first backward class commission that had used
four main criteria to judge social backwardness which were a low status, lack of education,
under representation in civil services and other governmental sectors (Jafrellot 2003: 549).
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This came down to belonging to lower caste. As a result first backward class commission
recommended 2399 so called OBC caste which constituted 32 % of whole population as per
1931 census. However with a vision to make India modern, the first backward class
commission report is shunned out. Political compulsions of the time again brought in this
question at the fore front. This was because Nehru’s preferential policy towards class ignored
the Indian reality of caste. Also other backwards classes reservation policy was being
implemented in non-congress ruled states. With janta party coming to power second
backward classes commission by name Mandal commission was set up. After this
commission’s recommendation, policy of preferential treatment was extended to other
socially and educationally backward classes. However this was not an easy task as defining
‘Other backward classes’ was difficult. How should backwardness be measured? Who all
should be included in this list? What will be the role of caste in its selection process? How
will this case be similar to already existing policy for scheduled caste and tribes? The biggest
challenge facing the commission was how to measure backwardness? Should it be based on
relative deprivation experienced compared to the top or should it be based on average
deprivation index thereby extending it to caste above scheduled caste and tribes. (Galanter
308) the inter-sectionality of caste and class figures out prominently when mandal
commission chooses caste in connection to backwardness. This is done by seeing caste as
social units whose backwardness will be measured and it proposes to use caste standing as
measuring rod. This is done by complicated system based on eleven criteria’s but these are
weighted to emphasize traditional measures of low status (perceived in rank, manual labour
and female participation in labour force). This understanding derives its inspiration from
sociological understanding of poverty in India. Usually poverty is seen as group phenomena
which are the result of their social backwardness stemming from inequitable status system.
This was done as caste system in India had denied lower caste from gaining access to
knowledge, political power and economy. This inequality got aggravated due to rapid
progress in modernization the benefits of which were cornered by Upper caste. (Sheth
2000:257) The problem gets aggravated as there is no clear hierarchical listing of caste. The
mandal commission had identified 3743 caste. In this case question arises whether caste can
be merged with economic test? (Galanter 309).This is a problem as government has limited
capacity to map the income status of individuals that would put this policy in danger. There
was also this apprehension that major benefits of reservation would be cornered b more
advance sections of backward communities thereby putting this policy in danger. This was
somewhat minimized when Mandal commission’ brought in concept of ‘creamy layer’ in
which this policy would not extend to ‘socially advanced sections’ of backward classes.
One of the important contributions in the field of assessing the role of reservations in
political sphere has been that of Christophe Jaffrelot (2003). He calls the inclusion of new
groups in political process as “silent revolution”, as there has been transfer of political power
from upper caste elites to subaltern groups in norther India, The proportion of OBC elected
representatives went from 11% in 1984 to 25 % in 1996 whereas that of Upper caste elected
officials fell from 47% to 35%. (Jafrelot 2003: 310) However, he maintains that the
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constraints are clear and explicit: a) Upper castes have strong hold on power positions. b)
There has been unevenness in the rise of low caste politics. For example, in states like UP
and Bihar it has been more successful than in Rajasthan. c) He argues that Liberalization
opened new avenues and opportunities for upper caste, and decrease in government jobs,
which has substantially reduced the scope for economic and social inclusion in true sense. d)
Rise in lower castes is not linear or irreversible as there is no clear cut unity among caste
parties or individuals. He finds that OBCs and SCs are often at odds, due to conflicting class
interests, explicitly reflected in the struggle for power between Samajwadi Party (SP) and
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in UP.
Courts Stand in OBC reservation
The courts have also played significant role in determining whether caste could be used as
class for analytical purposes, and deciding the targets of reservation policies. Firstly, in
several cases, courts have endorsed the caste based definition of OBC. The Supreme Court in
Minor P. Rajendran vs. State of Madras (1968) opined that: “A caste is also a class of
citizens.” The word “class” is used very expansively here, meaning a number of persons
possessing common attributes and hence grouped together. The court in Rajendran case also
laid down specific conditions for considering any caste as Backward Class, like- if the case as
a whole is socially and educationally backward. However, in State of Andhra Pradesh vs. U.
S. V. Balaram case (1972), the Supreme Court bench of C. Vaidyialingam held that a caste
may be “Backward Class” notwithstanding the presence in it of a “few individuals both
socially and educationally above the general average.” In deciding whether caste can be the
real test for backwardness, the court in M. R. Balaji and State of Mysore (1962) argued that
though caste cannot be the “sole” criterion but it is relevant criterion or factor in determining
backwardness. this judgment for some time reversed individual state measures in promoting
the welfare of OBC’s through reservation policy as there definition on classes rested on caste
factor only. Nonetheless the contentious clause was on percentage of reservation given to
them that beached 50%. However courts never denied that backwardness of classes cannot
constitute backward caste. What the courts suggested that policy to reach real target groups
list of OBC should be revised regularly. It has also allowed for sub-classification within OBC
category to ensure that the elites do not control and misuse the benefits, attached with the
policy, and that the targeted groups actively get benefitted by asserting the ‘creamy layer’
classification. In N. M. Thomas case, the court forced the importance of creamy layer among
OBCs, whereby those individuals whose family income fell above an agreed threshold, would
be exempted from the benefits of reservation policy. In Ashok Kumar Thakur, the courts
opined that, as the reservations for SCs and STs was based on multiple factors, and not just in
terms of class or economic status, the concept of creamy layer could not be applied to them.
Similarly, the courts held that reservations will not apply for Minority institutions and “super-
speciality” or technical posts.
Thus we see that the implementation of Mandal commission in reservation policy has again
caste into political arena. This was affirmed in Indra sawhney vs Union of India case when
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Supreme Court judges had declared that ‘A caste can be and quite often in a social class in
India’. It had also curtailed congress government’s initiatives in 1991 to implement
reservation based on economic criteria only. (Jafrellot 2003: 311)
Women, Caste and Reservation
Political participation of women has been a simmering debate across globe. The demand for
equal political rights was at the centre of the discourse which led to the rise of feminist
movements in the west during nineteenth century. Historically, different kinds of arguments
were developed in order to justify women’s exclusion from the political sphere. One of the
assumptions was about Nature vs. Culture (John, 2005: 63-64) dichotomy that drew
justification for women’s confinement to private sphere on the basis of their natural role in
society. Politics being a public activity was considered to be the prerogative of men. Since
men earned control of public sphere as soldiers and workers while women’s role was
confined to private as mothers and educators, the sexual inequality was inbuilt in the logic of
granting citizenship. (Pateman, 1988: 241) The result was that even though they gained equal
political rights in terms of voting etc., it could not help them create space for themselves in
representative institutions. Though procedural equality was ensured, it could not translate into
substantive forms of democratic citizenship. It was reflected in women’s skewed presence in
legislatures. This propelled debates about how to ensure women’s presence in politics which
could translate in effective policies resulting in the demands for quotas. Within feminist
struggles, it signified a progress from “politics of ideology” to “politics of presence”. Anne
Phillips in her scholarly work The Politics of Presence argued that the issue now was about
“who” is representing rather than “what” was being represented. Phillips maintained that the
present form of democratic discourse did not deal with the forms of exclusion that many
groups were facing in society, for example, the exclusion of women in politics. Based on the
logic of experiential epistemology, she held that the experiences of these sections affect their
life worlds and in order to take cognizance of their interests, their presence in representative
bodies was imperative. It was argued that policies formulated for any group cannot be
relevant if there was no representation of such groups during the deliberation of the policies
(Philips 1995:4)
Philips advocated a combination of “politics of presence” and “politics of ideas”, and gave
four main reasons for the need of female representatives in response to such above mentioned
claims. The first issue was about “symbolism”, whereby the formerly excluded groups could
get a sense of being represented and hence considered as equals in true sense. This symbolic
representation, according to Philips, was important regardless of the outcomes such inclusion
could ensure. The second argument was that there was a need for formerly excluded groups
to be a part of formulating the agenda and changing the existing norms to ensure that their
interests could be included. The third argument was about the importance of “experience” in
policy making. If women issues were neglected, a women representative could argue more
effectively argue for such considerations. Further, during debates on policies related to
women issues, a women representative, based on her experiences and interests as a group
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member, would be in a better position to bring out a true picture on the issues. The final
argument is about the need to break the pre-existing hegemonies in the representative bodies.
This, according to Philips, could only be ensured by the presence of aggressive
spokespersons from the formerly excluded groups in the public arena who were able to
challenge the existing patterns of representation based on power hierarchies (Philips 1995:6)
Iris M. Young supported quotas for women based on the idea of difference among various
groups. According to Young, democratic public should provide mechanisms for effective
recognition and representation of distinct voices and perspectives of groups that are
oppressed or disadvantaged. “If women gain access to political power, they will opt for
politics and policies that promote social and gender equality, peace and sustainable
development.” (Young 1990:184) Thus, quotas or other methods of ensuring high proportions
of women in elected bodies could transform these institutions
Anne Phillips’ argument for quota considers women as belonging to a special category due to
differences born out of natural conditions. Iris Marion Young on the other hand discusses
about quotas for women or any other group that faces oppression based on the arguments
about experiences of “exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism and
violence.” (Young 1988:42) So her position on quotas is based more on the cultural aspects.
While both Philips and Young demand quotas for different reasons, their notions try to
produce women as homogeneous category.
It is this assumption of a universalized notion of women as a category that has invited severe
criticism for both Anne Phillips and Iris Marion Young. It is argued that it seems to suggest
that women are timeless subjects who are united by only a single term called “patriarchal
oppression”. It also seems to signify that all women face same kind of oppression. Critics
have questioned this homogenized sense of understanding women’s oppression. Feminist
critics of different hues- Black, Postcolonial, and Dalit feminists have raised the following
questions: a) how does the emergence of the interstices-the overlap and displacement of
domains of difference-that inter subjective and collective experiences of nationness,
community interest, or cultural values are negotiated. How are subjects formed “in-between”,
or in excess of, the sum of the parts of difference (usually as race/class/gender, etc.)? How do
strategies of representation or empowerment come to be formulated in the competing claims
of communities? Despite shared histories of deprivation and discrimination, the exchange of
values, meanings and priorities may not always be collaborative and dialogical, but may be
profoundly antagonistic, conflictual and even incommensurable? These concerns are not
captured by universalized notion of gender. However, regardless of the differences in the
conception of citizenship and the questions of representation, there has been a consensus
regarding the necessity of quotas for women in political sphere. It is recognized as the best
available mode to challenge oppression and raise consciousness about women’s issues in
society.
The other related question that arose in the discourse was about the proportion of reservation
required to bring about significant visible change. It meant presence of “critical mass” in
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political representation that women needed for bringing qualitative women friendly
legislations. The expression critical mass stems from nuclear physics and refers to a certain
quantity that is needed to start an irreversible chain reaction that could change a process. The
percentage usually mentioned as the turning point is 30%. These numbers were derived to a
great extent from the researches of Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Dahleruph who worked on the
critical number required for the effective performance of quota system. (Kanter 1977: 965)
Lena Wängnerud attempted to summarize some of the empirical results made from studies on
both descriptive and substantive representation with the conclusion that although the
empirical results of women’s representations were rather mixed, “female politicians
contributed to strengthening the position of women’s interests”. (Waneguard 2000:67)
Women’s Movement in India
The creation of women as political category in west was due to feminist struggles against the
discriminatory political sphere. It was largely based on the assumption that the foundation on
which citizenship was granted to women was gendered. However, in case of political rights
for women in India, the male-female antagonism was perceived to be missing. This was
because of colonialism and consequently the nationalist response to it which resulted in
differential relationship between men and women in India. It was born out of contest between
Culture vs. Politics rather than Nature vs. Culture debate as in the west. (John 2005:64) This
resulted in remoulding of gender relationship in India. Kumar Jayewardene while discussing
the nature of feminism in postcolonial societies defined feminism as a movement in pursuit of
equality. According to her it arose because of a) the formulation and consolidation of national
identities which mobilised anti-imperialist movements during independence struggle and b)
the remaking of pre-capitalist religion and feudal structures in attempts to “modernise” third
world societies. (Jayawardena 1986:2)
In India this occurred through the nationalist re-imagination of women’s role in the freedom
struggle. This in turn made Indian feminism to constantly engage with the western
counterparts. One of the many aims of the “civilizing mission” (Metcalf& Metcalf 1995: 3)
of British in India Based on the descriptive assessment about the status of women in India,
historians like James Mill highlighted the essential differences between western and Indian
women in terms of stature and position in society. So, women friendly legislations were
enacted which tended to challenge the dominance of culture and religion in shaping women’s
fate. The nationalists were quick to introspect about their own condition and socio-religious
reform movements like Brahmo Samaj produced space and resources for a nationalist re-
imagination of women in Indian society, which eventually looked like a soft mix of tradition
and modernity.
The colonial context and the responses emanating from Indian society as discussed in the
preceding paragraphs made Indian women sceptical about the demands made by western
feminists. Politics made culture sound different to Indian feminist. Women’s “relational self”
to family, community, caste, religion etc created new subjectivity that could not be grasped
from western feminist literature. As they were increasingly being recognized equal with their
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male counterparts, leaders of women’s movement in India denied any special treatment since
they did not suffer from historical injustice. This was also associated with differential
interpretation of ancient Indian culture where women were acclaimed as “shakti” or “Kali”.
Hence women movements of the time demanded for universal franchise rather than separate
quotas for themselves. The same attitude is witnessed even during the framing of the
Constitution and its adoption. In fact women’s struggle for equality was thought to have
achieved its goal immediately when universal adult suffrage was implemented. This could be
gauged from the behaviour of Indian state towards women as well as the disappearance of
women’s movement after Independence. (Kumar 1998)The publication of Towards Equality
Report in 1974, gave a flip to women’s movement in India again.
Along with this, the prevalence of caste system and other variants discussed multiple
dimensions of gender oppression that questioned the Indian-ness of women movement in
India (Sangari:1995). At the same time, this Indian-ness of women’s movement needed to be
distinguished from regressive forces of right wing women groups. The radical forces gave a
new lease of life to dormant regressive practices such as sati (Burning widows on pyres of
their husband) etc. whereupon a danger to “our”(Hindu) culture from the “other” (Non-
Hindu) was projected to instigate communal division. Such issues are discussed at length in
the works of Tanika Sarkar, who warns us against this “kind of feminism that can contribute
anything to broad rights of women due to its uncompromising orthodox compulsions.”(Sarkar
1995:183)
Intersectionality of Caste and Gender
While women’s movement was attempting to construct its distinct identity by challenging the
universalistic notion of individual, at the same time dalit feminists were raising new queries
in India. Dalit women were often characterized as poorest of the poor, who live in most
disadvantaged conditions. The nature of violence and oppression experienced by dalit women
is complex and manifold. As a result “caste and gender” debate occupied a significant place
in Dalit feminists do not treat the category of woman as “universal”. So they argue that dalit
women and upper caste women need to talk differently. While pointing at absence of
intermarriage or endogamy, Ambedkar argued that these were the essence of caste system,
and it can be only maintained by controlling women’s sexuality. (Ambedkar 1936) As a
result pre-puberty marriages were recommended for upper caste Brahmins. Liddle and Joshi
argue that in the Brahminical social order, the caste based and sexual divisions of labour are
intermeshed in such a manner that elevation in caste status is preceded by withdrawal of
women of that caste from the productive process outside the private sphere. (Joshi & Liddle:
68) Such a linkage operates on presumption about accessibility of sexuality of lower caste
women because of their participation in social labour. This in turn is located in the failure of
lower caste men to control sexuality of their women and underlines it as justification of their
impunity. Thus gender ideology legitimizes patriarchy but also organization of caste.
According to Sharmila Rege, a binary between upper caste and dalit women is created and
legitimated through scriptural texts whereby former is righteous (pativrata) woman and other
97
is characterless women. In this process the “Savarnisation of Womanhood” and
“Masculinisation of Dalithood”, has led to classical exclusion of the dalit woman. (Rege
1995: 42-44)
Kannabiran and Kannabiran indicate that the recent caste based violence against dalits is the
result of resentment of upper caste against the growing assertion of dalits in different arena of
life through education and political empowerment and rejection of traditional status and caste
by them. (2131-2132)In these caste confrontations, women in general, and, the dalit women
in particular bear the brunt of interface of caste and gender. Dalit feminists argue that the
social conditions prevailing in the country generate different nature of disabilities for
different women. Upper caste women are not forced to work outside due to their nature of
class but dalit women are forced to work outside for the survival of their family which leads
to lack of stringent control on their labour, mobility and sexuality and thus renders them
impure or lacking in virtue. Thus a dalit women’s body is rendered available by this twisted
logic and renders them vulnerable to heinous sexual assault also in majority cases of rapes of
these women, their character becomes questionable. Thus while upper caste women
experience systematic family violence, the dalit women face the collective threat of rape,
sexual harassment from upper caste forces over and above domestic violence. The creation of
subjectivity or subject-hood in the context of Indian women were mediated by both a) the
colonial movement and the response to it in form of nationalist movement b) the creation of
different voices within women movement based on caste. These differences helped in
ascertaining the claims for quotas for these groups. As the difference from west was
articulated, similarly the Indian women’s demand for quotas were different compared to west.
These processes on the one hand resulted in voices for quotas for women being dormant and
on the other hand when it arose it did recognize the distinct voices of the dalit women.
Case of Reservation for Women in India
The colonial encounter influenced the perception of modernity for Indian women. As a result
of this mediating factor, women embraced modernity with a tinge of “Indian-ness”– one in
which the nationalist forces tried to show their superiority from west in cultural /spiritual
sphere resulting in them becoming the champions of women’s rights. It also pushed forward
women’s concerns of education, without many hindrances that did not create conditions for
demand of quotas unlike the west and at the same time educated women also started
demanding the right to vote for themselves. However their right to vote was accompanied by
demand for universal adult franchise. So women’s movement in India also aimed at
transformative politics which was central to the feminist project, however, it does not
automatically assume a unity of women in a unified feminist politics.
It is interesting that women’s demand for votes and political reform was not based on
specificity of women needs but for their contribution to the future of the nation. A deeper
analysis of this phenomenon of “new patriarchy” created by nationalist resolution that
imbibed in women certain structures weaved around Indian culture. So women having got
these rights neither felt nor understood the need for quotas. This also stemmed from belief
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that quotas tended to create division in society and it was meant for only historically
marginalised group and hence was not applicable for Indian women. Instead it was
maintained that even if one or two women representatives were present in the council, it
would be enough to push women’s interest. Though a contradiction was seen between
women’s interest and national interest, mostly it was settled in favour of national interest.
(John 2011: 169)
This state of affairs continued even after Independence. However the publication of
“Towards Equality Report” exposed this myth. It mapped the condition of women in India
after independence. The findings pointed at the invisibility of women and led to a resurgence
of women’s movement in India. It for the first time recommended quotas for women in the
political sphere. Even this report was not without controversies as most of the members
rejected the idea of quota. It was based on the belief that quotas for women would lead to
narrowing of their interest and women’s interest cannot be seen in isolation from social,
political and economic interest of groups, strata and classes in society. However, all the
members agreed to provide special reservation at the local government rather than in
legislatures and parliament. Despite this recommendation coming in 1973, no action was
taken till 1993 when political opportunism compelled the government to enact 73 rd and 74th
Amendment Acts which made provision for reservation of seats for women in local
government and this reservation system was also extended to dalit women.
(Sivaramakrishnan 2000)This Amendment for the first time had reserved seats for women in
India after independence and propelled many women entering Panchayats as political
representatives. After the entry of women in Panchayats lot of curiosity was generated to map
their participation. As a result various studies were conducted. Later on in 2006, Bihar state
government amended the 73 rd Amendment Act in its state and decided to increase reservation
of seats for women to 50%.
While women got reservation in local governance however when it came to their political
presence in parliament and state legislature their condition is abysmal. Since 1950 women’s
presence barely crossed 10 % mark in these bodies. Despite numerous bills being attempted
to bring reservations for women has been tabled in the Parliament, it always faced a dead end.
This was because it was obstructed by two opposite views that revolved around considering
women only as a homogenous category on one hand and on the other hand the other group
demanded quotas within quotas. That is they wanted women reservation to be granted on
their particular ascriptive identities emnating from caste and religion. Failure to revolve this
tension has resulted in their miniscual presence. Though with the passage of time women
have shown themselves as active political agents who are contesting elections as
independents but that has not resulted in their winning the seats. As a result it becomes all the
more important that women should be given reservations in these higher bodies of
respresntation.

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Conclusion
The aim of this chapter was to see the intersectionality of caste, class and gender in the
curious case of reservation policy implemented in India. In fact this example has helped us
understand the case of heterogenous identities through which we all live and we need to
recognise it. Indian government while embarking on this process has set one example where
various identities are crossee and create disadvantageous position that needs to be recognised.
Summing Up
• This focus of this chapter was to understand heterogenous identities. This was done
by understanding the intersectionality of caste and class (Case of Other Backward
Classes reservation) on one hand and on the other intersectionality of caste and
gender.(Case of Dalit women)
• This intersectionality was then undertaken by policy makers also when they
implemented reservation policy in India
• In the case of Other Backward classes category though the policy makers envisaged a
shift away from caste hierarchies, in actuality caste became the basis of division and
alon with by introducing the concept of ‘creamy layer’, that was based on income,
class was also brought in.
• In case of women movements in India, antagonism based on sexual difference was
absent due to peculair condition of colonial government. As a result women were
invisible in the public sphere for quiet a long time. However as visibility of women
gained momentum, dalit women also started asserting their differential identity based
on their disadvantageous position.
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• John Mary E “The Politics of Quotas and the Women’s Reservation Bill in India”, in
Gender Equality in Asia, ed. Miyoki Tsujimura and Jackie F. Steele, Japan: Tohoku
University Press, 2011, 169-195.
• Metcalf, Thomas R, Ideologies of the Raj, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995.
• Phillips, Anne The Politics of Presence New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Rege, Sharmila “Dalit women Talk Differently: A Critique of Difference and Towards a
Dalit Feminist Stand Point Position,” Economic and Political Weekly 29, no. 32
(October 14-21, 1995): 42-44
• Sarkar, Tanika “Heroic Women, Mother Goddess: Family Organization in Hindutva
Politics,” in Women and the Hindu Right: A Collection of Essays, ed. self and Urvashi
Butalia New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1995.
• Sangari, Kumkum “Politics of Diversity: Religious Community and Multiple
Patriarchies,” Economic and Political Weekly 30, no. 52 (1995).
• Sujaya C. P and Kumud Sharma, Towards Equality: Report of the Committee on the
Status for Women in India New Delhi: Pearson, 2012.
• Sivaramakrishnan, K.C. Power to the people? The Politics and Progress of
Decentralizatio, New Delhi: Konark Publishers, 2000.
• Srinivas, M. N ‘ A note on Sanskritisation and Westernisation ‘ The far Eastern
quarterly, Vol 15, No 4 (August) pp481-496, 1956.
• Wängnerud, Lena “Testing the Politics of Presence: Women’s Representation in the
Swedish Riksdag,” Scandinavian Political Studies 23, no. 1, 2000: 67–91.
• Young Iris Marion, Justice and the Politics of Difference Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1990.
REPORTS
Report of the Backward Classes Commission. First Part, Government of India, New Delhi,
1980, p. 21.
Indra Sawhney Etc. vs. Union of India and others, AIR 1993 SC 477.
Minor P. Rajendran vs. State of Madras, 1968 AIR 1012.
State of Andhra Pradesh and others vs. U. S. V. Balaram ETC., 1972 AIR 1375.
M. R. Balaji and others vs. State of Mysore, 1963 AIR 649.
101
State of Kerala and Another vs. N. M. Thomas and others, 1976 AIR 490.
Ashok Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) 265 of 2006.
Constituent Assembly Debates 1947-52, Government of India
Previous year questions
Write short notes on
(a) Caste and Politics in India (2018)
(b) Role of caste in India Politics (2017)
Suggested questions
1. Do you think OBC reservation in India has led to reducing inter-caste disparity?
2. Discuss the history of development of women movement in India
3. What were the reasons for demanding reservation for women in Political sphere?
4. Dalit women’s claim for separate identity has led to deepining of democracy. Discuss

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 Unit-V : Tribes and Politics
Lesson-1

Policies and Challenges : Fifth and Sixth Schedules; Forest Rights Act

Introduction

Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Indian Constitution: A Historical Framework

Provisions of the Fifth and the Sixth Schedules

‘The Principle of Panchsheel’ and Tribal Sub-Plans and other schemes for the Tribes

PESA Act

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006

Mungekar Committee Report on Tribal Self Governance and Development

Conclusion

Article 244 of the Indian Constitution that includes the Fifth and the Sixth Schedule1
mentions the special laws for the administration of the Scheduled areas and Tribal areas. It
guarantees safeguards for the protection of the tribal communities. These laws have existed
since the colonial times. For example, the tribal districts were governed by the Scheduled
Districts Act 1874. Later on these districts were divided into excluded and partially excluded
areas. Government of India Act 1935 brought these areas under the rule of the Governor. The
Fifth and Sixth Schedules are based on the Government of India Act 1935. The Fifth
Schedule applies to the tribal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan. The Sixth
Schedule applies to the tribal Districts of the North East states of Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura
and Mizoram.
Various schemes and policies have been made in accordance to the provisions of the Fifth
and Sixth Schedules for the tribal communities. Inclusion of the Tribals into the
developmental model along with safeguarding the tradition and customs of these
communities was one of the major issues being faced by the framers of the constitution. Out
of the three viewpoints of (1) Isolation, (2) Assimilation and (3) Integration, Jawaharlal
Nehru found the method of integration as best suited for their development. Nehru gave the
principle of ‘Panchsheel’ in 1954 (Nehru, 1955: 1-8). The Tribal Sub-Plan was introduced in
1972 for the socio-economic development of the Tribal Population. In the year 1996, tribal
communities were provided with the right to self-governance through the Panchayats

1
The Indian Constitution divides the Scheduled areas into the Fifth and the Sixth Schedules. Sixth Schedule
comprises of the Scheduled tribes of the North East India and the Fifth Schedule comprise of the Central tribal
Region.

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(Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act. Before the implementation of PESA, the tribal areas
were administered according to the Fifth Schedule. In 2006 the Scheduled Tribes and Other
Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act granted rights to lands and
forest and tried to bring them towards the mainstream development. The essay further
discusses these laws.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the tribal communities of four states of
North East India, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The Sixth Schedule provides for
the establishment of the Autonomous District Councils granting them rights to make and
implement laws on various legislative subjects. Along with the administrative and financial
powers, they have been granted wide civil and criminal judicial powers. However,
jurisdiction of these councils is subject to the jurisdiction of the concerned High Court.
The essay is divided into various sections. Firstly, the essay discusses the historical trajectory
of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. Secondly the essay discusses the various schemes and
policies that have been implemented for the tribal development from time to time. The essay
concludes with a discussion of the implementation of the Fifth and Sixth schedules. The
essay also briefly discusses if the tribals getting the benefits and protection that has been
provided in these schedules and the role played by these schedules in the development of the
tribals.
Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution: A Historical Account
The Government of India Act 1935 categorised the areas inhabited by the tribal communities
into excluded and partially excluded areas, to be administered through a separate law. After
independence, these areas were included in the Sixth and Fifth Schedules of the Constitution
of India, respectively. Since the tribal areas were rich in minerals it was being encroached by
the colonial administration. The tribal population has resisted against any kind of control by
the outsiders since every tribal group exercise their own political, social, religious and
administration structure. They resisted the British control of their areas as well. However, it
was important for the British to gain strong hold in these areas since it emerged as a rich
source of raw materials. In order to gain such influence over the people the Tribal areas were
brought under the legal framework by the colonial government. Since the adivasis did not
bother much about the laws and did not allow any outside influence over their community,
these areas were categorised as “non-regulation” and were brought under a separate law. It
was further divided into excluded and partially excluded areas. Non-regulation Act 1796 was
the result of the Rajmahal Hills.
Pahariyas Movement and the Regulation XIII which exempted the Chotanagpur Division
from the general laws and regulation governing Bengal, came into being in 1833 as a result of
the Kol rebellion (Sharma 2000: 28).2

2
Similar Kol Rebellion took place in the form of Gorilla war in the South which was suppressed mercilessly.
See Sharma 2000:28).

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In the year 1839, District Act of ‘Ganjam’ and ‘Vishakhapatnam’ was passed and in 1874
Scheduled Areas Act was passed. In the year 1919 the areas were divided into excluded and
partially excluded areas. After the Government of India Act 1919 was passed, many other
acts were passed in this context like the ‘Village Panchayat Act’ in Madras, Bombay and
Self-Government Act in Bengal etc. These Acts were defined to bring self-governance at
local levels. The administration of the Indian Tribal Region is discussed in the Simon
Commission Report of 1928 too. The Simon Commission suggested that the area should be
divided into partially and completely excluded areas. The recommendation of the Simon
Commission was implemented through the Government of India Act 1935 (Bijoy 2012: 9)
and the frontline areas of Assam, Lakshadweep and Punjab (present Himachal Pradesh) etc.
were included in completely excluded areas and Madras Province, Bombay, Bengal United
Central Province and Orissa were included in the partially excluded areas.With little changes
it was adopted by the independent India’s constitution. In the next section we discuss the
provisions of the fifth and the sixth schedule.
Major Provisions of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules
The Constitution provides the Governor of the State powers to administer and control the
Scheduled areas and the scheduled tribes. Paragraph 5 (1) of the Fifth Schedule grants the
Governor the right to direct through a public notification that “any particular Act of the
Parliament or of the Legislature of the State shall not apply to a Scheduled
Area…”(Constitution of India: 2011). Similarly, paragraph 4 provides for the establishment
of a Tribes Advisory Council in States having Scheduled Areas or states having Scheduled
Tribes but no Scheduled Areas. The Governor of the State is responsible for peace and good
governance of the Scheduled areas in a State (Sharma, 2000). The powers of the Governor
are restricted in the following two ways: (1) the governor works on the advice of the Tribes
Advisory Council, and (2) all regulations will be implemented only after the consent from the
President of India (Kurup, 2014: 7-8). Despite these important provisions the adivasis are
deprived of their rights. The Governors of the states neither stopped the implementation of
any central or state government rule nor have returned any law to the State Legislature with
changes.
Apart from specific laws and policies, some article of the Indian Constitution also lays down
safeguards to protect the Scheduled Tribes such as Article 15 prohibits discrimination by the
State against any citizen on grounds ‘only’ of religion, caste, race, sex and place of birth
(Article 15), the general people are restricted from buying lands of Adivasis (Article 19 (5)),
the language and traditions of the adivasis have been protected under article 29, Article 14 (4)
provides for reservation in jobs and article 16 (4) concerns with the jobs of the scheduled
tribes. The Constitution directs the state to provide educational and economic well-being to
the weaker sections of the society which includes the Scheduled Tribes (article 46).
There are other major provisions in the Constitution related to the Scheduled Tribes. Article
342 talks about the customs and traditions of the Scheduled Tribes, article 330 and article 332
deals with reservation of seats for the Scheduled Tribes within the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan
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Sabha respectively. Article 338(1) establishes a national commission for the Scheduled
Tribes and article 339 directs the President to order at any time the appointment of a
commission to submit a report regarding the administration of the Scheduled area and the
welfare of the Scheduled Tribes (Constitution of India, 2011).
The Scheduled Tribes coming under the Sixth Schedule are more developed as compared to
the Scheduled Tribes of other states. The Constitution provides them with adequate rights in
the form of ‘Autonomous District Councils’ and the ‘Autonomous Regional Councils’
(Kurup 2014: 8). Article 244 (2) of the Constitution describes the Sixth Schedule. The Sixth
Schedule comprise of the Scheduled Tribes of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
According to the part 2(1) of the Sixth Schedule every autonomous district should have an
autonomous district council of 30 members out of which maximum 4 members are to be
elected by the Governor and other members are to be elected through adult franchise.3 Under
this schedule, the Governor will make laws regarding the District and regional council after
consultation from the council and the scheduled tribe organisation.4 The sixth schedule deals
with various functions like making administrative policies, managing the forests in the area
and they have also been provided with some judicial functions such as establishment of
village courts (Kurup 2014: 8)which means along with the state executive the Scheduled
areas under the Sixth Schedule will function as autonomous districts. Part 3 of the Sixth
Schedule mentions that on the regional level the autonomous councils are provided with legal
and judicial functions for example to manage the various forest area falling within the
administrative area, marriage and other societal traditions and customs etc. (Basu 2013: 332-
333). However the laws made by these councils will become effective only after the consent
from the Governor. The next section discusses the principle of Panchsheel and the tribal sub-
plan.
The Principle of Panchsheel, Tribal Sub-Plan and other provisions for the scheduled
tribes
The Constitution of India has various articles for the social and economic development and
empowerment of the Scheduled Tribes but there is a lack of a national policy to implement
them properly. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘principle of panchsheel’ has been the guiding
principles after independence to formulate policies for the administration of the Scheduled
Areas and the Scheduled Tribes. The five principles of Panchsheel are:
(a) People should develop along the lines of their own genius and we should avoid
imposing anything on them. We should try to encourage in every way their own
traditional arts and culture.
(b) Tribal rights to lands and forests should be respected.

3
https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf1/S6.pdf,9102/01/8
4
https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf1/S6.pdf,9102/01/8

106
(c) We should try to train and build up a team of their own people to do the work of the
administration and development. Some technical personnel from outside will no doubt,
be needed, especially in the beginning. But we should avoid introducing too many
outsiders into tribal territory.
(d) We should not over-administer these areas or overwhelm them with a multiplicity of
schemes. We should rather work through, and not in rivalry to their socio-cultural
institutions.
(e) We should judge results, not by statistics or the amount of money spent but by the
quality of human character that evolved.
The Tribal Sub-plan was introduced with the objective of including the scheduled tribes
within the overall development model. In other words, it was an attempt to reduce the
inequality between scheduled tribes and other communities through education, health,
income, freedom from oppression and equality of opportunity. The tribal sub-plan was
introduced in the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-1979) and was implemented in 17 states and 2
Union Territories. It was introduced on a very large scale and many of the government
schemes were framed according to the TSPs.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act (1989), PESA Act
and other schemes and policies
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act (1989) was
introduced by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to prevent atrocities on the Scheduled
Tribes. According to the Act, if a person of an upper caste uses unacceptable language for the
SC/ST community or force them to do a particular task due to their identity then strict action
would be taken against the person without any evidence asked.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission would be established to look after
the complaints from the community. Also, they are being provided with scholarships to
encourage them towards education.
In June 1994, a 22 member committee was formed under the chairmanship of Dileep Singh
Bhuria to look into the matter of local self-governance in scheduled areas. The committee
submitted its report to the government with important recommendations in January 1995
where it urged to extend the provisions of the 73 rd and 74th amendment to the Constitution to
the Scheduled areas. Based on the report of the Bhuria Committee Report, PESA Act 1996
was implemented in the Fifth Scheduled Areas.
The recommendations were as follows:
(1) Every hamlet of the Scheduled Areas should be recognised as Gram Sabha, irrespective
of their numbers (Choube 2013: 157).

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(2) The draft law should be prepared in such a manner that autonomous district councils
could be established in the Fifth Scheduled Areas should be based on the broad outline
of Autonomous District Councils in the Sixth Schedule (Ratho 2007: 7).
(3) The Tribes Advisory Council “envisaged in the Fifth Schedule, as a consultative body
at the State level, needs to be reformed into an effective organisation. The Chief
Minister of the state should be its Chairperson…” (ibid: 7).
(4) The tradition and customs of the adivasis should be respected and the present system
should be in coordination with the customary practices.
(5) “The proposed institutions in the Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas should be vested
with adequate competence to deal with emerging problems among tribal people like
growing indebtedness, land alienation, deforestation, ecological degradation,
displacement on account of industrialization and modernization” (ibid: 8).
(6) Gram Sabhas should be empowered to prepare plans, budgets for the tribal people. They
should also be vested with the power to identify beneficiaries for poverty alleviation
and other programmes (ibid).
(7) If the Scheduled area has majority population of scheduled tribes the panchayat
chairperson and the vice chairperson should be a person from the scheduled tribe
(ibid:8).
(8) The panchayats should be given more effective powers to reach the goal of self-
governance.5
(9) The Gram Sabha to be given financial powers with regard to local level development.
(10) In the Scheduled Areas land should be acquired with the consent of the Gram Sabha.
(11) The panchayat should be allotted funds according to Article 243 (H), 243 (1), 275 (1)
(Constitution of India 2011).
Therefore, accepting the recommendations by the Bhuria Committee, the President granted
consent to the PESA Act on 24 th December 1996 and the provisions about Panchayats given
in Part IX of the Indian Constitution was extended to the Fifth Schedule Areas with some
changes. The Bhuria Committee gave 2 reports, one for the village areas within the Fifth
Schedule and the other for the establishment of Municipalities. But the law regarding the
Municipality is not implemented yet. Even though the laws for the Scheduled areas have been
different but the Central and State Governments have most of the times implemented the
general rules. Even after the introduction PESA the tribal community faces a lot of problems.

5
For a complete Bhuria Committee report refer Matthew 2013: 36-38, Ratho 2007: 6-10.

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The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)
Act, also known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was implemented in 2006 to provide the
tribals with the right to forest lands. According to Ramchandra Guha, before independence
forests were used by the colonial government to fulfil their strategic needs and after
independence forests have been used to fulfil the interests of the corporate and big
industrialists. Before the passing of FRA 2006, the forests were managed according to the
Indian Forests Act 1927 and the Protection of Forests Act 1972. Unlike the previous laws, the
FRA 2006 provided the tribals and the forest dwellers ownership rights over the forest lands
in order to end the discrimination against the forest dwellers that happened during the
colonial and post-colonial times. Except for Jammu and Kashmir this Act is applicable all
over India. According to Section 2(c) of the Act, the definition of ‘forest dwelling Scheduled
Tribes’ means “the members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in
and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bona fide livelihood needs.”According to
Section 2(c) of the FRA 2006, “to qualify as FDST and be eligible for recognition of rights of
rights under FRA, three conditions must be satisfied by the applicant/s, who could be
“members or community”: 1. Must be a Scheduled Tribe in the area where the right is
claimed; and 2. Primarily resided in forest or forestland prior to 13-12-2005; and 3. Depend
on the forest or forests land for bonafide livelihood needs.”6It also grants tribes the right to
protect, regenerate, conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been
traditionally protecting and conserving.
Therefore the important thing to note about the Act is that according to Section 3a forest
dwellers have right to hold and live in the forest land under the individual or common
occupation for habitation or to procure livelihood needs. Those forest dwellers communities
who have been through generations dependent on the forests for their livelihood have been
given ownership rights.
However the Act has been criticised for various reasons. For example, it has been argued by
the environmentalists that granting of pattas on forest lands would destroy the forests, few
people have also argued that the Act provides for a very difficult procedure to obtain pattas
due to which many peoples’ claims would be rejected. Where there were individual claims
they have been granted pattas however those lands which were claimed for community
ownership have not been able to attain the pattas. Still it can be said that the Act has played
an important role in providing ownership rights to the forest dwellers.
“Balchandra Mungekar Committee” Report on Tribal Self-Governance and
Development
The Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Indian Constitution, PESA Act and other laws have
provided protection and safeguards to the scheduled tribes; still they are deprived of their

6
https://tribal.nic.in/FRA/data/FRAActHindi.pdf,17/10/2019

109
rights. The government in the year 2009 formed the ‘Balchandra Mungekar Committee’ to
look after the issues of development among the adivasis (Bijoy 2012: 12). The Committee
gave following recommendations: (1) the Gram Sabhas should be given powers to resolve
issues related to the tribal life. (2) the powers of the Gram Sabha should be in accordance to
the ‘Directive Principles of the State Policy’ in order to establish ‘village republics’ as per
article 40 of the Constitution (Singh 2013: 41-42). (3) there should be proper implementation
of the Self-Governance as given in the PESA Act (4) Like Madhya Pradesh, governments of
other states too should make amendments to the Land Revenues by making proper laws and
the power to manage the minor resources to the Gram Sabha. (5) Acquiring of land and
control of natural resources for personal development in Scheduled areas is unconstitutional
according to PESA Act. However the Committee Report has not been completely
implemented.
Conclusion
Since no single definition exists to define ‘tribes’, therefore the communities have been
categorised administratively. The Constitution grants tribal self-governance and autonomy
the status of a national objective so that the community does not become prey to the political
parties. Speaking about the tribal communities, the President in the Constituent Assembly
said that it is a big blot on us that a large section of our population lives in such pathetic
conditions. I hope that the Parliament works towards the empowerment of the tribes and
make them an important part of India’s population. That has been the reason behind the
various acts and laws such as the principle of Panchsheel, Tribal Sub-Plan, Autonomous
District Council, PESA Act and the FRA etc., along with the Fifth and the Sixth Schedule.
While the North Eastern States had autonomous District Councils, the Tribes of other regions
of India were granted the rights to self-governance and autonomy through the PESA Act in
1996 which extended the provisions of the 73 rd and 74th Amendment to the Fifth Schedule
areas. The specialty of this Act was that the tribes were given rights to practice their
traditions and customs along with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule but the aims and
objectives have not been fulfilled yet. However, it is accepted by all that without the progress
of the Tribes the complete development of the nation is impossible.
References
1. Kannabiran. Kalpana. (2012) ‘Tools of Justice, Non-Discrimination and the Indian
Constitution’, New Delhi: Routledge Publication.
2. Choubey. Kamal. Nayan. (2016) ‘The State, Tribal’s and Law: The Politics behind the
Enactment of PESA and FRA’, Social Change 46(3)1–16 © CSD 2016 SAGE
Publications. (http://sch.sagepub.com).
3. Dandekar. Ajay. (2016) ‘PESA, The Impasse of The Legislative Process’ Democracy
and Challenges of Participation in ‘Claiming India From Below: Activism and
democratic transformation, central Indian tribal regions’ (ed.) in Vipul Mudgal,
Routledge New Delhi.

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4. शमा. . द . (2010) ‘पेसाकानून: उफ़ पंचायत उपबंध (अनुसूिचत े म िव तार) अिधिनयम
1996’ सहयोग पु तक कु टीर ट पि लके श स, िद ली.
5. चौबे. कमल. नयन. (2013) ‘दो गितशील कानून की दा तान : रा य, जन-आ दोलन और ितरोध’
वष-1, ख ड-1, अंक-1 ितमान पि का, िद ली.
6. Nehru. Jawaharlal. (1955) ‘The Tribal Folk’ in Government of India Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi Adivasi Publication.
7. Kurup. Anup. (2014) ‘Tribal Law in India’, New Delhi Critical Quest Publication.
8. Robinson. W. Courtland. (2003) ‘Risks and rights: The Consequences and Challenges
of Development-Displacement’ The Brookings Institution Internal Displacement SAIS.
9. शाह. घन याम. (2009) ‘भारत म सामािजक आ दोलन’ रावत पि लके श स, नई िद ली.
10. Bijoy. C.R. (2012) ‘Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996: Policy
Brief’ UNDP Empowered Lives. Resilient Notion.
11. चौबे. कमल. नयन. (2015) ‘जंगल की हकदारी, राजनीित और संघष’, नई िद ली वाणी काशन
12. Sharma. B.D. (1984) ‘Planning For Tribal Development’, New Delhi Prachi Prakashan.
13. Bijoy. C.R. (2003) ‘The Adivasi’s of India: A History of Discrimination, Conflict, and
Resistance PUCL Bulletin February. (http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalittribal/
2003/adivasi.htm, 04/04/2015, 500pm)
14. (2011) ‘भारत का संिवधान’ (ि भाषीय सं करण) इलाहबाद सटर लॉ पि लके शंस.

15. Sharma. B.D (2014) ‘The Saptapadi (Seven Steps) For Tribal Empowerment in India’
vol.2 issue.1 June journal of tribal intellectual collective India.
16. बसु. दुगा .दास. (2013) ‘भारत का संिवधान एक पिरचय’ (10वां सं करण) हिरयाणा लि जस
नेि सस पि लके शन.
17. चोबे. कमल.नयन. (2015) ‘जंगल की हकदारी राजनीित और संघष’, नई िद ली वाणी काशन.
18. Hazra. Arnab.Kumar. (2002) ‘History of Conflict over Forests in India: A Market Based
Resolution’ Working Paper Series Julian L. Simon Centre for Policy Research.
19. Atal. Yogesh. (2017) ‘Indian Tribes in Transitions: The Need for Reorientation’, New
Delhi Routledge Publication.
20. Nehru. Jawaharlal. (1955) The Tribal Folk, in Government of India Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi Adivasi Publication.
21. Ratho. Sujata. (2007) ‘Tribal Welfare through Panchayats: The Experience of PESA in
Orissa’ No.55, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.
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 Lesson-2

Scheduled Tribe/Tribal Development and Displacement

Narender Kumar
Translated by: Kajal

 Scheduled Tribe/Tribal Development and Displacement

 Scheduled Tribe: An Understanding
 Scheduled Tribe and Development
 Tribal development and self-government in international law
 Vanishing Traditional Rights of Tribals
 Tribal Development and Decentralization Policy
 Tribes and Displacement: Problems, Challenges and Impact
 Report of ‘Bhalchandra Mungekar’ Committee on Tribal Self-Government and
Development
Scheduled Tribe/Tribal Development and Displacement
Both development and displacement are different concepts but are related to each other.
When it comes to development, it is often given importance in the context of economic
development. After independence, India also gave more importance to dams, mining,
industries, factories etc. through a five-year plan for economic development. But the point to
be considered here is the kind of people and their concepts of development which have been
promoted for a long time. There are also some such classes in the society whose concepts of
development is different from the common people. Due to the impact of unbalanced
development prevailing in the present time, tribals are facing many problems like
displacement, their distance from the land and forests, the negative impact of development on
their traditions etc. Due to these problems, tribals are not only separated from their land and
forests, but they also have to compromise on their tradition, culture and values with which
they have been associated for thousands of years. This article is divided into several parts.
Firstly, it has tried to understand the tribes from a different point of view. After this, what
development means for the tribe is examined. In the other part, what are the provisions for
tribal development in international law and the process of disappearing traditional rights of
tribes are analysed. The last part of this article deals with the problem of decentralization and
displacement of tribes.
Scheduled Tribe: An Understanding
There is no consensus on the definition of the tribe or tribal in India. Here the term Scheduled
Tribe is mainly used in administration to refer to those sections which have been historically,
socially, economically and culturally backwards. But different thinkers have given different
views on this. Govind Sadashiv Ghurye defines them as ancient countrymen or backward
Hindus. But Virginius completely disagrees with Khakha Ghurya’s view on this. They

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believe that tribes may have some similarities with Hinduism, but in some respects, their
ideas also match with American and African tribes. On this basis, they can’t be termed as a
complete Hindu community. Another reason for this is also that the tribes have expressed
their faith in many Hindu religions by adopting the beliefs and customs, but never fully
accepted the religious and cultural supremacy of the priests of Hinduism. Before the advent
of British rule, the social structure of the tribal community was not based on a gradation of
religious legitimacy, rather it lived its life in isolation from the society.
Andre Bettelli points out in the Indian context that a tribe is a group that has been living
its life in isolation from the rest of the society for a long time. Because the social, cultural
way of living of these tribal communities are different from the other people. Due to which
these groups do not accept the interference of outside people in their lives.
According to B.D. Sharma the tribal community in India can be those people who lead
their livelihood through their own occupation in a common social structure and live their
lives in solitude by establishing a very limited amount of relationship with other communities
to live their own lives. But with this B.D. Sharma also believes that this is the definition of an
ideal tribal community. At present, their circumstances are changing rapidly, not a single
community fulfils all these characteristics. But due to some of these characteristics, the tribal
community in India has been recognized as a tribe.
The credit for giving the most accepted definition in the context of Indian tribals goes to
D.N. Mazumdar. According to him, tribal is such a group of families or family classes
organized on a hereditary or ethnic basis in a certain area, developing a common language in
their clan and governed by the values of marriage, customs and tradition, etc lead a normal
life. Therefore, there is no general view of the Indian tribes. Prof. Hamendorf explains the
study of this new field by saying that historical studies of tribals yield various results that can
be understood properly only in the particular context of a particular society.
The word tribe has not been defined in the Indian Constitution as well. Scheduled Tribes
are described in the Constitution as part of a tribal community and group that comes under
the Scheduled Tribes in Article 342(1). According to Article 342(2), After the consultation
with the Governor of the State, the President can include any particular tribe or tribal group in
the Scheduled Tribes by public notification and the list of these tribes can only be amended
by Parliament. That is, a Scheduled Area is such an area which the President may, by his
proclamation, declare as a Scheduled Area.
Scheduled Tribe and Development
Tribal development is associated with the idea of their self-government. There is no general
definition of tribal development or self-government, it means to provide social and cultural
rights to the tribes through limited sovereignty, which in a way is associated with their
development and self-government. The meaning of development can also be understood in
the context of the transfer of power and rights to local institutions. Most of the tribal
communities in India are demanding definite self-government within their social, economic

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and cultural rights apart from the other people. These classes have been using forests, land
and other resources through traditions and customs for a long time. Therefore, they must get
the right to develop according to their culture and beliefs. Amartya Sen has described
development primarily as the process of expansion of actual freedom, which should benefit
all sections of society. He also describes five types of freedom that are associated with the
process of development.
(1) Political Freedom
(2) Economic facilities
(3) Social opportunity
(4) Guaranteed Transparency
(5) Protective Protection
Apart from this, local self-government or development can also be understood mainly in three
forms–(1) Political self-government, (2) Financial autonomy, (3) Administrative self-
government. The problem of political self-government at the local level can be solved by
providing certain political power and decision-making authority at the lower level so that the
institutions here can make their own decisions independently. At the same time, we can fulfil
the goal of financial self-government by distributing resources to the lower level. For this,
under the administrative self-government, the local level institutions must be given full
economic and decision-making powers, that should be entrusted to the local government so
that these institutions can be saved from bureaucratization.
The makers of the Indian Constitution were also not ignorant of the idea of tribal self-
government and development. Therefore, considering the traditional values of the tribal
community as the national goal in the Constitution, it has been given a higher place than the
politics of political parties. Under the national objective, special provisions have been made
for the establishment of peace and self-government in the tribal areas. Where, through the
Sixth Schedule, an attempt has been made to give self-government to the tribals of the North-
Eastern areas by establishing ‘Autonomous Zilla Parishad’ and through the Panchayats
(Scheduled Extension Areas) Act (PESA Law) in the Fifth Schedule.
The international laws have also supported the idea of self-government to the tribes.
‘International Labor Organization’ has supported their right and control over the land and
resources of the tribals in Rule 169 of its treaty. This right has been implemented in place of
Rule 107 of the 1957 treaty1. Special efforts have been made to give the tribal community
their traditional rights over water, forest and land through self-government. But the idea is
also true to a great extent that the objective of tribal development and self-government goes
1
India has supported Rule 169 of the Treaty of 'International Labor Organization' in 1989, this treaty has
been implemented in place of Rule 107 of the 1957 Agreement on Tribals. But it has not been signed, in
India, it has given sufficient rights to the tribal class in its constitution and laws, so it is not mandatory to
be a legal part of this treaty. The provisions of the International Labor Organization and India's position on
it has described in detail in Chapter 1.

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far beyond the grassroots level. That’s why the rights of these tribes have vanished
constantly, which explains the uneven trend of development at present. The next part of the
article describes the concept of tribal development and self-government in international law.
Tribal Development and Self-Government in International Law
India is a democratic country that believes in international law and rules. India has supported
the idea of self-government and development established by these institutions for tribals,
even though the concept of indigenous people is different from international organizations
(International Labor Organization, World Bank and United Nations). India has supported the
idea of tribal development and self-government at the international level in the 1989
Convention (Rule 169) of the International Labor Organization (ILO). This ILO agreement
(Rule 107 in 1957) was replaced by Rule 169 in 1989, which was passed to give more social,
cultural and land rights to the tribals, for more self-government. India has supported both the
agreements (107 and 169) of the indigenous people but has not signed them. India believes
that there is sufficient provision for tribal development in our country. As the first Prime
Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru clarified his Panchsheel principle in the context of tribal
development in 1955. According to him, the development of tribals is possible only through
state-based policies. Upholding its view, India refused to implement the 1989 agreement. But
India has supported their idea of development based on its constitutional and domestic laws
such as the fifth and sixth schedule of the constitution and the PESA law, etc. which are
important for tribal development. Later, India had voted in favour of the United Nations
‘Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ in 2007. This declaration is mainly related to
tribal autonomy, in which it has supported giving them internal autonomy. Thus, India has
supported tribal self-government and autonomy in international law but refused to be a legal
part of it. Because India believes that in our constitution, adequate provisions have been made
for tribal self-government and autonomy.
Vanishing Traditional Rights of Tribals
Some main problems exist among them in the development of tribal self-government and
autonomy, such as their exploitation by outsiders by eviction from their land, slow process of
development, encroachment of their forests for mining, the problem of displacement etc. The
idea of development and self-government is still far away. Many programs have been made
for the welfare of tribal people, but they didn’t get much success. The main reason for this is
that by not recognizing tribal self-government, efforts are being made to give them rights
under the decentralization process. So far, this process has not been successful in getting
traditional rights to these classes.
In the constitution also, special responsibility has been assigned to the state for the
protection of tribal society. Special arrangements have been made to fulfil this responsibility.
It includes making laws and protection rules, the constitution of departments and the
appointment of officers. Due to the ineffectiveness of this system, the tribal society is being
snatched away from its environment and resources.

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 The forest laws in India can be divided into three classes, first, Reserved Forest, second,
Protected Forest and third, Rural Forest.2 Here the rural forest included those forests under
which the villagers could use them for their subsistence. But the forests from which a large
number of resources are obtained have been kept under the government. The government can
also decide which type of forests should come under which list. The other problem which is
associated with the tribals is that they have been given only legal recognition as compared to
the fundamental right on their land. The state can easily get their land by paying
compensation only through the legal process. Therefore, the state is fulfilling the
responsibility of protecting their land rights only by making laws at their level. But no major
restriction has been imposed in acquiring land of tribal communities for public purposes. The
Land Acquisition Act, 1894 has given recognition to this, which has been running since
colonial times. In 1996 PESA Act was brought under the Fifth Schedule Section 4(1) of this
law also provides easy access to the land of tribal people through the legal process for the
public interest.
A similar provision was retained in the present-day Land Acquisition Bill, which is not
mandatory to take the permission of the Gram Sabha for acquiring land belonging to the
tribal community in the name of public interest. Thus, despite the Fifth Schedule and the
PESA Act, the rights of the tribals on their resources are being exhausted. Violation of tribal
rights is not only a big threat to the survival of the tribal community, but it is also an insult to
the judgement of the Supreme Court that had given in the ‘Samatha Case’ in 1997 that the
land of tribals would not be transferred to the non-tribal community. Despite all of these
protection acts and schedules, the rights of the tribals are being violated continuously. As a
result, Tribals are resorting to struggle and movements to protect their traditional values and
rights.
Tribal Development and Decentralization Policy
Tribal local government can function successfully only when it gets the freedom to work in
the decentralisation process. Article 1 of the Indian Constitution refers to India as a ‘Union of
States’ instead of a federalist state.3 There are more provisions for centralization than
decentralisation (Constitution of India, 2011). Therefore, in the formation of the federation,
the system of authority derived from the top-down institutions as compared to the bottom-up

2
Here, there is a contradiction between the Forest Act and the PESA Act, because, on the one hand, the
government has established the right of the Gram Sabha on minor forest products through the PESA Act.
On the other hand, the government has the right to distribute the forests in which category (reserved
forest, protected forest and rural forest). That is, the government has divided the forests based on its
interests, the main idea of this stand is that the tribals have only legal rights on their land and not the
fundamental right, due to which the government and private companies are getting the market price.
They can get their land. They can fulfil their economic interests by giving land compensation, but their
traditional social and cultural values have been ignored for decades. (Kurup, 2014)
3
Federalism is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution except in the 1976 Preamble of the Indian
Constitution. Because the central government has more power than the states.

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level4 has been adopted. The lower-level institutions (local government) have to rely on the
central and state governments for powers (such as the power to make laws, receive and spend
tax proceeds) and authority. Granville Austin has addressed this process in strict terms as the
traditional protection of provincial autonomy. Decentralisation is also a result of this top-
down process, under which there are mainly four types of characteristics.
(1) Devolution given to the states by the central government.
(2) Delegation of duties to the representation board.
(3) Distribution/ de-concentration of rights and.
(4) Diversion of powers and rights to someone else.5
In India, the policy of decentralized governance has been adopted for tribal self-government,
which is traditionally associated with the top-down system of administration, government and
financial power. Therefore, the principle of decentralization is not entirely beneficial for
tribal development and self-government. There are five centres of governance, Central
Government, State Government, District Panchayat, Block Samiti and Gram Sabha. Apart
from these, some other bureaucrats and officials have the power to give orders to the local
institutions.
Therefore, for tribal development and self-government, the government must develop the
fundamental political, administrative, and financial structure to promote the bottom-up
method by identifying the tribal class. Apart from this, self-government is the only way for
tribal representation in the political system and the development of decision-making power
under their values. But the decentralization process has resulted in tribal communities easily
becoming a part of the government (legislature, executive and judiciary). It is due to the tribal
local work coming under the control of the institutions of the government, which harming the
tribes. For example, the traditional council of tribes, which has now become the subject of
government and state election process through the Panchayati Raj system, was not able to
take its decisions autonomously. In the state of Orissa, ‘Lanjia Soras’ is a tribal class and it is
unable to conduct elections (Panchayat elections under PESA law) there. Similarly, the
‘Santhal’ tribe in Madhya Pradesh believes that Panchayat elections have no role in their
welfare and development. The ‘Ghond’ and ‘Bhil’ tribals are also having an opinion that the
Panchayat system has ended the important role of their traditional council. As a result of this
centralization trend in the name of decentralization, the tribal-dominated states like

4
The top-down process can be understood in the context of a transfer of laws, power, authority and rules
from a higher level (central to state government or local bodies) to lower-level institutions. Whereas in a
bottom-up method the lower-level institutions do not depend much on higher-level powers.
5
First, the power given by the central government to the states (devolution) is the full control of the central
government on the power and authority given in it. Second, the devolution of duties to the delegation and
decision-making power is defined by the central government. Third, the distribution of authority or de-
concentration is associated with the distribution of administrative powers. Fourth, divestment of powers
and rights, in which the government delegates its responsibility to non-governmental organizations,
including privatization. See (Olsen, 2007, Kurup, 2014: 19-20)

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Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh are running the Pathalgarhi movement to demand their traditional
rights. Thus, self-government should be provided to the tribals, who must get the right to live
according to their tradition, values and culture.
Tribes and Displacement: Problems, Challenges and Impact
Due to the recent increasing importance of economic development, the most negative impact
has been seen on the tribe. The history of tribal movement and struggle in India is old. They
started to struggle against the rule for the protection of their rights during the colonial rule,
mainly the Santhal Rebellion of 1855, the Kol Rebellion of 1832, the ‘Birsa Munda’
movement of the late 19th century etc. The lands and forests of these people were associated
with their traditional life, after the colonial rule government had started encroaching on their
land and forests, they started a movement against the government. To suppress these
movements, the government enacted the ‘Criminal Tribes Act’ in 1911. By this act, any tribe
could be put on the criminal list. Before and after independence, many tribes made
movements demanding the creation of autonomous states or districts to take care of their
tasks. These groups felt that foreign rulers and outsiders were trying to destroy their culture
and tradition. After independence, more than 3500 dams have been constructed in India
including small and big dams. Like Narmada Dam, Rihand Dam, Hirakud Dam, Sardar
Sarovar Dam and Nagarjuna Dam etc. Due to the construction of these dams on a large scale,
a large number of tribal communities have been displaced. The process of displacement
continued without making complete arrangements for the resettlement of villages and
families. In protest against this, social workers like Medha Patkar, B.D. Sharma also started
agitations for their rights so that the lower-class community could get their rights.
The Gond tribe of Chhattisgarh demanded the creation of a separate state for the tribes in
the 1950s. The tribes of Chota Nagpur have been demanding a separate state since 1983, to
protect themselves from the exploitative policies of ‘Diku’. Another important movement is
known as Narmada Bachao Andolan, this movement was started in opposition to the
construction of the dam, a large number of tribals have been displaced by this dam. Hence
these communities have demanded a fair compensation and rehabilitation policy. The issue of
development was raised by these protestors, they said that what is the use of such
development which deprives people of their natural resources. The Chipko movement in
India, which was carried out for the resources of the forest, has been named ‘Tribal
Movement’ by Ramchandra Guha and Madhav Gadgil. Baviskar has studied the tribes of
Madhya Pradesh and exposed their relationship with nature and their struggle with the
development promoted by the state.
At present, the Maoist movement has spread in nine states of India, out of these nine
states, six states come under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution6. A large number of tribals

6
The states that come under the Fifth Schedule and are affected by the Maoist movement include Andhra
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. About 63 per cent of the
tribal population of these states is affected by the Maoist movement. View (Bijoy,2012: 38)

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reside in these states, who are trying to gain autonomy by force through the Maoist
movement. All these movements are mainly the result of an unequal policy of development,
due to which they are adopting violent paths to demand and protect their rights. Due to the
pressure of these movements, the government passed the PESA Act in 1996 under the Fifth
Schedule. As a result, there has been some change in the attitude of society towards the
tribals in the last few decades. The concept of colonial times towards them needs to be
changed with the democratic values of today. In changing this colonial thinking, the ‘Bharat
Jan Andolan’ of tribals forced the government to make constitutional laws in their favour for
self-government and development at the national level. In 1996, the government implemented
the Panchayat Extension Scheduled Act in the Fifth Schedule areas. But even after the PESA
Act, the two majority tribal states, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, formed in the year 2000, are
both the results of the tribal movement. Despite this, the tribals are facing the problem of
displacement in the name of dams, land acquisition, public welfare schemes.
In the tribal area, a large number of indigenous and foreign companies are being given
mining rights. It is visible in most of the present times that their land is acquired in the name
of public welfare. Later, this land gets transferred to a private company. For this, neither
proper compensation was given nor proper arrangement for displacement was made. For the
benefit of the tribe, the land acquisition law must be brought within the limits of national
security and public welfare.
Development not only has an economic aspect, but it also has cultural significance for
the tribes. Industrial development can enhance the economic process, but it leaves behind
some community values. Cultural development for tribals is more important than economic
development. The emphasis on economic development only resulted in the dismantling of
their traditional cultural bonds, the forest which was their home and later became the mining
site for the company. That is, all the beliefs of traditional lifestyle start ending.
Traditionally the tribal community has been dependent on forests. Both tribes and forests
are closely intertwined. Scheduled Tribes constitute about 8.6% of the total population of the
country. But the Scheduled Tribes account for 40 per cent of the people displaced due to
development projects. The report ‘Of the High-Level Committee on Socio-Economic, Health
and Educational Status of Tribal Communities of India’ published in 2014 states that 25 per
cent of the tribes suffer displacement at least once in their life due to development projects.
With the abrogation of tribal rights over their resources, the result is emerging that the
tribal classes are attacking the government and private companies to protect their land and
resources and freedom from exploitation. At the same time, they have also been running
many movements, such as tribals are demanding a separate autonomous state through the
movement in Kamtapur of West Bengal, tribals in Orissa are opposing the mining done by
private companies. All this is happening due to the misguided policy of development, lack of
willpower in the government and bureaucracy, political ignorance of the tribes and the
process of globalization. Thus, the flaw here is not in the Fifth Schedule or PESA Act, but the
improper implementation. Therefore, local development and self-government are crucial to

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making good relations between the tribes and the state. In the next part of the article, an
attempt has been made to know why self-government is more important for tribals than
decentralisation.
Report of ‘Bhalchandra Mungekar’ Committee on Tribal Self-government and
Development
Even after the fifth and sixth schedule of the constitution and PESA law and other
development schemes, the tribal class is deprived of their rights. To solve the development
problems related to tribals, the government established the ‘Bhalchandra Mungekar
Committee’ in 2009. This committee made many suggestions for tribal development, mainly
including: first, the just government should be established at the local level in which the
Gram Sabha can get the right to all the main work related to the life of the tribals. Second,
according to Article 40, the work of the Gram Sabha should be coordinated regarding the
Directive Principles of State Policy, so that these local institutions can develop their identity
as ‘rural republic’. Third, the PESA law should be promoted as a form of self-government in
such a way that the tribal class experiences through it the process of ‘Our Raj in our village’.
Fourth, the committee also suggested that like the state of Madhya Pradesh, the government
of other states should also delegate the power to amend the land tax, make laws and manage
small resources to the Gram Sabha. Fifth, the acquisition of land for private development in
the scheduled area and control of natural resources is completely violative of the provisions
of the PESA Act.
The number of tribal communities in India is much more in proportion to any other
country, so, without bringing these tribal communities into the mainstream, the complete
development of the country is not possible. But the problem arises about the correct method
that should be adopted to achieve the goal of tribal development and self-government, that
can include them in the mainstream without affecting their social, economic, cultural values.
Thus, we need to understand the development not only in economic aspects but also in
cultural and human values. And for this, the most vulnerable section of the society must get
the benefit of development more.
References
1. Bijoy. C.R. (2003) ‘The Adivasi’s of India’ A History of Discrimination, Conflict, and
Resistance PUCL Bulletin February. (http://www.pucl.org/ Topics/Dalit-tribal/
2003/adivasi.htm, 04/04/2015, 500pm).
2. Guha. Ramachandra. (1999) ‘Saving the Civilized’ Verrier Elwin, His Tribal, and India,
Oxford university press.
3. Sharma. B.D. (1984, A) ‘Planning for Tribal Development’ Prachi Prakashan, New
Delhi.

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4. Xaxa. Virginius. (2014) ‘Tribal and Development’ Retrospect and Prospect, in Dev
Nathan and Virginius. Xaxa (Ed) ‘social exclusion and adverse inclusion’ development
and deprivation of Adivasis in India, oxford university press.
5. Chaube. Kamal. Nayan. (2015) ‘Jungle ki Hakdari’ Rajniti aur Sangharsh, Vaani
Prakashan, New Delhi.
6. Kingsbury. Benedict. (2012) ‘Indigenous People in International law’ Critical Quest,
New Delhi.
7. Gadgil. Madhav and Guha. Ramachandra. (1997) ‘This Fissured Land an Ecological
History of India’ Oxford University press Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai.
8. Singh. S.K. (2004) ‘Re-thinking Forest, Forest Dwellers and Ecological History’ in B. B.
Chaudhuri and Arun. Bandopadhyay (Ed) ‘Tribes Forest and Social Formation in Indian
History’ Manohar Publication, New Delhi.
9. Bijoy. C.R. (2012) ‘Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act Of 1996: Policy
Brief’ UNDP Empowered lives. Resilient Notion.
10. Kannabiran. Kalpana. (2012) ‘Tools of Justice, Non-Discrimination and the Indian
Constitution’ New Delhi Routledge Publication.
11. Nehru. Jawaharlal (1955) ‘The Tribal Folk’ in Government of India Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting New Delhi Adivasi Publication.
12. Kurup. Anup. (2014) ‘Tribal Law in India’ New Delhi Critical Quest Publication.
13. Robinson. W. Courtland. (2003) ‘Risks and rights: The Consequences and Challenges of
Development-Displacement’ The Brookings Institution Internal Displacement SAIS.
14. Shah. Ghanshyam, (2009) ‘Bharat me Saamajik Andolan’ Rawat Publication, New
Delhi.
15. Austin, G, (1966) ‘The Indian Constitution: The Cornerstone of a Nation’ Oxford
University Press
16. Austin G, (1999) ‘Working of a Democratic Constitution’ Oxford University Press.
17. Desai. A.R. (2012) ‘Tribes in Transition’ in A.R. Desai (Ed) ‘Rural Sociology in India’
popular Prakashan.

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 Unit-VI : The Changing Nature of the Indian State
(a) Developmental and Welfare Dimensions

The development and the emergence of India state from the imperial power can be view in
this chapter where the continuity and discontinuity of colonial legacy be study in details. We
are going to study how India takes up certain challenges as a sovereign nation. The trajectory
of modern Indian state follows the western pattern which have some different in practices.
The Indian state needs different understanding and proper analysis of its developmental
aspects. This chapter will focus on the developmental and welfare dimension vis-à-vis with
the political development. India being a socialist democratic state focuses on welfarism for
the development of the state and its people. From 1947 to 1991, political and economic
aspects will be study under the dominance of one party and the planned economy where the
state intervene in the developmental and welfare dimension. How the failure of the
developmental state led to structural reform and the emergence of market economy is one
important concern. Post 1991 is another analysis where the structural reform took its path
with the emergence of globalization. The state continues to play a major role in neo-liberal
world which can be understood from the developmental aspect of the political economy in the
21st century. We will be looking forward how the state plays an important role against
security challenges with respect to the role played by various state mechanisms in the
presence of terror and insurgency. Various institutional and legislations of the state to curb
internal security issues will be study under the coercive dimensions. The whole chapter is
about the role of the state in the developmental, welfare and coercive dimensions in the post-
colonial era.

Structures:
 Introduction
 Developmental Dimension of India
 Political Economy of India
 Post-Liberalisation and the Structural changes of India’s Political Economy
 India as a Welfare State and Challenges
 India in the 21st Century
 Important Questions
 Learning Outcome
 Book Reference

Introduction
With the end of colonial rule in India after nearly two hundred years of subjugation; political,
economy and social aspect of the newly independent nation was in disarray and shattered.
Our freedom fighters and leaders were facing challenges both from internal as well as

122
external. Partition was one such factor that made our leaders to acknowledge the importance
of peace for country’s development and prosperity. In spite of ample challenges that encircled
India, our leaders were able to frame our constitution which gives hopes for the people of
young new nation. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India was influenced by the
Soviet type planned economy where the central should command and steer the developmental
process of the country. Our Constitution provided us a parliamentary form of government.
We followed Democratic Socialist policy with federal structure where the states in India play
an important role in shaping political economy. The changing government also impact the
policies of the country like the Nehruvian model of economy. With the emergence of Indira
Gandhi in the political scene, the state took another route to embark for developmental
processes. The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 added the word, ‘SOCIALIST, SECULAR and
FRATERNITY’ to our Preamble of the Constitution. Part-IV of our constitution mentioned
Directive Principles of State Policies. With the emergence of Janata Party government
various policies that were adopted by the previous government were scrapped. Indira Gandhi
came back to power with a policy, ‘GARIBI HATAO’ where she tried to remove inequality
and bring about social justice through government interventions. Schemes were introduced to
remove poverty and self-employment generation were created. The era of Gandhi was
followed political instability and economic slowing down. India’s economy undergoes
structural reform where IMF and other developed country need to intervene to rescue the
crisis in India. India took an important measure to reform India’s economy and this is when
Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization came into our political economy. India’s
economy was improving gradually where market orient reform existed. International factors
also contribute while structuring our political economic strategy. One such important event
was the emergence of Cold war and the policy of Non-Alignment that India was following.
The disintegration of Soviet Union and the emergence of US hegemony made India to follow
and discarded certain policies that were followed by India. Our neighbouring countries like
China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also made India to follow certain policies, and
war with Pakistan and China in 1962 and 1965.On the question of Bangladesh, India fought
war again in 1971 and the strategic challenges poised by our neighbouring country like China
arouse the question of Nuclear power capability. The presence of international bodies,
regional and multilateral organization is also one of the concerns while following certain
polices. When India loss cases on Solar energy issues with USA in WTO, India economy and
politics is not shape by domestic institutions alone. The state remains at the centre in the
development process with the support of technological advancement and improvement in
human resources.
Developmental Dimension of India
Post-colonial state in India begins with the development of various sector that includes
agricultural and industrialization. It was Nehru who took a great important step to bring India
into a new dimension of growth and development. There was no doubt that majority of the
population (70%) directly engaged in agricultural sector. Land reform measures were
introduced though not that successful except in four states (Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala,
West Bengal, and Tripura). The history of planning in India co-existed with the political
consciousness of the congress party even prior to independent. The Congress Working

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Committee in August, 1937 at its meeting in Wardha adopted a resolution about the concern
of industrial development in India. Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, the two
stalwarts of the left within the congress put aside nagging of ideological debate by arguing
that the whole questions of industrial development should be resolved within the framework
of ‘all India industrial plan’. National Planning Committee was formed as Nehru as its
Chairman. The significant about the planning was that; (i) It determines the policy of the state
when India was still under the colonial power and policies of provincial congress government
which turned out to be a concrete idea of a nation state.(ii) Planning as an exercise of state
policy with technical evaluation and on scientific grounds. (iii) Appeal to committee of expert
was an important instrument in resolving a political debate which, much to the irritation of
the emerging state leadership of the congress was still refusing to go away. Though many
professional intelligentsias were clear about the importance of industrialization for
development, yet Gandhi’s idea of machinery commercialization and centralized state power
as the curse of modern civilization is respected, as mass movement against colonial rule
needs the leadership of Gandhi. In the 1940s the nationalist argued that in order to prosper
and develop, firstly the foreign rule should be abolished as it impedes for the development of
India. At this juncture the economic exploitation was the central point for national movement.
Self-government consequently was legitimate because it is a necessary condition for growth
and development.
Politics in India from 1947-1969 was characterized as ‘the Congress system’. The party
governed both at the centre and states. This period was also a stage of developmental state
which intervened in the economy, planning and guiding its growth directly. It was
legitimizing the post-colonial state by this intervention. India choose soviet model of
planning working within the framework of mixed economy. Industrial growth was seen as a
key for removal of poverty and a provision for welfarism. The war that broke out in 1962 and
1965 that coupled with poverty was a setback for industrial growth in India. Government was
forced to devalue rupee. Election in 1969 was a major challenges face by the Congress party
since India got independent as in nine states non-Congress government was formed.
In 1971 General election, Congress party under the leadership of Indira Gandhi came to
power with a slogan ‘garibi hatao’ (remove poverty) . The structure of the Congress was
different from the ‘congress system’ and the state became the principle for bettering the
condition of the people. At the same time public-sector undertaking also continued to grow
rapidly and the urban middle class and large section of the working class became dependent
upon its further expansion. With the food crisis in the 1960s government intervention through
subsidy of irrigation, seeds and fertilizers and government support for minimum food grain
was formulated. This is known as Green Revolution which was benefitted better by the
irrigated zone of Punjab, Haryana, Western Utter Pradesh. Under the leadership of Indira
Gandhi, Congress now become strongly centralized and power directly flow from the higher
command of the party. The developmental ideology of Nehru was now purveyed in a new
rhetoric of state socialism with the central executive structure of government playing the
pivotal role. Welfare packages were now targeted towards specific groups of the population
such as SCs/STs, workers, women and minorities. In spite of success in Green Revolution,
certain sections of the societies were facing economic hardship where agitation spread across

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the country. Indira Gandhi had to resort with special laws such as the Maintenance of Internal
Security Act and the central security forces. The declaration of emergency was a major
setback for Indira Gandhi and she was defeated by the Janata Party though it was short lived.
Pranab Bardhan (1984), Marxist scholars identified the capitalists, the rich farmers, and the
bureaucracy as the three dominant classes competing and aligning with one another within a
political space. Achin Vaniak (1990) also endorsed the dominant coalition model,
emphasizing the strength of the agrarian bourgeoisie important that could even ascribe to its
ability to mobilize rural electorate. Atul Kohli (1991) described the story of the state in the
1980s as one in which, by surrendering the immediate electoral pressure exerted by various
social groups, democratic state institutions were allowed to decay, leading to all-round crisis
of governability.
After Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi took up the leadership of
Congress where it was short-lived. The politics of India was witnessing a coalition
government since 1989. The National Front Government was forming a government where it
was short-live due to lack of political consensus. P.V. Narasimha Rao government in1991
was a minority government where structural economic reform was introduced. Chakravarty
(1987:7) says that in the early 1950s, when the planning process was initiated in India, there
was a general consensus on ‘commodity-centred’ approach. The central focus of development
was meant to be placed on accumulation. Chakravarty also says that in the specific context in
which planning was taking place, accumulation had to reconcile with legitimation.
Accumulation and legitimation were the two important objectives of planning in India.
Political Economy in India
Political Economy integrates the relationship between the economic policies within the
political framework of a country. Economic policies and economic development were
strongly influenced by the compulsion of political democracy. As the twentieth century draws
to a close and we approach a new millennium, market economy and political democracy are
buzz words not only in Eastern Europe and developing countries of Latin America, Africa
and Asia. This development in the political economy is due to the decline in planned
economy and excessive state intervention in the market. The initial year of India’s economy
was shaped by the believed that colonialism harms the Indian industry. There was opposition
for trade liberalization and limited itself within the domestic products to protect infant
industry. The believed that infant industry especially industry and high technology areas
required substantial state support. Financial support and protection from foreign industries
was the responsibility of the government. Nehru was in support of planning and promotion of
powerful and technocratic Planning Commission and greater involvement from the state for
economic development of India. The First Five Year Plan from 1951-1956 was a very
successful with agricultural output beyond the target, but the industrial sector which was
given more priority in the second Five Year Plan was successful yet agriculture shows
declined in fund allocation from 34.6% to 17.5% which decrease the output. Inflation, war
with China in 1962, war with Pakistan in 1965 and other internal issues like the demise of
Nehru and Shastri death, India was facing problems from different corner. Under US Public
Law 480 programme, India was importing food from US and even IMF came to the rescue

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after India was ready to follow certain IMF mandatory. India needed to devalue rupee,
liberalize importing, free some sector such as fertilizer production from government control,
reduced the size of public sector and increase foreign investment. The government come to
promote agriculture in the aftermath of devaluation which was done under the advice of
World Bank. India imported high-yielding seeds of wheat from Mexico which was
successful. The output in agricultural sector was increasing with the technological and
financial aid from US which India starts as Green Revolution. It was a very successful for the
government to solve the problem of food; still the benefits did not share by all section of the
society. The rich farmer of Punjab, Haryana and Western Utter Pradesh were the benefiter
and at the same time not all crops were given priority to this as wheat was the main crop. The
rice growing regions of other parts of the country still did not reap the benefits of Green
Revolution.
Apart from the Green Revolution, Indira Gandhi nationalized certain sectors like steel,
copper, banking, insurance and wheat trade. In spite of all the economic measures taken up
by the government, there was still unacceptable high level of poverty and economic
slowdown which coincides with the authoritarian rule of Indira Gandhi. Political opposition
is increasing and the movement of Jay Prakash Narayan in some states were another
stumbling block for the government to carry ahead their political and economic policies. The
highest level of state intervention in economic with political outrageous by the people led to
the downfall of Indira Gandhi government after the high handedness of emergency imposed
during the 1975-1977.Year of sluggish growth accompanied with a poor record in human
development had given rise to critical thinking the policy circles. Asian economies performed
well with their private initiative. Countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore
experienced economic growth during this time. From 1960s to 1980s the leaders continued to
gradually and often stealthily deregulate the economic activities of the private sector despite
the socialist rhetoric. The vast majority of Indian industrialists had become accustomed to
beating the system of controls, where licenses and approvals were required for production,
imports and exports. A significant liberalization measure included gradual deregulation of
production decision made by the capitalists’ Industrial annual growth rate was 4.5% during
1961 and 1974 and in between 1975 to 1990 it was 5.9% annually. The practice of licensing
or obtaining government policies permission was corrupt rather than towards directing
industrialization with a purpose.
Rajiv Gandhi during his tenure as Prime Minister, he reduced government control over
industrial activity and took a step to improve technological upgradation. Thirty industries and
82 pharmaceutical products were de-licensed during his time as Prime Minister. The need for
license was removed for investment up to rupees 250 million in developed region during the
time of V.P. Singh. Suzuki Company of Japan collaborates with Indian government despite
various protest. Deregulation of telephone switches stared in the 1980s. A separate
department was created for Department of Telecommunication under the Ministry of
Communication. In the 1980s ITs sector starts having advantages. The system of English
education and Engineering colleges were also increasing during this period and the
availability of low wages enabled the IT sector to start investment. There was easy way of
importing computer and software that facilitates this sector to grow. In the 1980s the annual

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agricultural growth rate was 3.4% which was higher than any other decade since India’s
independence. Farmers were having strong organization which can lobby with the
government for procurement of prices and subsidies during the short-lived of the Janata Party
government. Leaders like Mahendra Singh Tikait, Sarad Joshi, and M.D. Nanjundaswamay
kept pressurizing the government and convincing the government about rural agricultural
backwardness. The new political landscape of the 1970s and 1980s saw not only the decline
of the Congress party and the rise of opposition parties, it also marked a period in India’s
political economy when a prospectively developmental state implode that lead to economic
reform n 1991.
Post-Liberalization and the Structural Changes of India’s Political Economy
Changes in India’s economy can be seen even in the 1980s and it systemically started in
1991. There was a change in domestic regulator system which was followed by a change in
India’s global strategy. Trade, FDI and technological changes were encouraging accordingly.
Liberalization of the policy of India’s economic affected the growth pattern of India.
Economic changes in different sectors in India economy, technological changes, the import
substitution strategy all have transformed the economic potential of the state in India. State
played a crucial role in transforming the devastated socio-politico culture after independence.
The economic power of India grows manifold and diversified since the reformed. Despite the
conventional view that the state harmed the private activities, it took a great challenges and
courage to undergo such transformation and structural reform. The reform led to the boom in
India’s corporate sector, competitiveness and economic growth by 1991. This structural
reformed took place where the Congress party held insecure majority. Democracies find it
difficult to switch into trade friendly especially when the party in power does not hold
absolute majority in the era of coalition government. The trajectory of India’s economic
transition was different from the economic reforms under authoritarian regime. The
synergistic issue-linkage between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Executive, and
Indian industry at the time of foreign exchange crisis of 1991was critical for initiating
economic reform.The growth of India’s economy in the 1970s and 1980s were not very
satisfying to bring trade and business along.The government could make little progress in
bringing the condition to improve entrepreneurship in India. The financial instability and the
poor performance of India’s economy led the steps towards economic structural reform. The
situation during the 1980s prepared the ground for a shift in economic policies after 1991.
Atul Kholi had argued that the government of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi tilt the
economic policy in the direction of business. FDI courting was still not the priority in the
1980s albeit few ventures were established which was benefited by few elite classes. The
Monopolies and Trade Practices Act made heard for business to expand in core sector like
chemicals and cement industries. At the same time poor people from the countryside
migrated to urban India for their survival. The economic growth that was not sustaining the
problems of the country was visible when the crisis was at it peak. Huge subsidies in the
agricultural system (water, fertilizer, power and PDS) led the economic growth of the 1980s
into high fiscal deficit and balance of payment crisis. Till 1990, comparatively India was
highly protective of their trading practices. Indian abroad was praised of their skills and

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innovative thinking, whereas Indian within India condemned the poor performance within the
Permit-License-Quota Raj.
Under the initiative of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the business communities
discourage the economic mismanagement and limited choice in the market of the country.
V.P. Singh’s National Front Government attempt to reward mainly the rural backward section
through reservation was one the appeasement policy towards the farmers. By the early
summer of 1991, India’s fiscal deficit stood nearly 9% of GDP and the country had
sufficiently just two weeks’ worth of imports. The rating agency like Moody’s and Standard
and Poor had downgraded India’s credit rating. The government of Narasimha Rao moved
steadily not in fast rate; adjust the economic structures of the country. Efforts were made to
liberalize India’s trading regime. More progress was made with industrial policies. Licensing
system was de-regularised and dismantled. The most notable and significant outcome was
opening door for foreign direct investment in India’s economy. Substantial tariff
liberalization especially in the intermediate goods was accompanied with the significant
devaluation of rupees. Tariff liberalization reduced the cost of imports pressure the Indian
industries to become more competitive. India’s merchandise exports doubled between 1991-
1999. The presence of foreign companies with the FDI creates job opportunities and
employment to the unemployment youth. The collaboration with foreign industries enabled
the small Indian industries to access the world class technology and support of infrastructural
development. Industrialization can create political awareness among people and encourage
them to participate in political mobilization. Industrialization results in rapid urbanization and
modernization. India’s trade reform involved a gradual reduction in trade protection with
substantially increased incentives for export promotion. India’s average weighted normal
tariff came down heavily from 81.4% to 32.9% in between 1991-92 to 1995-96. Trade
promotion was also facilitated by the convertibility of the rupee into current account in 1994.
Though there is improvement in the economic arena but there are still challenges of inclusive
growth and distribution of resources.
India’s economic problem culminates one of the biggest democratic nations of the world to
undergo economic reform. Trade and private investment orientation were born from the
inability of import-substituting economic policy to deal with a growing fiscal deficit, which
bought India into a problem of balance of payment crisis when Gulf crises were happening.
After 1991 reform a sharp rise in the rate of economic growth was reported. The GDP was
between 7.5% and 8.5% in 2003-2004 to 2005-2006. Even the growth of industrial sector was
also stable at around 6% per annum. The emergence of service sector was one such that
drives the economy of India to grow.
India as a Welfare State and Challenges
Welfarism in India is a vision dream by our freedom fighter and also a principle that is
conceptualized in our constitution of free India. There are some philosophical aspects which
can be seen in the works of T.H. Marshall in his ‘social citizenship’ which include the rights
to ‘a modicum of economic welfare and security, to the right to share the social heritage and
to live the life of a civilized being according to the standards prevailing in the society’.
According to Jayal, philosophy of the state welfare in India is grounded in the ideas of

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charity, benevolence and paternalism unlike the idea of ‘right’ that is in the west. In India
welfare measures cannot be claimed as a right. It is express in terms of need based which the
lower section of the societies are deprived of. A welfare state is a concept of government in
which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of economic and social well-
being of its citizens. A welfare state is based on the principles of equality of opportunity and
equitable distribution of resources. It also focuses on the governmental responsibility for the
upliftment of those who are unable to avail themselves a good life. Under this system, the
welfare of its citizens is the responsibility of the state. India was not a welfare state prior
independence. The British rule was not very interested in protecting and promoting the
welfare of the people. Whatever it did was in keeping with the interests of the British colonial
government and not in the interests of the people of the ruled. When India got independence
from the colonial power, it had innumerable problems and insurmountable challenges. The
social and economic inequality was all pervasive. Economically, India’s situation was
miserable. Socially also India was having a number of problems. There were social
inequalities and all the vulnerable sections of the society such as women, dalits, STs and
children were deprived of basic means of living. The Constitution makers were very much
aware of the problems. The framers of our constitution decided that India would be a welfare
state. As you must have seen, India is described as a “sovereign socialist secular democratic
republic” in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Accordingly, the Constitution has
extensive provisions to ensure social and economic welfare of Indian. In this regard two
specific provisions have been introduced, one in the form of Fundamental Rights enforceable
in the court of law and the other as Directive Principles of State Policy which direct the state
to take up certain measures to improve the living standard of the Indian people while
formulating a policy. Some of the important measures taken up by the state for the welfare of
the people are: Integrated Child Development Service, Service for Children in Need of Care
and Protection, Creches for working and ailing mother’s children, Nutrition Programmes,
National Award in the field of children's welfare National Children Fund, UNICEF’s
Programmes. Various programmes for about 16.15 million disable people in the country such
as, programmes for the disable, early detection and treatment of diseases, providing free
education to children till 14 years of age. There are also various other programmes for
women that includes the establishment by the government of India the National Committee
on the Status of Women in 1976. Programmes such as establishment of hostel for working
women, functional literacy for adult women, training courses for rehabilitation of women,
employment and income generating production units, socio-economic programmes for
women, vocational training programme etc. Indian government launched many programmes
to control the social problems including programmes like- prison welfare schemes,
suppression of immoral traffic, beggary prevention, prohibition and drug abuse. The
government also provides certain welfare schemes for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes
and Backward Classes. The constitution has prescribed certain protective measure and
safeguards for these classes. A number of programmes and schemes were introduced under
the various Five-Year Plans like Wage Generation Programme, IAY etc. Other social services
for the welfare of the society of minorities includes-establishment of the Minorities Finance
and Development Corporation in September 1994. 15-point programme for the welfare of the
minorities is being implemented Rural Health Services. A number of community health

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workers and doctors are being sent to Rural Health Centre. Main attention is given to
integrated health, maternity and child care in rural areas social services for the welfare of the
society. A major qualitative and quantitative change in the housing and urban development
sector include Housing for all, rural electrification, and other rural infrastructural measures.
Integrated Rural Development Programme provides practical assistance to economically
deprived families for the upgradation of skills via the Training for Rural Youth for Self-
Employment (TRYSEM). Indian Government has implemented with an objective of welfare.
The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, the Beti Bachao Andolan, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme, Public Distribution System and the National Food Security
Act and the establishment of public health units (PHU), the execution of vaccination
campaign, and the granting of oil and gas subsidies are all examples of such policies. While
the government might not have succeeded to the extent desired, the initiative to contribute
some kind of additional benefit to the people of India in fact is a welfare initiative.
In spite of provisioning of many welfare measures, expenditure on health, education has very
less in comparison to the expenditure on health and education in other South-east Asian
countries in terms of percentage to GDP. Education expenditure doesn’t reach even 5% till
2019 budget.
There are various challenges that entangled around while implementing welfare policies.
India being a diverse country faces with lots of difficulties while formulating a policy.
Unstable coalition government at the centre and the emerging of regional parties poses
hindrance in terms of policy implementation. India being a member of the WTO and other
international and regional organization, it sometimes has to follow the mandates of being a
member which can cause a huge cripple to domestic economy. In terms of agricultural
subsidies given by the government to the farmers and other subsidies, be it in terms of power
supply or water generation, India has a setback and faces problems and got criticized in the
world body for its policies to curb poverty. Selective intervention sometime led to another
group for protesting for the fulfilment of certain claimed made by them. One such issue was
with reservation. Some examples which can be seen at present are the Jat in Haryana and
some other north Indian states, the Patidar in Gujarat, the Marathas in Maharashtra.
India in the 21st Century
Economically and politically, India in the twenty-first century is very different country from
that which emerged from colonial rule into independence in 1947. By the year 2020 India is
expected to be the fourth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity.
Developmental dimension too took different routes. Apart from basic needs, focus has been
shifted to accessibility of skilled labour, human capital development and access to quality
education in technical, role of information technology in human capital development, skills
development etc. Make in India, Skill India and others will be a huge benefit if the
government utilized the demographic dividend to leverage the growth of India in the 21st
century. Policies in the absence of skills and technological support will be less benefit.
Human resources should be supplemented by good political environment to generate
employable citizens. The emerging trend of protectionism and political instability in middle-
east countries with the rivalry between China and USA is posing instability in the era of

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globalization. The following are a list of challenges that India face as per the Central
Intelligence Agency of the United States: “… India has many challenges that it has yet to
fully address, including poverty, corruption, violence and discrimination against women and
girls, an inefficient power generation and distribution system, ineffective enforcement of
intellectual property right, decades-long civil litigation dockets, inadequate transport and
agricultural infrastructure, limited non-agricultural employment opportunities, high spending
and poorly-targeted subsidies, inadequate availability of quality basic and higher education,
and accommodating rural-to-urban migration. India today is at the cusp of significant
developmental transitions. Choices made will fundamentally shape its future developmental
trajectory. The policy challenge today lies in identifying appropriate pathways and
institutional mechanisms to negotiate these transitions and set India on a path toward a
sustainable, inclusive future. While identifying appropriate pathways, India has to navigate
important tensions in our polity. One important tension is the often-conflicting needs of rural
vs urban populations, best demonstrated in the on-going agrarian crisis. The other challenge
is institutional. India today needs to build a new institutional framework to respond to
changing needs while at the same time building the state's capacity to manage basic, everyday
tasks from health and education to building basic infrastructure. India is dealing with
transitions at a time when public discourse has become increasingly sharp and polarised often
blurring the lines between critical engagement and partisan endorsement of ideas. This
polarisation has made sober, objective evaluation of policy choices confronting India today,
difficult resulting in the adoption of short term and often unsustainable quick fixes.
Important Questions:
Q.1. Explain how India emerged as a developmental state in post-colonial time and explain
the role of an individual in the developmental aspect prior to 1991.
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Q.2. Discuss the political economy under the plan period.
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Q.3. What are the causes of economic reform in India that took place in 1991? Explain the
political economy of India after 1991.
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Q.4. What is Socialism? Explain briefly India as a welfare state.
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Q.5. Is India still a developmental and welfare state in 21st century? Discuss.

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Learning Outcome
By end of the chapter student will be able to understand:
 How state act as an important mechanism for development in India.
 About the political economy of India before 1991 and post reform
 India being following socialist policies as a welfare measure
 Comprehend how political development take place after British left India.
 Why India undergone structural economic reform in 1991.

Book Reference
1. P. Chatterjee (2011), The State, in N G Jayal and P Mehta (eds) The Oxford Companion
to Politics in India, OUP, New Delhi. pp. 3-14.
2. R. Kothari (1983). ‘The Crisis of the Modern State and the Decline of Democracy’.
3. N.G. Jayal (ed.), Democracy in India, New Delhi, Oxford University Press.Pp.2001
(sixth impression2012). pp. 101-127.
4. N.G. Jayal (2001), ‘The State and Democracy in India or What Happened to Welfare,
Secularism, and Development’.
5. In N.G. Jayal (ed.), Democracy in India, New Delhi, Oxford University Press.Pp.2001
(sixth impression 2012). Pp. 193-224.
6. S. Kaviraj (2010), The Trajectories of the Indian State. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
7. Zoya Hasan (ed) (2000), Politics and the State in India, New Delhi: Sage.
8. T. Byres (1994), ‘Introduction: Development Planning and the Interventionist State
versus Liberalization and the Neo-Liberal State: India, 1989-1996’in T. Byres(ed.)
9. Development Planning and Liberalization in India, New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1994, pp.1-35.

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 (b) Coercive Dimensions

Structure:
 Introduction
 State and Non-State Actors
 Insurgency Problems in North-East India, State Sponsored Terrorism in Jammu
and Kashmir, and Naxal Movement
 Various Acts and Constitutional Provisionsto Curb Non-State Actors
 Conclusion
 Important Questions
 Learning Outcome
 Book Reference

Introduction
Coercion is a complex phenomenon accompanied with power to control or to influence
others. It occurs in both interpersonal or institutional or political contexts.It is also defined as
“to compel to an act or choice”.It is a defining characteristic of a state. Coercive may take
different forms like preventing someone from doing something, or byphysically construing an
individual. Louis Krisberg offers a succinct definition that captures the essence of coercive
power: “Coercive involves trying to make the other side yield by reason of fear or actual
force”. It guarantees the reproduction of domination and order and suppresses challenges to
state authority. In the course of time, it helps to create conditions that allow for voluntarily
obedience to state and its legitimation.In 1947, when India got independent from the British,
it chosedemocracy based on variousdisciples and values as a system of governance, it
wasthought to be a brave choice but one that would not last long. As thecountry went to the
polls for the second time in 1957, a commentator onIndian politics remarked that "the odds
are wholly against the survival offreedom . . . in fact, the issue is whether any Indian state can
survive atall”. Indeed, the testing has become more andmore stringent. There is a rise in
social conflict, the economy does notshow an adequate rate of growth, and democratic
institutions, now beingcited as reasons for the inability to cope with the social and economic
development, are losing their democratic character and are unable to stem thetide of violence
in society. This chapter attempts to examine some of theseissues and particularly focuses
attention on the processes and the institutions by which the Indian state has expanded its
capacity to use coercivepower against the unruly. Coercive power is the ability to affect
others to obtain preferred outcomes, and that can be done through coercion and payment or
attraction and persuasion by the state using different kinds of instruments. Generally, people
associate coercion with military power capabilities and resources, but that is too reductive. As
Thomas Schelling has argued that, "the difference between a threat and a promise, between
coercion and compensation, sometimes depends on where the baseline is located." What is
called coercion depends in part on the context of a power relationship.In traditional Marxist
theory coercion and force were described as the basic components of ruling class

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domination.Gramsci, like a true Marxist, took this a step further when he divided the
superstructure into those institutions that were overtly coercive and those that were not. The
coercive ones, which were basically the public institutions such as the government, police,
armed forces and the legal system he regarded as the state or political society and the non-
coercive ones were the others such as the churches, the schools, trade unions, political parties,
cultural associations, clubs, the family, NGOs etc. which he regarded as civil society. There
are several areas where the state hasthe power to mandate and enforce compliance. Security
and law and order are obvious examples, as are taxation, and some kinds of regulatory power,
such as determining food safety standards, would fall under this category. In the course of
time, it helps tocreate conditions that allow for voluntary obedience to laws and their
legitimation. Coercion also undermines legitimacy. Continuous use of force to suppress
dissent, resolve social conflicts, and maintain law and order maylead to the erosion of
legitimacy and undermine the capacity of the state togovern.The state sometimes stands in a
paradoxical situation regarding the use of force and it may ensure compliance, but at the same
time, the frequency of itsuse may delegitimize the state. The modern state applies coercive
power to ensure its continuity and regulation.
State and Non-State Actors
There are various organization that deals with different kinds of situations for both individual
and a group. The colonial legacy and its continuity can be seen in various organizational
structures though India had freed itself from the yolk of foreign rule since 1947. India being
having a diverse culture, religion, language, caste etc it is not an easy task for the state to
maintain its control because of its physiographic unevenness. Various mechanism has been
applied by the state to restore peace and order within its territory. Coercive power become a
legitimate mechanism for a sovereign nation. In India the legal institutions like police force,
army, regiment, and legal institution like law court were institutionalized during the British
time. Some of the colonial legacy can be still visible in the present modern state of India such
as IPC which got institutionalized during the 1860 on the recommendation of law
commission of India. The main objective was to provide a general penal code of India. IPC
section 124 which lays down the punishment for sedition is one such example of continuity
of colonial legacy in India. The state uses various mechanism to curb both the legitimate and
illegitimate behaviour of its citizens. Various Act had been passed even after independence to
determine its supreme control over the people. Seeing the diverse culture and aspirations of
the country, unending protest and making a number of demands tangled with the coercive
instrument to suppress. Soon after India’s independent, regional aspirations, linguistic issues,
partition between India and Pakistan, famine, poverty, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh
and the porous boundary were the circumstances that employed the state and its forces to
control the situation. There was certain case where extreme way of dealing with the situation
by the state. The state forces sometime came into a controversial scandal and even committed
to some fake encounter cases. Even the political party too are not always free from that kind
of illegitimate way of behaving undemocratically which itself seen sometime in the nexus
between the politicians and other institutions. Especially at the time of election, the politician
employed state mechanism to do favour for their advantages.

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Arvind Verma hasbrought out the modus operandi of state forces with related to power of
arrest, search, seizure and preventive detention. He finds certain sections of the IPC not
reasonable ground to applied state forces. It gives the state police an excessive behaviour to
deal with the citizens which sometime applied excessively. When a person does not actually
commit a crime, he still faces the police perpetration and sometime punished without ant
committing the actual crime. With just a mere suspicion an innocent person may incurred his
whole life under the state atrocities. One such example is about IPC section 124A, which
framed innocent students and citizens to be anti-national. This hindrance various social
activist andcharged with some criminal case. Democratic principles and values have become
less meaningful in the presence of various state forces when laws are ambiguous. Sometime
human rights got violated by the forces itself when it deals with various situation. There are
various cases where the law itself needs to be revisit and redefine according to the change in
time. In the presence of technological and communication advancement, the state laws need
to be codified with the existing cultural development and technological advancement. The
state sometimes involves in using various section under IPC to the extend where the political
parties tries to undermine the opponent. During election time many political parties who are
enjoying power use the state agencies to defame their opponent. Election can be such
example to involved in scandal which tries to undermine its political opponents by using state
mechanism.
The nature of the Indian State has been shaped by a contestation between the logic of
democracy and the logic of domination. On one hand, the logic of democracy helped open up
the possibility of a popular, responsive and accountable government that would deliver on the
promise of governance, development and a levelling of hierarchies in a deeply unequal
society. This was not just a normative ideal evolved through the freedom movement and the
various struggles for equality accompanying it. The promise of democracy was underwritten
by universal adult franchise and the mechanism of open political competition and free and
fair elections. Under conditions of an informed citizenry, a free media and a level playing
ground for political competition, the democratic political mechanism was expected to create a
political will on the part of the rulers to deliver what the citizens expected them to do. There
are high chances of civil uprising if the government fails to fulfil its promises during election.
In a society where an overwhelming majority of the electors are poor, democratic politics was
expected to direct state power towards a redistribution of resources and enhance access to
basic goods and services for the poor. In this sense, the logic of democracy has in it an
ingrained transformative element. In the Indian context, the idea of transformation was built
much more consciously in both the institutions and practices of democracy. A state that
follows socialism when its fails to deliver to the society there is high chances of popular
movement like the Anna Hazare Movement.
The early twenty-first century national security environment has been characterized by
political coercion. Despite an abundance of political commentary on the various forms of
non-state coercion leveraged against the state, there is a lack of literature which distinguishes
between the mechanisms and the mediums of coercion. Frequently non-state movements
seeking to coerce the state are labelled by their tactics, not their strategies. Terrorists,
insurgencies and social movements are largely defined by the ways in which they seek to

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influence the state, rather than by their political aims. Not all non-state actors seek political
coercion, so not all examples of different group types are considered. This approach also
excludes political coercion by states, focusing on the non-state actor as the primary unit of
analysis. The study applies a general theory of political coercion, which is defined as attempts
to change the policies or action of a polity against its will, to the strategies employed by
terrorist groups, insurgencies, and social movements. This distinguishes non-state actors’
strategic objectives from their actions and motives, which are variables that are often used to
differentiate between types of non-state actors and the labels commonly used to describe
them. It also allows for a comparative analysis of theoretical perspectives from the disciplines
of terrorism, insurgency and counterinsurgency, and social movements. The study finds that
there is a significant degree of overlap in the way that different disciplines conceptualize the
mechanism of political coercion by non-state actors. Studies of terrorism and
counterterrorism focus more on the notions of cost tolerance and collective punishment,
while studies of insurgency focus on a contest of legitimacy between actors, and social
movement theory tend to link political objectives, social capital, and a mechanism of
influence to leverage against the state. Each discipline has a particular vernacular for the
mechanism of coercion, which is often linked to the means of coercion, but they converge on
three core theoretical components of compelling a polity to change its policies or actions:
exceeding resistance to change, using political or violent punishments, and withholding
legitimacy or consent from a government.South Korean democratic transition can be one
such example of state using coercive power. Since institutional democratization in 1987, it is
conventionally known that governmental authority has exercised its power through law and
police force, rather than inclusive or private violence. In other words, 1987 pro-democracy
movement has been a critical juncture for a step towards democratic consolidation. However,
state coercion may continually be exerted despite institutional specification by law in South
Korean context. Explicit case would be amendment of ‘the Law on Assembly and
Demonstration’ which determines citizens’ right to take collective action mostly against
government actions.
Insurgency Problem in North-East India, State-Sponsored Terrorism in Jammu and
Kashmir and Naxal Movement
Northeast India is the most volatile and insurgency affected place in the country after
Kashmir. It is the easternmost part of India. The region is composed of eight states namely-
Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim.
The fact that further jeopardizing mainland India’s links with the region is the thriving
militancy in most of the northeast states. The demands of the different militant groups range
from autonomy within the provisions of the Indian constitution to outright secession. Such
militant movements started early with India’s independence in 1947. At one point, more than
120 militant groups operated in India’s northeast. In recent years, the Indian government has
had some success in achieving stability in the region, using tactics from negotiations to
military operations to root out militants. Nevertheless, the region remains a potential
tinderbox.Militants in India’s northeast once enjoyed vast popular support since they, in their
formative years, voiced genuine grievances of the people such as poor governance,
alienation, lack of development and an apathetic attitude from the central government; in

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recent years, however, this influence has been reduced. Nevertheless, in most of the states in
the northeast, anti-government militants retain significant nuisance value and often indulge in
successful strikes against government interests.
Security force operations using the army, state police forces and the paramilitary forces
remain the preferred mode of official response to contain militancy. A strong military
presence has been the feature of all the militancy-affected states in the region. The Union
government, as a matter of policy, reimburses security-related expenditure incurred by the
states. It also has an ongoing program for the modernization of the state police forces that
sometimes possess weapons of lesser sophistication than the militants. Interestingly, in all of
the north-eastern states, the ratio of policemen per 10,000 people is far above the national
average.Military operations in Mizoram, where the army reportedly launched air strikes to
neutralize the M.N.F. cadres, resulted in several fatalities and displacement among the
civilian population. Military operations in Nagaland, too, resulted in civilian fatalities and
large-scale displacement. In Assam, in the beginning of the 1990s, two military operations,
Operation Rhino and Operation Bajrang, were launched against U.L.F.A. militants. This
forced U.L.F.A. to move out of the state and locate itself in areas outside the country.
However, such operations have not been able to post conclusive gains against militancy in
any of the states. In states like Manipur, militants have been able to carve out vast stretches of
“liberated zones” where only their laws and dictates hold sway.Manipur was the second most
violent state in the country behind Jammu and Kashmir. Still, neither Manipur, nor the
northeast, has figured prominently in the policymaking of the national leaders. For instance,
fencing the 4,095 kilometre (2,545 miles) long Indo-Bangladesh border, pitted as the solution
to the problems of cross-border militancy as well as illegal migration, has progressed at a
tardy pace. While the government’s military options have achieved only minimal results, lack
of development continues to alienate the people of the region further from the mainstream.
The region has also received little attention from either the national or the international
media. Achievements by a separate ministry created by the Indian government for the
development of the region remain minimal.On 9 June 2015, India announced that it had
conducted a cross-border operation against insurgents belonging to NSCN-K. According to
India, the operation took place in Myanmar and it was in response to the attacked of Dogra
Regiment in Chandel district of Manipur.Based on precise intelligence inputs, the Indian Air
Force and 21 PARA (SF) carried a cross-border operation along the India–Myanmar border
and destroyed two Militant camps one each of NSCN (K) and KYKL, along the India–
Myanmar border. The operations were carried out inside the Myanmar territory along the
Nagaland and Manipur border at two locations. One of the locations is near Ukhrul in
Manipur. The army attacked two transit camps of the Naga militants.
Terrorism targets persons and property normally considered protected under the laws of war.
Whether used as a strategic end, true terrorism, sociologically speaking or as a weapons
system within a larger insurgent campaign, terror confronts the state with the same challenge:
how to create a security net or grid that negates the perpetrators’ ability to choose time and
place.Critical restraints are manpower and resources. Quantitative input, of course, is
multiplied by qualitative factors. What results is that any insurgency or counter-insurgency
must be assessed at different levels: macro, meso, micro. A case will only exist as an

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aggregate of its pieces. On the one hand, terror, as the driving force of insurgency by radical
Islamic elements appears to continue unabated in this, India’s northern-most State. On the
other hand, disaggregating the case demonstrates that India, after much experience, has
evolved an effective response posture. This is particularly visible in Jammu, the southern
division of the larger J&K.The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir is an uprising or
revolt against the Indian administration of Jammu and Kashmir a region constituting the
southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute
between India and Pakistan since 1947.Jammu and Kashmir, long breeding ground of
separatist ambitions, has been wracked by the insurgency since 1989. Although the failure of
Indian governance and democracy lay at the root of the initial disaffection, Pakistan played
an important role in converting the latter into a fully developed insurgency. Some insurgent
groups in Kashmir support the complete independence, whereas others seek accession to
Pakistan.More explicitly, the roots of the insurgency are tied to a dispute over local
autonomy. Democratic development was limited in Kashmir until the late 1970s and by 1988
many of the democratic reforms provided by the Indian government had been reversed and
non-violent channels for expressing discontent were limited and caused a dramatic increase in
support for insurgents advocating violent secession from India. In 1987, a disputed State
election created a catalyst for the insurgency when it resulted in some of the state's legislative
assembly members forming armed insurgent groups. In July 1988, a series of demonstrations,
strikes and attacks on the Indian government began the Kashmir insurgency, which during the
1990s escalated into the most important internal security issue in India.
Pakistan claims to be giving its "moral and diplomatic" support to the separatist
movement. The ISI of Pakistan has been accused by India and the international community of
supporting, supplying arms and training Mujahedeen tofight in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2015,
former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf admitted that Pakistan had supported and
trained insurgent groups in the 1990s. India has repeatedly called Pakistan to end its "cross-
border terrorism" in Kashmir.Several new militant groups with radical Islamic views
emerged and changed the ideological emphasis of the movement to Islamic. This had
happened partly due to a large number of Islamic "Jihadi" fighters (mujahadeen) who had
entered the Kashmir valley following the end of the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s.The
conflict between the militants and the Indian forces have led to large number of
casualties. Many civilians have also died as a result of being targeted by the various armed
groups.
The Naxalite movement in India owes its origins to a small village in West Bengal called
Naxalbari and thus, the movement acquired its name. The year was 1967 when a small group
of Communist Party of India (Marxist) members led by Charu Mazumdar, KanuSanyal and
Jangal Santhal decided to initiate an armed struggle against large landowners and forcibly
take away their lands and re-distribute it amongst the landless.KanuSanyal call for an armed
struggle got its first voice of support from Jangal Santhal, who at that time was the President
of Siliguri Kisan Sabha. On 18 June 1967, he gave a call for support to the armed struggle
and thus began a violent period in India that continues to have its impact on the lives of many
people even today.The initial response of the state government and subsequently, the central
government, was that this was a ‘law & order’ problem and believed that the uprising would

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be short lived and could be crushed with force in a short period of time. The government
completely failed to read the situation and this is borne out by the statement in Lok Sabha on
June 13 1967, by the then Home Minister Y.B.Chavan, where he stated that this was a case of
lawlessness and should be contained and crushed by the local police force.Former Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh warned, “Naxalism is the greatest threat to our internal security.”
The credit for the survival of the movement for over 40 years must go to the Government,
which has failed abysmally in addressing the causes and conditions that sustain the
movement. The problem has been in the Indian state's perception of the causes of the Naxal
movement.The Governments have enacted several laws to empower themselves to combat
Naxals. The West Bengal Government enacted the West Bengal (Prevention of Violent
activities) Act 1970 to arm itself to repress the uprising. No particular national act has been
enacted so far specifically to counter the Naxal movement, but various 'anti-terror' acts have
been used to curb Naxal violence and too often, to target sympathizers by stamping them as
Naxalites.However, in-spite of the government's muscle power and legal teeth, the Naxal
movement has continued to spread its base because the rural poor and oppressed identify with
its ideology. In other words, its inception, ideology, spread and sustenance are deeply rooted
in socio-economic factors.The government has constituted an 'Empowered Group of
Ministers' to counter the problem of Naxalism headed by the Home minister and select chief
ministers. The government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967
amended in 2004 has banned the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) - People's War
and all its associated formations, and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and its front
organizations. The government has also constituted a Task force which will comprise of
Nodal officers from the Naxal affected areas and officers from the IB, SSB and the
CRPF. There is also a Coordination Centre that was set up in 1998 headed by the Union
home minister with Chief Secretaries and DGPs of the Naxal affected areas for the
coordination of steps taken to control Naxal activities. The government has laid down a clear
plan to tackle the left-wing extremism.
Various Acts and Constitutional Provisionsto Curb Non-State Actors
Section 124Aof the Indian Penal Code lays down the punishment for sedition. The Indian
Penal Code was enacted in 1860, under the colonial rule. Section 124A forms part of Chapter
VI of the Code which deals with offences against the state. Chapter VI comprises sections
from 121 to 130, wherein section 121A and 124A were introduced in 1870. The then British
government in India feared that Muslim preachers on the Indian subcontinent would wage a
war against the government. Throughout the Raj, this section was used to suppress activists in
favour of freedom movement including Lokmanya TilakandMahatma Gandhi, both of whom
were found guilty and imprisoned. The section kept drawing criticism in the independent
India as well for being a hindrance to the right to freedom of speech and expression.The
authorities in India today are using Section 124A to stifle dissent. Section 124A criminalises
anyone who “through words, either written or spoken, or by signs, or by visual
representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or
attempts to excite disaffection towards the government”, with the term disaffection meaning
“disloyalty and all feelings of enmity”.The misuse of sedition law is not specific to any one
political party in India. Since independence, many writers, activists and cartoonists have been

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accused of sedition by governments across the country as a response to legitimate criticism.
In the 1962 case ofKedar Nath Singh Vs State of Bihar, the Supreme Court of India,
upholding the constitutional validity of 124A, ruled that a person could be prosecuted if they
“incitement to violence or intention or tendency to create public disorder or cause disturbance
of public peace”. In its third attempt to determine the validity of sedition, earlier last year, the
Law Commission of India observed that while dissent is essential to any democracy,law
enforcement agencies must use sedition law judiciously. Additionally, it also held that it is
necessary for the Supreme Court to interpret the provisions of sedition law. The report also
notes that the United Kingdom has itself abolished its own law on sedition almost a decade
ago. While the powers of the Law Commission of India are limited to providing suggestions
and recommendations only, the Parliament of India, the law-making body of the government,
and the judiciary, the custodian of human rights, ought to revisit the justification of this
provision.
With the indiscriminate use of archaic laws for dissenting against the government, many have
raised their voices against such arbitrary restrictions on the fundamental right to freedom of
speech and expression, which is granted under the Constitution of India. Given the record of
the ruling party in India, intolerance of criticism is only seeing a rise in the country with
authorities clamping down on free speech behind the garb of disloyalty and anti-national
sentiments.
In 2015, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000, which criminalised online
speech considered “grossly offensive”, “menacing”, and caused “annoyance”, was struck
down asunconstitutionaldue to the ambiguity of such terms. The Supreme Court of India held
that any restrictions on speech could only be deemed reasonable under Section 19(2) of the
Constitution of India. While the sedition law suffers a similar problem with definition, along
with a lack of procedural safeguards, the Supreme Court has argued time and again that
seditious words or actions are likely to threaten public order or incite violence, which is a
reasonable restriction on free speech.There is a growing demand for amending the sedition
law or repealing this relic of the past. However, there is an urgent necessity to first address
the systemic flaws to ensure that these laws are not misused so as to mock free speech in
India.
Armed Forces Special Power Act was enacted in1958 which is still implemented in several
North-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir despite several protest from the
citizens.COFEPOSA in 1974, MISA in 1971 and National Security Act 1980 are part of the
Act to suppress insurgencies and other unlawful activities which wage war against
thestate.Sixteenth Amendment Act 1963empowered the state to make laws with regards to
‘reasonable limitation’ oncertain Fundamental Rights Art. 19 (1) (a) , (b),( c) in the interest of
sovereignty and integrity of India. In 1967, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)
was passed which enhanced the central executive to prosecute those who indulged in
unlawful activities and associations such as any secessionist movement through words or
signs. Apart from UAPA there are various others laws that is being implemented in various
states inIndia such as MCOCA, AFSPA, and CSPAS. Another notable Act was Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) which was enacted in 1985 in the backdrop
of Khalistan Movement in Punjab. TADA was implemented across India until it was lapsed

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in 1995. In 2002, Prevention of Terrorist Act (POTA) came up when World Trade Centre
was attacked by the terrorist and India’s Parliament attacked.
Conclusion
Coercive force though might sometime pose endanger and threats to the civil liberties and
rights, it is still useful in situations of imminent danger. In the case of India there are various
terrorist group and separatist movement, it is the duty of the state to protect its territory and
people from such danger. Forces ensures compliance but can also delegitimize the state.Like
the parents are rendered to some form of punishment to their children and even counter
sometime if they disobey the laws for correcting them.Coercion also useful when dispute
involves something of great value to the threatened. The state might sometime resort to some
form of violence and force to curb those citizens who are disobeying the law and order.
Andterrorism needs different mechanism to deal with unlike the normal citizen who violates
law.
Although coercive power may be impressive, it is inherently useless in some situation. Karl
Deutsch points to the ‘autonomous probability’ of behaviour hat a threat is meant to inhabits,
‘even the most intense and credible threats may not stop people from sneezing; nor might
they stop from social revolutions…Related factors are those of the needs and the motivation
for the behaviours that the threat is intend to prevent’. To elaborate further, it might be
helpless to stop from sneezing because a person doesn’t have the ability to control sneezing.
It might be difficult to stop a person from defying repressive power, because need of self-
determination is greater than a fear of power. In the first case it is beyond human control,
while in the second case a person simply not to chooseto obey. To quote Dwight
Eisenhower’s statement, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired
signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who and are not fed, those who are cold and
not clothed”. There are heavy social, economic, political and infrastructural damaged caused
by coercive power. When people are forced to obey the state power under several threats, the
actual will is still not under-control. When the state neglect then the people will grasp that
opportunity to start aggression.
India is a democratic nation where people are enjoying certain liberties and rights, the state
interference just for mere exercising of freedom and rights is unjustifiable whereas there are
certain section of the constitutional provisions that needs amendment to go inline with the
change in society and cultural advancement. In a democracy, which is based on consent, state
leaders have to be judicious in the use of force, otherwise the very stability of the state might
be threatened.Frequent used of state instrument to limit the exercise of civil liberties should
be check by the law institution like High Court and Supreme Court. In India, when the
legislative and executive means to get justice got exhausted, still there we have a legal
institution to have a final word on the grievance of the people.

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Important Questions:
Q.1. Explain how the State use its mechanism to curb non-state actor in India with respect to
Naxal Movement.
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Q.2. Discuss various measures taken by the government to control insurgency problem in
North-East India and Jammu and Kashmir.
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Q.3. Briefly discuss various Acts and constitutional laws to discourage the unruly behaviour
of the citizens.
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Q.4. Explain how the British colonial rule influence the modern Indian State with respect to
IPC 124A?
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Learning Outcome
By end of the chapter student will be able to understand:
 Difference between state and non-state actors.
 About the nature of state with respect to coercion.
 About various mechanism to curb unruly behaviour of the citizen.
 The constitutional and legislatives measures to fight terrorist and insurgencies.
 Sedition law and how the government misuse it.
 Naxalite movement.
 Insurgency problem in North-East and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir

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References

1. Verma, (2007) ‘Police Agencies and Coercive Power’, in S. Ganguly, L. Diamond

and M
2. Plattner(eds), The State of India’s Democracy, Baltimore: John Hopkins University
Press, pp 130-139
3. Hannah Arendt, On Revolution (London: Penguin Books,1990), p. 112.
4. P. Chatterjee (2011), The State, in N.G. Jayal and P. Mehta(eds) The Oxford
Companion to Politics India, OUP, New Delhi
5. Kuldeep Mathur,The State and the use of Coercive Power in India, University of
California Press.
6. Article on Journal of Defence Studies, Naxalite Movement in India; Response of
State.

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