Election and Representation

Why this chapter matters for UPSC: Elections are the one part of polity that is in the news every year, and the exam follows: electoral reforms and "one nation, one election" (GS2 2024, 2017), the Election Commission's reform proposals (GS2 2017), EVMs (GS2 2018), the Model Code of Conduct (GS2 2022), election disputes and disqualification under the Representation of the People Act (GS2 2022, 2020, 2019), and women's representation in legislatures (GS2 2023). NCERT's chapter supplies the frame: the rules of the game must be fixed before the game and so belong in the Constitution; the choice of First Past the Post over proportional representation and the reasons for it; reserved constituencies instead of separate electorates; universal franchise and the right to contest; an Election Commission with "superintendence, direction and control"; and the reform agenda. The rationalised Reprint 2026-27 updated two passages: women's reservation in legislatures is now "provided through the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Act, 2023)", and a box on SVEEP and the National Voters' Day pledge was added. This page follows NCERT's order, prints the clause text where the exam turns on a word, and dates every figure.

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

Rules and umpire before the game. NCERT's opening image: a knight that moves straight, a cricket match without umpires. "The rules and the umpire have to be agreed upon before we begin to play a game. What is true of a game is also true of elections." Because the system of election and the machinery to run it must be settled before electoral politics begins, "these cannot be left to any government. That is why these basic decisions about elections are written down in the constitution."

Two questions, five rules. Can we have democracy without elections? No: "rule by the people usually means rule by people's representatives", and the method of choosing them is the election. Can we hold elections without democracy? Yes: "a large number of non-democratic countries also hold elections" in ways that do not threaten their rulers. So the constitution lays down basic rules about who may vote, who may contest, who supervises, how voters choose, and how votes are counted; "the first three questions are about ensuring that elections are free and fair", "the last two questions are about ensuring a fair representation."

The rules decide the winner. "Some rules can favour bigger parties; some rules can help the smaller players. Some rules can favour the majority community, others can protect the minorities." NCERT's "dramatic instance" is 1984: the Congress won 415 of 543 seats with 48 per cent of the votes; the BJP won two seats with 7.4 per cent.

PART 1 — Quick Reference

FPTP and PR (NCERT's comparison table)

NCERT's two PR variants: the whole country as one constituency (Israel, Netherlands) or several multi-member constituencies with party lists (Argentina, Portugal). India uses "a third and complex variation", the single transferable vote, "on a limited scale for indirect elections": the President, Vice-President, Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishads. NCERT's Rajya Sabha example: the quota is (total votes polled ÷ (seats + 1)) + 1, so four seats and 200 MLAs in Rajasthan give (200 ÷ 5) + 1 = 41; first preferences are counted, the lowest candidate eliminated and his or her votes transferred by second preference until the seats are filled.

1984: NCERT's Table

The Election Commission's own statistical reports give a slightly different basis: in the December 1984 poll (514 seats declared) the Congress contested 491 seats, won 404 and polled 49.10 per cent of the votes; the Assam and Punjab elections of 1985 (27 seats) added 10 more, for 414 in the completed House. NCERT's 48.0 per cent and 415 appear to be computed over the full House of 543; answer keys follow NCERT, but quote the Commission's figures when the question asks for the record.

The Articles

Reserved Seats and Numbers (dated)

Election Commission: Status as of 4 October 2026

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

Elections and Democracy

NCERT distinguishes direct democracy (the Greek city-states; gram sabhas as "the closest examples") from the representative kind that "lakhs and crores of people" require. Representatives are "actively involved in governing and administering the country", so "the method by which people elect their representatives becomes very important." And since non-democratic rulers "are very keen to present themselves as democratic" by holding managed elections, the constitution's rules on voters, candidates, supervision, choice and counting are what make an election democratic.

The Election System in India

First Past the Post. The country "is divided into 543 constituencies; each constituency elects one representative; and the candidate who secures the highest number of votes in that constituency is declared elected." "The winning candidate need not secure a majority of the votes"; the method is "also called the Plurality System." Hence 1984: in many constituencies the Congress candidate won with less than half the votes, the votes for losing candidates went "waste", and "a party could win all the seats with only 25 per cent votes or even less" if everyone else got fewer.

Proportional representation. Israel: "each party is allotted the share of seats in the parliament in proportion to its share of votes", filled from a declared list; a 3.25 per cent threshold; "this often leads to a multi-party coalition government". NCERT's 2015 Knesset table (Likud 23.40 per cent, 30 seats; Zionist Camp 18.67, 24; Joint List 10.61, 13; Yesh Atid 8.82, 11; Kulanu 7.49, 10; Habayit Hayehudi 6.74, 8; Shas 5.74, 7; Yisrael Beitenu 5.10, 6; United Torah Judaism 4.99, 6; Israel's Left 3.93, 5; others 4.51, 0; total 120) is the exercise in proportionality. Its "Check your progress" asks what Tamil Nadu's 2016 Assembly (AIADMK 40.77 per cent, 135 seats; DMK 31.64, 88; INC 6.42, 8; PMK 5.32, 0; BJP 2.84, 0; NOTA 1.30) would look like under PR: no majority, and a coalition.

Reservation of Constituencies

FPTP "often works to the disadvantage of the smaller social groups", and in a society with "a history of caste-based discrimination" it "can mean that the dominant social groups and castes can win everywhere and the oppressed social groups may continue to remain unrepresented." The British had introduced separate electorates, under which "only those voters would be eligible who belong to that community"; the Assembly feared "this will not suit our purposes" and chose reserved constituencies, in which "all voters in a constituency are eligible to vote but the candidates must belong to only a particular community or social section for which the seat is reserved." NCERT's two Assembly voices: Tajamul Husain (26 May 1949), "Separate electorates have been a curse to India... We (Muslims) want to merge in the nation... for God's sake keep your hands off reservation for the Muslim community"; and Jaipal Singh (27 August 1947), for the Adivasis "isolated and kept, as it were, in a zoo", who asked for reserved seats and "not... separate electorates", noting that under the 1935 Act there were "only 24 Adivasi MLAs out of a total of 1585, ...and not a single representative at the Centre."

How it works. Reservation for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies "was made initially for a period of 10 years and as a result of successive constitutional amendments, has been extended up to 2030"; Parliament may extend it again. Seats are "in proportion to their share in the population": "of the 543 elected seats in the Lok Sabha, 84 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 47 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (as on 26 January 2019)." The Delimitation Commission, "appointed by the President of India" under a Delimitation Act (section 3 of the Act of 2002: a Chairperson "who is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court", "the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner", and the State Election Commissioner of the State concerned; by section 10(2) its orders, once gazetted, "shall have the force of law and shall not be called in question in any Court"), draws boundaries and reserves seats: for STs, the constituencies "that have the highest proportion of Scheduled Tribe population"; for SCs, constituencies with a higher SC share, "but it also spreads these constituencies in different regions of the State", because the SC population "is generally spread evenly throughout the country". Reserved constituencies "can be rotated each time the Delimitation exercise is undertaken." The last exercise, on the 2001 census, took effect from the 2009 election; the next waits for Census 2027 under the freeze described above.

Women. "The Constitution does not make similar reservation for other disadvantaged groups." The demand for one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies "was articulated for many years"; local bodies have had it since 1993; and "a similar provision for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas has been provided through the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Act, 2023)." The record: the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 passed the Lok Sabha on 20 September 2023 (454 to 2) and the Rajya Sabha on 21 September (214 to 0), received assent on 28 September 2023, and was brought into force on 16 April 2026 by S.O. 1922(E); Article 334A makes the reservation operative only "after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census taken after commencement" are published, for fifteen years. A Bill to bring it forward and enlarge the Lok Sabha (the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026) was defeated in the Lok Sabha on 17 April 2026, 298 votes to 230, short of the special majority. GS2 2023 asked about civil society's role in women's representation in State legislatures; the figure NCERT gives in its exercises ("only 12 per cent women members in our legislatures") is the starting point.

Free and Fair Elections

"The true test of any election system is its ability to ensure a free and fair electoral process."

Independent Election Commission. Article 324 gives the Commission "superintendence, direction and control of the electoral roll and the conduct of elections", words that "give the Election Commission a decisive role in virtually everything to do with elections", an interpretation "the Supreme Court has agreed with". A Chief Electoral Officer assists in every State; the Commission "is not responsible for the conduct of local body elections", which State Election Commissioners run independently. The Commission "can either be a single member or a multi-member body": single until 1989; two Commissioners "just before the 1989 general elections", then back to one; two again in 1993, "and has remained multi-member since then". The dispute between the then CEC and the Commissioners over powers "had to be settled by the Supreme Court" (T.N. Seshan v. Union of India, 1995); now "the CEC and the two Election Commissioners have equal powers to take all decisions relating to elections as a collective body." NCERT on appointment: by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers, which makes it "possible for a ruling party to appoint a partisan person", so "many persons have suggested... consultation with the leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of India". That suggestion became law for a few months in 2023 and was then altered by Parliament; the current position is in the status table above. Tenure: six years or 65; the CEC removable "by the President if both Houses of Parliament make such a recommendation with a special majority" (NCERT's box defines special majority as two-thirds of those present and voting plus a majority of total membership, with a class of 57 as the worked example), "to ensure that a ruling party cannot remove a CEC who refuses to favour it"; "the Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India" (on the CEC's recommendation, Article 324(5)).

Functions (NCERT's list). Supervising an error-free voters' list; determining the timing and schedule of elections (notification, nominations, scrutiny, withdrawal, polling, counting); the power during the process "to postpone or cancel the election in the entire country or a specific State or constituency on the grounds that the atmosphere is vitiated"; implementing "a model code of conduct for parties and candidates"; ordering a re-poll or a recount; recognising parties and allotting symbols. The Commission "has very limited staff of its own" and borrows the administration, over which, once the process begins, it "has full control": it "can transfer the officers, or stop their transfers; it can take action against them for failing to act in a non-partisan manner." NCERT's verdict: the Commission "is more independent and assertive now than it was till 25 years ago", not because its powers grew but because it "started using more effectively the powers it always had". Its tests: militancy-hit elections in Assam, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir; the 1991 election suspended after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination; Gujarat 2002, where it postponed the Assembly election for a few months after "unprecedented violence" and "the Supreme Court upheld this decision". NCERT counts "seventeen Lok Sabha elections" since 1951-52 (the eighteenth was held in 2024).

Electoral Reforms

"No system of election can ever be perfect." With adult suffrage, the freedom to contest and an independent Commission, "India has tried to make its election process free and fair", but "the experience of the past 72 years has given rise to many suggestions". NCERT's six, some of which "are about changing the constitutional provisions discussed in this Chapter":

1. change from FPTP "to some variant of the PR system";
2. "a special provision to ensure that at least one-third women are elected to the parliament and assemblies" (now the 106th Amendment);
3. "stricter provisions to control the role of money", with election expenses "paid by the government out of a special fund";
4. a bar on "candidates with any criminal case", "even if their appeal is pending";
5. "complete ban on the use of caste and religious appeals in the campaign";
6. "a law to regulate the functioning of political parties and to ensure that they function in a transparent and democratic manner."

"There is no consensus about these suggestions", and even with consensus "there are limits to what the laws and formal provisions can do": free and fair elections need candidates and parties who "abide by the spirit of democratic competition", vigilant people, and institutions and voluntary organisations "functioning as watchdog".

Where the reform agenda stands (dated). NOTA: on the Supreme Court's direction in People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (27 September 2013) the Commission added a "None of the Above" option, first used in the Assembly elections of November-December 2013; NOTA records disapproval but confers no right to reject. Electoral bonds: the scheme of 2 January 2018 was struck down on 15 February 2024 by a five-judge bench for violating the right to information under Article 19(1)(a). Simultaneous elections: the High-Level Committee under Ram Nath Kovind submitted its report to the President on 14 March 2024; the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 were introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2024 and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, whose term the Lok Sabha extended on 29 July 2026 "up to the first day of the last week of the Winter Session-2026"; neither Bill had been passed as of 4 October 2026. Proportional representation: the Law Commission's 170th Report (May 1999) proposed, "on an experimental basis", that the strength of the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies "be increased by 25% of the existing strength which increased strength should be filled on the basis of list system". Model Code of Conduct: a code agreed with parties and enforced under Article 324, in force from the announcement of the schedule (GS2 2022). Criminal antecedents: Public Interest Foundation (2018) and the Commission's affidavit and publicity requirements, not the bar NCERT's list contemplates. Appointment of Commissioners: the 2023 Act and its pending challenge, above. NCERT's new box points students to the Commission's Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation programme, Electoral Literacy Clubs, and the National Voters' Day pledge "to vote in every election fearlessly and without being influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste, community, language or any inducement".

Conclusion

NCERT's five marks of success: the system has allowed voters "not only to freely choose representatives, but also to change governments peacefully both at the State and national level"; participation has been keen and "the number of candidates and parties that contest elections is on the rise"; the system "has proved to be accommodative and inclusive", with representatives "from many different social sections, though the number of women legislators has not increased satisfactorily"; outcomes "in most parts of the country" do not reflect "electoral malpractices and rigging", though attempts occur; and "no one can imagine a situation where a government would disrespect the verdict of an election". "The legitimacy of the Election Commission has increased in the eyes of the people. This vindicates the basic decisions taken by our Constitution makers."

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

Applying the Chapter

1. FPTP vs PR answers should use NCERT's four reasons and its own concessions (wasted votes; a party could win everything on 25 per cent), then the Indian variant of two-party competition at State level with coalitions nationally.
2. Election Commission answers should quote Article 324(1), separate the CEC's and the Commissioners' protections, and state the 2023 Act and its pending challenge as of the date of writing.
3. Delimitation and freeze answers turn on the exact proviso: "first census taken after the year 2026", now Census 2027; reservation of seats runs to 2030 and may be extended.
4. Reserved constituencies vs separate electorates is NCERT's exercise 5: a joint electorate with restricted candidature versus a communal electorate; use Tajamul Husain and Jaipal Singh.
5. Reform questions end with NCERT's caution that law has limits and that parties, voters and watchdog institutions carry the rest.

Exam Strategy

• Prelims: learn the Articles table; the three 1989-1993 steps in the Commission's composition; the EVM dates from the Commission's own booklet; the 104th and 106th Amendments' Act years and commencement dates; the Census 2027 reference date.
• Mains: quote NCERT's FPTP reasons and the 1984 table; frame reform answers with its six proposals and its "limits to what the laws... can do".
• Confused pairs: separate electorates vs reserved constituencies; CEC's removal vs Commissioners' removal; Article 329(a) (delimitation not justiciable) vs 329(b) (election petitions); the 106th Amendment "in force" (16 April 2026) vs "operative" (after delimitation); Act year vs commencement (104th: 2019 / 25 January 2020).
• Cross-reading: chapter 5 (Article 80 and the Rajya Sabha), chapter 8 (State Election Commissions and women's reservation in local bodies), chapter 9 (the 106th Amendment among the amendments).

Practice Questions

NCERT's exercises, worked

1. Closest to direct democracy: (d) decisions taken by the Gram Sabha.
2. Not performed by the Election Commission: (b) nominating candidates (parties and individuals do), (c) setting up polling booths is done by the district administration under the Commission's direction (so arguably performed through it), and (e) supervising Panchayat elections (State Election Commissions).
3. Common to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha elections: (c) every vote has equal value within each election; (a), (b) and (d) do not hold for both.
4. FPTP winner: (c) has more votes than any other candidate in the constituency.
5. Reserved constituencies vs separate electorates: all voters vote, only candidature is restricted, versus community-only electorates; rejected because they "have been a curse to India" (Tajamul Husain) and would divide the nation.
6. Correct the statements: (a) FPTP is followed for Lok Sabha and Assembly (not all) elections; (b) the Election Commission does not supervise Panchayat and Municipal elections (correct as written); (c) the President cannot remove an Election Commissioner except on the CEC's recommendation; (d) appointment of more than one Commissioner is optional, not mandatory (Article 324(2): "if any").
7. Only 12 per cent women: reservation (now the 106th Amendment), party nominations, campaign finance support, and the local-body experience since 1993.
8. FPTP or PR: (a) FPTP; (b) PR; (c) PR; (d) FPTP.
9. A former CEC contesting elections: NCERT leaves it open; the Act of 2023 bars re-appointment but not political activity; the argument for a cooling-off period rests on the appearance of impartiality.
10. Shift to PR? Use NCERT's four reasons for FPTP against its reform list and the coalition experience since 1989.

Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers)

11. "The rules of election decide who wins." Using NCERT's 1984 table and its Tamil Nadu 2016 exercise, explain how First Past the Post and proportional representation would produce different legislatures from the same votes. (GS2, 10 marks)
12. Set out the protections Article 324 gives the Election Commission and the gap in appointment that Anoop Baranwal (2023) tried to fill. How did Parliament respond, and what is the status of that response? (GS2, 15 marks)
13. Explain the constitutional mechanics of the delimitation freeze and show how the 106th Amendment's commencement depends on them. (GS2, 10 marks)
14. "Free and fair elections can be held only if the candidates, the parties and those involved in the election process agree to abide by the spirit of democratic competition." Discuss with reference to NCERT's six reform proposals. (GS2, 15 marks)

📦 Revision Capsule

Sources

• NCERT, Indian Constitution at Work (Class XI), ch. 3 "Election and Representation", Reprint 2026-27: ncert.nic.in PDF; whole book, Wayback copy of 27 September 2026; 2021-22 text for the women's-reservation passage, Wayback copy of 9 October 2021.
• The Constitution of India, as on 11 November 2025 (Arts. 80-82, 103, 170, 192, 324-334A; Fourth Schedule): Legislative Department PDF.
• Constituent Assembly Debates: 27 August 1947 (Jaipal Singh), 25 May 1949 (Patel), 26 May 1949 (Tajamul Husain).
• Election Commission of India, Legal History of EVMs and VVPATs: a compilation and analysis of case laws (ECI booklet; saved copy); Report on the First General Elections in India 1951-52, vol. I: PDF copy.
• Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India, 2 March 2023: Indian Kanoon; Dr. Jaya Thakur v. Union of India, order of 23 September 2026 (split on reference to a larger bench): Indian Kanoon; Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 (Act 49 of 2023), Gazette copy (saved; the Act's text is reproduced in the Jaya Thakur order above).
• People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (NOTA), 27 September 2013: Indian Kanoon; Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India, 25 September 2018: Indian Kanoon.
• Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023: Gazette, 28 September 2023; commencement S.O. 1922(E), 16 April 2026.
• Census 2027 notification (reference date 1 March 2027; 1 October 2026 for snow-bound areas): Gazette of India (saved copy, September 2026 amendment).
• One Nation, One Election: PIB backgrounder, 17 December 2024; All India Radio News, JPC tenure extended, 29 July 2026.
• Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (electoral bonds), 15 February 2024: Indian Kanoon.
• Election Commission of India, Statistical Reports on the General Elections of 1984 and 1985 to the Eighth Lok Sabha: 1984, vols. I-II; 1985, vols. I-II; General Election 2024 final data: PIB, 26 December 2024.
• Delimitation Act, 2002, sections 3 and following and section 10; Representation of the People Act, 1951, section 36; Two-Member Constituencies (Abolition) Act, 1961: Indian Kanoon.
• Law Commission of India, 170th Report, Reform of the Electoral Laws (May 1999): PDF.
• High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections submits its report: PIB, 14 March 2024.