Civics - Class 9 Democratic Politics - I Chapter 3: Electoral Politics Intext Questions: Question 1: Do most leaders fulxl their election promises? Answer: During elections most of the leaders make many big promises to the people (voters) to win their support and vote. However, after the elections, the political leaders forget their promises and most of them do not ful¤l their election promises. Question 2: Jagdeep and Navpreet read this story and drew the following conclusions. Can you say which of these are right or wrong (or if the information given in the story is inadequate to call them right or wrong): Elections can lead to changes in the policy of the government The Governor invited Devi Lal to become the Chief Minister because he was impressed with his speeches. People are unhappy with every ruling party and vote against it in the next election. The party that wins the election forms the government. This election led to a lot of economic development in Haryana. The Congress Chief Minister need not have resigned after his party lost elections. g g p y Answer: (i) Right (ii) Wrong (iii) Wrong (iv) Right (v) Inadequate information (vi) wrong Question 3: Do you know when the last Assembly election was held in your state? Which other elections have taken place in your locality in the last xve years? Write down the level of elections (National, Assembly, Panchayat, etc.), when were they held and the name and designation (MP, MLA, etc.) of the persons who got elected from your area. Answer: My state is Andhra Pradesh. Recent assembly elections were held in April 2019, where the YSR Congress Party chief Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, the incumbent Telugu Desam Party's Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan with his alliance between Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bahujan Samaj Party were the main contenders. Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress Party won the polls by winning 151 seats out of 175 seats, securing almost 86% of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. General Elections were held in Andhra Pradesh on 11 April 2019 to elect representatives for 17th Lok Sabha. Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha constituencies all of which voted in the ¤rst phase on the General election 2019 on April 11. The state witnessed an intense battle between the N Chandrababu Naidu led-Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR Congress Party of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). YSRCP had won 22 seats, and TDP 3. Elections to local bodies in Andhra Pradesh took place in four phases in rural areas (panchayats) in February 2021 viz. 9 February 2021, 13 February 2021, 17 February 2021 and 21 February 2021 covering 13 districts. In the ¤rst phase, 29,732 polling stations were set up. Urban local body elections to 12 municipal corporations and 75 municipal and town councils held in April. Persons elected from my area. M.P. - Pocha Brahmananda Reddy from Nandyal Constituency. M.L.A.- Gangula Brijendra Reddy from Allagadda. Mayor- B.Y. Ramaiah. Z.P.T.C. Chairman - Rajasekhar M.P.T.C. Chairman - Y. Raju Sarpanch - M. Gopala Krishna. Question 4: We have seen why democracies need to have elections. But why do rulers in non-democratic countries need to hold elections? Answer: Rulers in non-democratic countries need to hold elections because they want to show the world that they are not unpopular and they have the support of the people of the country, and so that their image improves in the eyes of the world. Secondly, they want to show that their government and position has been achieved legally and according to the constitutional provisions. Question 5: Ah! So, elections are like exams where politicians and parties know if they have passed or failed. But who are the examiners? Answer: The examiners in this case are the voters, who give them marks in the form of votes. Question 6: Read these two cartoons carefully. Write the message of each of them in your own words. Have a discussion in class on which of the two is closer to the reality in your own locality. Draw a cartoon to depict what elections do to the relationship between voters and political leaders? Answer: (a)The cartoon shown on the left given the message 1.That the knowledge, ideas, planning and promises of a candidate are useless if he/she does not have enough votes to win. Voting power is only with the common man, who is the decisive factor for an election. 2. The cartoon shown on the right gives the message that during an election campaign a candidate makes plenty of promises but he is unable to ful¤l all of them. As a result electorates chase him to ful¤l his promises. Second one is closer to the scenario in our locality. Question 7: Why is the boundary of the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency not the same as the district boundary of Gulbarga (Kalaburagi)? Draw a similar map for your own Lok Sabha constituency? Answer: The boundary of the Gulbarga Lok Sabha Constituency is not the same as the district boundary of Gulbarga because A. The entire state of Karnataka is divided into equal Lok Sabha constituencies on the basis of population. B. The total area of Gulbarga district is 16,224 sq km and it is the largest district in Karnataka. The population of Gulbarga district is 25,64,892 (census 2011). The whole Gulbarga district's population is more than that allotted for each Lok Sabha constituency in the state. That is why both the boundaries are not the same. I am from Gulbarga lok sabha constituency so the above shown map is illustrates the question. Question 8: How many Assembly constituencies are there in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency? Is it the same in your own Lok Sabha constituency? Answer: There are 8 Assembly constituencies in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha Constituency. Question 9: Like in Panchayats, should we not have at least one-third seats in the parliament and assemblies reserved for women? Answer: One-third of the seats are reserved for women in the Panchayats, but unfortunately even today representation of women in the State Assemblies and Parliament is very low. The women constitute 50 per cent of our society, so, we need to reserve at least one-third seats in the Assemblies and the Parliament for women. This helps them to uplift their status in society. Question 10: See the map below and answer the following questions. What is the number of Lok Sabha constituencies in your state and the neighbouring two states? Which states have more than 30 Lok Sabha constituencies? Why do some states have such a large number of constituencies? ⦁Why are some constituencies small in area while others are very big? Are the constituencies reserved for the SCs and STs evenly spread all over the entire country or are there more in some areas? Answer: (i) My state is Andhra Pradesh. Number of lok sabha constituencies are 25 my neighbouring states are Tamilnadu: 39 and Telangana: 17 (ii) The states which have more than 30 Lok Sabha constituencies are Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal. (iii) Some states have large number of constituencies because of their population. Here, voters are in large numbers. (iv) The coverage of each constituency is ¤xed of the basis of number of the voters. The area does not matter. If a smaller area has equal number of voters as a big area, both will be treated as constituencies. (v)The constituencies are reserved for the SCs and STs on the basis of the distribution of their population. So, the constituencies reserved, for the SCs and STs are not evenly spread all over the entire country, but are more in some areas. Question 11: Why are the candidates required to give a detailed statement of their property? Answer: Candidates are required to give a detailed statement of their property at the time of election because the Election Commission is trying to control the misuse of money power in elections. The candidate has to give information about his assets movable and immovable, debts to ¤nancial institutions, tax status, income and wealth. Secondly with this information the voters will be able to know more about the candidates and make their own choices. Question 12: Match the following features of our electoral system with the principles they reyect. Answer: Principles Features of Election System (i) Universal adult Franchise right to vote Everyone who is 18 years of age or older has right to vote. (ii) Representation of weaker Reservation of seats for the SCs and STs sections (iii) Open political competition Anyone can form a party or contest elections (iv) One vote one value Each constituency has roughly the same Population Question 13: How was the election campaign in your constituency in the last Lok Sabha elections? Prepare a list of what the candidates and parties said and did. Answer: Just like any other election that is conducted over the years, contestants compete for political positions. They have to put their ideals on the table, they have to tell people what they will do once they are elected into the positions they want to. Most politicians promise the public that they will provide the social amenities without any biasness. They claim that they will provide clean water to the people, clean environment, increase in worker wages etc In my constituency, 4 major political parties campaigned for winning elections.