Question

What system of elections is followed in India?

Answer 1

Hint: We need to know why elections are necessary for a constitution and why are there different rules or systems for conducting them. The outcome of an election strictly depends on the system which the constitution has adopted. All the citizens of a country cannot directly take part in every decision making and hence representatives are elected with the help of elections and various systems are adopted for conducting them.

Complete answer:
In a populated and democratic country such as India, the system by which they elect their representatives is very important.
The system adopted in India is the First Past the Post (FPTP) system. Some of the reasons for following this system are given below.
The FPTP system gained popularity and became successful in India because of its simple and easy to process nature.
This system is simple to understand and helps common voters to understand and vote without having much knowledge about politics and elections.
A clear choice is presented to the voters at the time of elections and voters have to simply favor a candidate or a party while voting, depending on the insides of politics
This system offers voters a choice between parties as well as candidates representing a particular party and voters can either give greater importance to the party or to the candidate or balance the two simply based on favoritism.
In a system like the FPTP, the voters are aware of their own representatives and can hold him/her accountable if needed.
This system can also give the largest party or the alliance some extra bonus seats, more than their allowed share, and form a stable government.
At last, this system helps to form a socialist government by allowing candidates from different social groups to come together to win an election in a locality which is important in a diverse country like India.

Note: The FPTP system has proved to be simple to understand for ordinary voters. It has helped larger parties to win clear majorities at the centre and the State level.
The system has also reduced the possibilities of political parties to get all their votes only from one caste or community. The working of the FPTP system generally results in a two-party system but the distinguishing feature of India’s party system is that the rise of coalitions has made it possible for new and smaller parties to enter into electoral competition in spite of the FPTP system and hence result in a multi-party system.