Question

What are the challenges of the Indian election system? Suggest some ways to handle these challenges.

Answer 1

The challenges of the Indian election system are given below:
(i) Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
(ii) In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ticket from major parties.
(iii) Some families tend to dominate political parties. Tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
(iv) Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the major parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
(v) Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.
Some ways to handle the above challenges:
(i) Misuse of government facilities should be restricted.
(ii) Rigging on the polling day should be banned.
(iii) Role of money in election should be minimised.
(iv) Voting should be made compulsory.
(v) Contesting candidates should not be allowed to use caste or religion during elections.