How representative is our democracy? Not much -Governance Now

How representative is our democracy? Not much

Even 14 percent votes can make you an MLA – and minister, shows ADR/NEW study

GN Bureau | November 7, 2013

The cornerstone of democracy – that your MLA and MP carries your voice – turns out to be a myth in an analysis carried out by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW).

The two organizations have studied the vote share and representativeness of the MLAs who got elected in the 2008 assembly elections in the five states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram – which are now going to the polls again.

The findings [attached below in a PDF document] are not very encouraging. They prove that vice president Hamid Ansari was right when he expressed his concern over the extremely low percentage of ‘representativeness’ in our parliament and assemblies. On July 8, addressing a seminar on electoral reforms in Thiruvananthapuram, Ansari had said, "A perceptive observer of our electoral scene has rightly focused on what he calls the 'paradox' of a deepening representative democracy coexisting with a thinning of the very idea of representation."

The detailed findings of the study are:

[ADR/NEW have defined representativeness as (total votes polled for winner) divided by (total no. of registered voters), and vote share as (total votes polled for winner) divided by (total no.of valid votes polled).]

Delhi
Representativeness:
1. 99% of the winners won with votes less than 40% of the registered voters.
2. Dr. S.C.L. Gupta from Sangam Vihar constituency and Parvez Hashmi from Okhla constituency won with the lowest percentage of votes out of the total electorate (14%).
Vote Share:
1. 47 winners out of 70 (67%), won with less than 50% of the votes polled.
2. Dr. S.C.L. Gupta from Sangam Vihar constituency won with the lowest vote share of 27%
3. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, won with a vote share of 52% and representativeness of 29% from New Delhi constituency.

Rajasthan
Representativeness:
1. 98% of the winners won with votes less than 40% of the registered voters.
2. Ramswaroop from Kotputli constituency and Anita from Nagar constituency won with the lowest percentage of votes out of the total electorate (14%).
Vote Share:
1. 161 winners out of 200 (81%), won with less than 50% of the votes polled.
2. Ramswaroop from Kotputli constituency and Anita from Nagar constituency won with the lowest vote share of 21%.
3. Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan won with 55% vote share and 31% representativeness from Sardarpura constituency.

Madhya Pradesh
Representativeness:
1. 93% of the winners won with votes less than 40% of the registered voters.
2. Bhanwar Raja Manavendra Singh from Maharajpur constituency and Ahirwar Ramdayal from Chandla constituency won with the lowest percentage of votes out of the total electorate (12%).
3. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Rajasthan won with the highest representativeness of 45% from Budhni constituency.
Vote Share:
1. 186 winners out of 230 (81%), won with less than 50% of the votes polled.
2. Bhanwar Raja Manavendra Singh from Maharajpur constituency won with the least vote share of 19%.
3. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Rajasthan won with a vote share of 62% from Budhni constituency.

Chhattisgarh
Representativeness:
1. 91% of the winners won with votes less than 40% of the registered voters.
2. Mahesh Gagda from Bijapur constituency won with the lowest percentage of votes out of the total electorate (13%).
Vote Share:
1. 72 winners out of 90 (80%), won with less than 50% of the votes polled.
2. Ravi Shankar Tripathi from Bhatgaon constituency won with the lowest vote share of 28%.
3. Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh won with the highest vote share of 59% and a representativeness of 47% from Rajnandgaon constituency.

Mizoram
Representativeness:
1. 90% of the winners won with votes less than 40% of the registered voters.
2. K. Liantlinga from Aizawl South-I constituency won with the lowest percentage of votes out of the total electorate (26%).
Vote Share:
1. 37 winners out of 40 (93%), won with less than 50% of the votes polled.
2. John Rotluangliana of Mamit constituency and K. Liantlinga from Aizawl South-I constituency won with the lowest vote share of 32%.
3. Lalthanhawla, Chief Minister of Mizoram won with a vote share of 40% and a representativeness of 35% from Serchhip constituency and with a vote share of 35% and a representativeness of 29% from South Tuipui.

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