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Balayogi advocates proportional representation system

Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi on Thursday recommended a proportional representation system to ensure that people vote for parties instead of candidates, to avoid the ''serious inadequacy'' of the existing vote-seat distortion.

Initiating the discussion at a symposium on 'Electoral reforms' during the 62nd presiding officers conference in Delhi, Balayogi said the time had come to adjust the number of Lok Sabha seats and constituencies in proportion to the massive growth of population.

The number of seats, according to the 1971 census, was 545. But the population had risen by 75 per cent, from 548 million to 960 million. This, naturally, had serious implications on the representative character of the democracy as well as the balance of its foundation, the speaker said.

In view of the enormous powers and high profile the Election Commission had assumed of late, he continued, it was desirable that the President appoint the Commission in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition.

As of now, the appointment is made on the government's proposal.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Dr Najma Heptulla, presiding officers from different states and several members of Parliament were present at the symposium, being held on the concluding day of the officer's conference that commenced on September 21 with a meeting of secretaries.

Balayogi said firm legal provisions to prevent the entry of persons with criminal backgrounds into electoral contests should be implemented. However, he admitted it was difficult to define 'persons with criminal background', as the type of offences or the sentence imposed would have to be taken into account. One sure way was for the parties to deny tickets to such people -- but this was not always possible since such persons were normally 'winning candidates'.

He said though the recent Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case had brought legislators within the Prevention of Corruption Act's ambit, sanction would have to be obtained from the presiding officers till the Act was amended. Urgent steps were required in this regard, he added.

Referring to the huge costs incurred because of mid-term elections, he said one of the suggestions was that all legislative bodies have a fixed term, and election to Parliament and states be held simultaneously. This would necessitate amending Articles 83(2) and 172(1) of the Constitution.

He said the suggestion of state funding elections would not be possible in a multi-party system like India. However, the financing systems should be transparent and detailed ground rules established for disclosure of sources of funding.

The Indian system, known as first-past-the-post, wherein the winning candidates got more votes but not necessarily a majority of votes, causes serious distortions between popular votes and seats in the elected bodies. Parties having larger share of seats do not necessarily have larger percentage of popular votes.

Thus, said Balayogi, in the present Lok Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party holds 33 per cent of seats with only 25.5 per cent votes. The Congress over 12 General Elections has held seats ranging from 25.3 per cent to 77 per cent, while the votes gained ranged from 25.7 per cent to 47.8 per cent. During 1977, the BJP and allies held 54 per cent seats, but had only 41.3 per cent votes.

Balayogi said the conference had called for a comprehensive review of the Anti-Defection Law. There were even demands that the law be scrapped because of its abuse.

UNI

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