The Assembly elections
in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Assam and the Union, the territory of Puducherry will be held between March 27 and April 29, the
Election Commission of India announced.
As our states are having elections. It’s our general duty to know about our surrounding and for now our Election Commission. So let’s start with the definition of it. The Election Commission is an independent and permanent body established by the Constitution of India to administer free and fair elections in the country. The Election Commission is an all-India body in the sense that it is common to both the Central government and the state governments. Note: the election commission is not concerned with the elections of panchayats and municipalities in the states. For this, the Constitution of India provides a separate State Election Commission. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of direction, superintendence and control of elections to parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and the office of vice-president of India shall be vested in the election commission.
Article
324 of the Constitution has
made the following provisions with regard to the composition of election
commission:
1. The appointment of the chief
election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be made by the
president.
2. The Election Commission shall
consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners,
if any, as the president may from time to time fix.
3. The conditions of service and
tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be
determined by the president.
4.
When any other election commissioner is so appointed, the chief election
commissioner shall act as the chairman of the election commission.
Since
1950 till 15 October 1989, the election commission functioned as a single
member body consisting of the Chief Election Commissioner. After October 1993,
the president appointed two more election commissioners. Since then, the
Election Commission has been functioning as a multi-member body consisting of
three election commissioners.
The
three chief election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary
and allowances, which are similar to those of a judge of the Supreme Court. They hold office for a term
of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
They can resign at any time or can also be removed before the expiry of their
term.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS
In detail, these powers and
functions are:
1. To determine the territorial
areas of the electoral constituencies.
2. To prepare and revise electoral
rolls and to register all eligible voters.
3. To grant recognition to
political parties and allot election symbols to them. Also act as a court for
disputes regarding the same.
4. To notify the dates and
schedules of elections and to scrutinize nomination papers.
5. To determine the code of
conduct to be observed by the parties and the candidates at the time of
elections.
6. To prepare a roster for
publicity of the policies of the political parties on radio and TV in times of
elections.
7. To advise the governor on
matters relating to the disqualifications of the members of state legislature.
8. To cancel polls in the event of
rigging, booth capturing, violence and other irregularities.
9. To request the president or the
governor for requisitioning the staff necessary for conducting elections.
10. To supervise the machinery of
elections throughout the country to ensure free and fair elections.
11. To advise the president whether
elections can be held in a state under president’s rule in order to extend the
period of emergency after one year.
12. To register political parties
for the purpose of elections and grant them the status of national or state
parties on the basis of their poll performance.
By: Shivani Awasthi (FullFry)
