The method of choosing someone in election is voting.In India ,we follow the ‘first past the post’ system which makes the candidate with majority votes as the leader of the nation (in lok sabha elections). Voting is a powerful right of the citizens which enables them not only to elect their representatives but also empowers them to change the present leader by not casting a vote to her/him.

Role of VOTING in Democracy :

Democracy is a system in which the nation is governed in such a way that it follows the principle of ‘of the people’ , ‘by the people’ , ‘for the people’. Therefore, Democracy is a form of government where citizens of the nation will have a voice in the decisions of their community or Nation. And ‘Voting’ has long been the method used to determine the will of the citizenry. Without a vote, a citizen is essentially voiceless.

“True Democracy is one where every eligible citizen has full access to the electoral process, whatever their social,economic,or political status in life.”

Why we should VOTE? :

While we say it is the responsibility of the government to conduct elections in a ‘free and fair’ manner , it is also the responsibility of us (citizens) to vote wisely on time. The following are the reasons to vote:

1)As a Democratic country, India is built on the foundations of election. Voting is a constitutional right of the Indians(of age 18years and above )which enables them to elect whom they want and bring changes.

2)Our vote can bring an important change to the functioning of the government because every vote counts. ‘Vote’ is the only way to put a check on the bad government and replace it with a responsible government led by responsible leaders.

3)Voting is the responsibility of every citizen of age 18years and above because our vote determines the future of our younger generations.

4)And if we citizens are not careful about casting our vote -or worse, skip to vote altogether – it will jeopardize the existence of our democratic republic.

5)Finally, voting is the honor conferred on the citizens by the founding leaders . By exercising our vote, we can pay our respect to the Nation.

Evolution of Electronic voting :

Presently , elections are conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter- verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). EVMs were first introduced in 1999 for general elections and in 2018 for state elections. EVMs have replaced the Paper Ballots  in local , state and general elections in India.

As political parties raised  claims regarding EVMs’ tamperability and security ,  Election Commission decided to introduce EVMs with voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system and  Supreme Court of India gave the judgement, ordering the Election Commission of India to increase VVPAT slips vote count to five randomly selected EVMs per assembly constituency, which means Election Commission of India has to count VVPAT slips of 20,625 EVMs in 2019 General elections.

Trend of Governments in India :

In the first general elections(1952-57) of India INC(Indian National Congress) won with 364 out of 489 seats . for next 2 terms INC formed government with good majority whereas in 4th general elections INC lost 41% of its vote share however INC won and Indira Gandhi became prime minister.

During 5th general elections , Indira Gandhi broke away from the Congress. Her party won a whopping majority of 352 seats out of 518 and it is during this time national emergency was imposed in the country.Due to this emergency Bharatiya lok dal (Janata party) emerged victorious in 6th general elections however Indira Gandhi bounced back in 7th general elections with no leader of opposition.

After Indira Gandhi’s assassination 1989-91 elections marks a strong blow against congress with Bofors scandal , LTTE… and thus resulted in no party getting majority votes .

10th general elections were also called as Mandal-Mandir election due to mandal commission fallout and incident of Ram janmabhoomi- Babri masjid issue.In this elections Congress emerged as the single largest party with PV Narasimha rao as prime minister.

With frequent shift in leadership between Congress and BJP , the 2004-9 elections plays a prominent role with BJP ‘s early elections alongside launching “India Shining”campaign and formation of  United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with support from other parties and outside support from the left parties. UPA won and Sonia Gandhi refused to become the Prime Minister amidst the controversy about her foreign origin. Manmohan Singh was chosen as the Prime Minister.

The second term of the UPA proved to be a disaster with numerous allegations of corruption & scams. 2G, Coal Block, Adarsh, Commonwealth Games to name a few.Therefore BJP won majority with Narendra Modi as the man of the hour and also as its Prime Ministerial candidate resulting in NaMo ( Narendra Modi ) waves.

By observing the above trend in governments we can clearly understand the importance and the change that our votes can make to political conditions and economic development of India.India is  called as one of  the largest Democracies because our constition right from its birth provided for  Universal Adult Franchise ,  while America , who is the main propagator of Democracy didn’t give voting rights to Nigros(back Americans)  and women initially. So , being Indians its our pride, duty and right to vote.