‘Regular and fair elections to local governments are non-negotiable for meaningful grass-roots democracy’
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The Election Commission of India (ECI), with its track record of conducting free and fair elections, and on time, to Parliament and State legislatures, has emerged as one of independent India’s most credible institutions. Yet, there are 34 State Election Commissions (SECs) that need serious attention and strengthening.
Systemic disempowerment of SECs
The SECs were brought into existence by Articles 243K and 243ZA of the Constitution (introduced by the 73rd and 74th amendments in 1993), which vested them with the superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to panchayats and urban local governments (ULGs). In reality, however, SECs are increasingly disempowered and, in certain cases, even in litigation with their State governments.
In a recent case, the Karnataka SEC filed a contempt petition against the Government of Karnataka for reneging on its commitment to the High Court in response to an earlier petition filed by the SEC to allow it to proceed with the delimitation of panchayat raj institutions and conduct elections (already delayed by over three and a half years). The Karnataka government had assured the High Court in December 2023 that it would publish the delimitation and reservation details within two weeks to enable the SEC to conduct elections. In another set of cases filed by the Andhra Pradesh SEC and several others in 2020, the Supreme Court struck down an ordinance of Andhra Pradesh, which hindered elections to the panchayat raj institutions.
Our analysis of the performance audits of the implementation of the 74th Constitutional (Amendment) Act by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India across 18 States shows that 1,560 out of 2,240 urban local governments (70%) did not have an elected council at the time of the CAG audit. The CAG, in its Karnataka report, observed that the disempowerment of SECs is, more often than not, the cause for delays in on time elections. Such delays undermine local governments and erode the trust of citizens in these important public institutions.
Janaagraha’s Annual Survey of India’s City Systems (ASICS), 2023 shows that only 11 out of 34 States and Union Territories have empowered SECs to conduct ward delimitation. These States and Union Territories (namely, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Ladakh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal) account for only 35% of India’s population, as in the 2011 Census.
Electoral reforms to strengthen third tier
Regular and fair elections to local governments are non-negotiable for meaningful grass-roots democracy and ensuring effective first-mile service delivery in the cities and the villages of the country. The requirement to conduct elections before the expiry of the five-year term of elected local governments is a constitutional mandate and must be as sacrosanct as the elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. To ensure this, SECs must be fully empowered on all matters of local government elections, on a par with the Election Commission of India, as observed by the Supreme Court in Kishan Singh Tomar vs Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad and Others (2006). The following reforms are a must in order to bring about this change:
First, there is a need to bring SECs on a par with the Election Commission of India in terms of transparency and independence in constitution and appointment. Notwithstanding the recent dilution in the case of the Election Commission of India, can we not aspire to a three-member SEC which is appointed by a committee that comprises the Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), and the Chief Justice of the High Court? A State government-appointed SEC is just not working. The Union government should amend the 74th Constitutional (Amendment) Act in this context.
Second, the delimitation of ward boundaries and reservations of seats must be mandated only at fixed intervals, say once in 10 years. The absence of this check can lead to State governments acting arbitrarily, causing undue delays in elections to local governments.
Third, the powers of ward delimitation and reservation of seats for local governments must be vested in the SECs. Further, the SECs must be entrusted with reservations to the positions of mayors/presidents, deputy mayors/vice-presidents of the local governments, say once in 10 years, where applicable. Elections to these positions are delayed inordinately after local elections as State governments fail to publish the reservation roster to these positions on time.
Finally, malpractices by presiding officers appointed by the State governments have also emerged — an example is the election of the Mayor in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Council in 2024. SECs, therefore, should possibly be entrusted with the election of mayors, presidents, chairpersons, and standing committees.
Srikanth Viswanathan is CEO at the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. Santosh Nargund is Head, Participatory Governance at the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. The views expressed are personal
