A century of constituency delimitation in India

• Published in: Political geography 2000-05, Vol.19 (4), p.517-532
• Main Author: Singh, Chandra Pal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apportionment; Colonial government; Constituencies; Constitution; Delimitation; Democracy; Elections; Electoral systems; Enfranchisement; Geography of representation; Government and politics; India; Legislatures; Political geography; Political parties; Political representation; Representative democracy; Territorial constituencies; Territory; Voting
• ISSN: 0962-6298; 1873-5096
• DOI: 10.1016/S0962-6298(99)00090-6

Constituencies are de jure apportionment of space for the purpose of electing representatives of people living in the territorial limits of a democratic state. The elected representatives represent not only the people but also their respective segments of territory, the constituencies. These two — the land and the people — and the prevailing law of the country provide the basis for constituency boundaries and their delimitation. The laws concerning constituencies can have two dimensions. The first is related to the laws of enfranchisement as to who among the population have the right to vote. This gives the total number of electors and the number of representatives to be elected. The other aspect of constituencies is the actual drawing of boundaries and enclosing people within the constituency framework. This is indeed a sensitive issue for several reasons. First, a lack of understanding of the human geography of the area can divide up people who may in effect lose their representation or voice in the legislature. Second, the division of space into constituencies can be so organised that it may carve out either a safe support base for a party or a candidate, or create a combination of societal forces which are opposed to a particular party or candidate. This task should be assigned to impartial and non-partisan persons. Thirdly, a new boundary can change the pattern of electoral representation in the legislature. The degree of involvement of those who are largely to benefit from it varies from country to country according to its electoral laws. It varies from the largely neutral British case through slight party involvement in New Zealand to the total party involvement in the USA (Gudgin, G. & Taylor, P.J. (1979) Seats, votes and the spatial organisation of elections (p. 11), Pion Ltd, London). In South Asia, it varies from Sri Lanka where the Delimitation Commission consists purely of persons who are entirely out of politics, to India where the Delimitation Commission comprising of three persons (two of whom have generally been judges of the Supreme Court and State High Courts, and the third member has been the Chief Election Commissioner, ex-officio) associates in its deliberations nine politicians of different political shades in each state. Of these, four belong to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian parliament) and five to the Vidhan Sabhas (lower house of state legislatures) (Chandidas, R. (1971) Electoral system and political development. In: L.M.