Electoral Violence and Electoral Dispute Mechanisms in India

Projects

In collaboration with the UNDP Thailand, in this project Lokniti CSDS focused on multi-sectoral approach in assessing and analysing the roles of Political Parties, Election Commission, Police, Media and Civil Societies in contributing/ preventing the occurrence of poll violence in India. A key focus of the study is on the impact of poll violence on electoral participation of voters, especially women and marginalised sections of the society.

Started in 2006, the ‘Electoral Violence and Electoral Dispute Mechanisms in India’ is the Indian component of the regional study on ‘Electoral Violence and Electoral Dispute Mechanisms’ conducted in eight countries of South Asia and the Pacific by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Regional Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The study in India focused on multi-sectoral approach in assessing and analysing the roles of Political Parties, Election Commission, Police, Media and Civil Societies in contributing/ preventing the occurrence of electoral violence. A key focus of the study is on the impact of poll violence on electoral participation of voters, especially women and marginalized sections of the society.
Professor Peter Ronald deSouza, Visiting Senior Fellow at the CSDS coordinated the regional study. Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Fellow at CSDS, was the coordinator of the Indian chapter of the study.

Methodology

The Methodology for conducting this research study comprised an inter-mix of three research techniques:

Desk research and analysis.
Focus group discussions with stake holders of the society.
Case studies of regions with history of electoral violence.

The study began with a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) planned in states that were socio-politically volatile and with a history of electoral violence to their name. The first in the series was a two-day FGD held in Patna College, Patna, Bihar on May 22 and 23, 2006. The participants in this discussion were from political parties, media, academics and civil societies. The Discussion aimed to understand and underline the nature, extent and impact of electoral violence in Bihar.

The deliberations were held on the following themes of electoral violence and electoral dispute mechanisms:

Electoral Violence: Historical Perspective
Poll Violence: Reasons for it and Actors Involved
Electoral Violence: Impact on Political Participation and Electoral Outcome
Electoral Violence: Response of Political Parties, Election Commission, Police, Media and Civil Societies.

The next in this series was a one-day FGD held in the Department of Political Science, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on July 15, 2006. The participants in this discussion were also from political parties, media, academics and civil societies. The discussions were held on the same themes as in the first FGD, with the additional focus on regional variation and comparatives of electoral violence within the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In continuation of this series, a one-day FGD was organised in Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana on July 24, 2006. The discussion aimed to understand and underline the rampant electoral violence which this state witnessed in the light of electoral violence in Meham Assembly Constituency in the 1990 Bye-Election whichtook the lives of eight voters. This incident remains a flashpoint in the history of poll violence in India.

A case study of Sahar Assembly Constituency in Bihar, which has witnessed a spate of electoral violence since independence, was conducted to ascertain the various facets of poll violence and its negative fallouts on society and polity in the national context.

The report of this study (India Component) has been submitted to UNDP, Regional Centre in Bangkok in September 2006.