Elections or lopsided ballot?

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A single example should be enough to gauge the paradoxical imbalance woven into the very fabric of India’s electoral process.

In the year 1984, the total number of seats in the Lok Sabha was 543. Of those, the Indian National Congress (INC) secured 415 seats. This number remains a record to this day in Indian electoral history, marking the highest number of Lok Sabha seats won by a political party and well beyond the mandated two-thirds majority. Yet, despite this monumental numerical triumph, the Congress party garnered only 48.12% of the total vote share. Put simply, there is a glaring mismatch between the number of seats a party wins and the percentage of votes it actually receives. Even though they seized the reins of power with a commanding two-thirds majority, if one measures their mandate by the percentage of votes, the Congress was effectively running a minority government because they did not have the majority of the electorate backing them.

Similarly, in the 2019 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 303 Lok Sabha seats, the highest seat count ever for the BJP. However, their actual share of the electorate’s vote was a mere 37%. Even though the BJP secured a sweeping majority in parliamentary numbers, governing with that vote percentage still amounts to minority rule.

The design of the vehicle of our electoral system is strange. Its front wheels are fully inflated with the air of seat majorities, while its rear wheels are completely deprived of the air of proportional vote share. We need to pay some attention here: an electorate majority is also required to govern. This is the very foundation of democracy. On top of this, this defective vehicle, which is struggling to run on airless tyres of the electoral majority, is being recklessly driven to its ruin by political parties. Take, for instance, the BJP’s desperate push to increase the total number of Lok Sabha seats. It is a dangerous step. Even with the current, smaller number of members, the Lok Sabha is already overflowing with chaos, commotion and confusion. The opinions being expressed are of little substance, with neither genuine debates nor meaningful dialogues. Everything is being decided unilaterally, leaving absolutely no room for the diverse voices of India.

In this state of affairs, if these numbers are inflated further, the resulting noise, disarray, senseless rhetoric, and debate-less unilateral decisions will only double. Such an expansion will turn the parliament into a literal battleground. In fact, if the Lok Sabha were reduced by a hundred members, it would actually benefit the dignity of Indian politics, the voters who elect them and the Parliament itself.

So, how do we bridge this highly complex crater between the number of seats a party wins and the percentage of votes it commands?

Perhaps a party that secures a 303-seat majority with 37% of the vote share should be allowed to govern, only if it forms a coalition with other parties to bring its collective vote share past the 51% mark.