Territorial constituencies

Territorial constituencies are formulated to conduct elections properly. Though it might sound simple that certain areas are divided for election, the actual division process is somewhat tricky. Certain constitutional provisions guide the concerned authorities in taking proper steps for delimitation. In this article, we will understand in detail Territorial constituencies meaning, how these are demarcated and what are the Indian constitutional provisions for the same.

Territorial constituencies meaning

Territorial refers to something related to a particular territory or area. Constituency refers to a group of people who elect a person. Therefore territorial constituencies refer to the areas demarcated for election so that everyone is properly represented.

For the sake of understanding, let’s take the example of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) elections. When the elections of this house are to be conducted, the whole country would be divided into certain groups of almost equal populations. 

Why are territorial constituencies required?

i. They help in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of uniform representation.

ii. This system of the territorial constituency is more convenient as compared to a system in which crores of people vote together. It ensures that the people at least know who is standing in elections and get a fair opportunity to understand whether he/she is capable of becoming their representative.  

iii. Different states’ population is properly represented in elections if the territorial constituencies are properly formed. For instance, states with a large population get more seats and low population states get a low number of seats.

iv. Democracy gets strengthened due to proper delimitation owing to territorial constituencies.

v. If there will be no territorial constituencies, then the value of a vote in a large population state would become lesser to smaller states. Due to this, there can be a lot of chaos, and the principle of one vote, one value would be disturbed.

A prominent example of such a situation is the 2004 Karnataka elections.

How are territorial constituencies created?

These constituencies are created based on the population of a state, country, or region. For demarcation, the population of the last census is considered. Then this population is divided by the number of seats in the lower house of parliament. Then the number obtained is used to demarcate areas so that the population of each constituency is properly represented.

What happens after a new census is conducted?

Whenever a new census is conducted, the territorial constituencies are re-adjusted accordingly. This is done by changing the number of seats of the lower house that are allocated to a state and the population in one constituency.

For this alteration, the constitution of India prescribes a detailed method. If we look at Article 82 of the Indian constitution, it mandates the parliament to create a delimitation act after a new census is conducted.

Due to this mandate, the Parliament has come up with Delimitation commissions Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972, and 2002. Currently, there is a bar on the readjustment of territorial constituencies because of the 84th amendment Act of 2002. This bar is till 2026 and the election commission is following the 2001 census for delimitation.

Reservation factor in territorial constituencies:

Reservation is a prominent feature of Indian territorial constituencies. To give equal status to every citizen and bring forward the subjugated groups, reservations are provided to members of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) people. Again this reservation is dependent on the population census.

The original scheme of constitution-makers was to keep this reservation only for ten years so that the status of these communities in the society gets uplifted. But as the parliamentarians felt the need for a longer stay of this provision, they extended it by ten years more and it is continuing in all local, state, and national elections.

If a constituency is declared as reserved by the Election commission, this means that only SC/ST members can contest elections from that constituency. This is different from a separate electorate because all people living in that constituency irrespective of their community, vote for the candidates. This ensures that universal adult suffrage remains intact.

Are there any downfalls of having territorial constituencies?

We have understood that territorial constituencies are economical and convenient. But there are certain disadvantages of this system like:

a. If the constituency is small, manipulating people becomes easy and the election might not be fair.

b. The localism increases because the local candidates might sideline national interest for winning local constituencies. This has been observed in the elections of Italy and France.

c. The choice of candidates might also reduce in the territorial constituencies system because people from that area contest elections in that constituency. As a result, some bad leaders might also become people’s representatives.

d. Further, adjusting the constituency is a tricky task because the population has to be adequately represented.

e. Sometimes the leaders favor such demarcation that a particular community becomes the target. As a result, the party starts manipulating the election which can be detrimental to democracy.

f. The results might not show the actual preference of people. For instance, some parties get a very low number of votes in a particular constituency. But still, they manage to get elected because their total seat was larger than other parties. If the leaders are not preferred by the people of the country, then the whole purpose of the election gets destroyed.

g. The minority areas might not be properly represented because large areas gain much significance.

Conclusion:

Territorial constituencies are very helpful in conducting elections smoothly and conveniently. The population gets adequately represented and the local people get a chance to bring forward their issues. But some issues need to be addressed to make this system better.