Representation of People’s Act

Representation of Peoples Act 1950 (RPA Act 1950) offers for the following conduct:

1. Qualification of voters.
2. Preparation of electoral rolls.
3. Delimitation of constituencies.
4. Allocation of seats in the Parliament and state legislatures.

RPA Act 1950 Parts and Schedules

• Part I : Preliminary
• Part II : Allocation Of Seats And Delimitation Of Constituencies
• Part IIA : Officers
• Part IIB : Electoral Rolls For Parliamentary Constituencies
• Part III : Electoral Rolls For Assembly Constituencies
• Part IV : Electoral Rolls For Council Constituencies
• Part V : General
• The First Schedule Allocation of seats in the House of the People
• The Second Schedule Total number of seats in the Legislative Assemblies
• The Third Schedule Allocation of seats in the Legislative Councils
• The Fourth Schedule Local authorities for purposes of elections to Legislative Councils
• The Fifth Schedule [Repealed by the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963]
• The Sixth Schedule [Repealed by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 1956]
• The Seventh Schedule [Repealed by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act]

Highlights of RPA Act 1951

1. Actual conduct of elections.
2. Administrative machinery for conducting elections.
3. Poll.
4. Election offences.
5. Election disputes.
6. By-elections.
7. Registration of political parties.

RPA Act 1951 Parts

1. PART I : Preliminary.
2. PART II : Qualifications and disqualifications.

1. PART III : Notification of general elections.
2. PART IV : Administrative machinery for the conduct of elections.
3. PART IV A : Registration of political parties.
4. PART V : Conduct of elections.
5. PART VA : Free supply of certain material to candidates of recognised political parties.
6. PART VI : Disputes regarding elections.
7. PART VII : Corrupt practices and electoral offences.
8. PART VIII : Disqualifications.
9. PART IX : Bye-elections.
10. PART X : Miscellaneous.
11. PART XI : General.

The Representation of People Act, 1951 has great significance for good functioning of Indian egalitarianism because it checks the entry of persons with illegal background into the representative bodies.

Prominent features of the Representation of People’s Act 1951

1. Part 21 of the Indian Constitution drafted by the Constituent Assembly had mentioned for a provisional parliament. The provisional parliament enacted Representation of People’s Act 1951, so that general elections could be conducted according to the rules mentioned.
2. Citation is Article No 43 of 1951.
3. Representation of People’s Act contains 13 parts (2 parts added as amendments). Each part is divided into different sections making it a total of 171 numbered sections (including those sections which were repealed later.).
4. Expressions not used in 1951 act, but listed in Representation of the People Act 1950 (43 of 1950) have the same meaning.
5. Chief Electoral Officer is mentioned in section 13A.
6. Corrupt practices are mentioned in section 123.
7. Election means an election to fill a seat or seats in either House of Parliament or in the House or either House of the Legislature of a State other than the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The recent RPA (Amendment and Validation) bill which was initiated in Rajya Sabha during monsoon session was enacted on the same day and later was sent to Lower House Lok Sabha where the bill got finally passed on September 06, 2013. The Bill seeks to modify the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RPA, 1951). The two major amendments were done in Bill that include:

1. A person can file his nomination even though he is shunned from being voting owing to be in jail or in police custody during elections or before.
2. The past act has not defined on what grounds, a person can be disqualified. In this act the grounds are clearly stated as disqualification can be on conviction for certain specified offences and can be on no other ground. As a result if one is proved for any conviction of any one of the offences, then his/her name will be wiped off from electoral roll and shall cease to be a voter.

To summarize, The Representation of the People Act postulates the provisions for the allocation of seats in, and the demarcation of constituencies for electoral purposes, the House of the People and the Legislatures of States, the qualifications of voters at such elections, the preparation of electoral rolls, the manner of filling seats in the Council of States to be filled by representatives of Union territories and matters connected therewith.