In a recent case, the Supreme Court directed the appropriate government to enact a law by June 2011. The case, Gainda Ram & Ors. V. MCD and Ors.[1], concerned the legal framework for regulating hawking in Delhi. The judgement lays out the background to this case by stating that the regulation of hawking in Delhi had been proceeding under directions issued by the Supreme Court in previous cases, and was being implemented by municipal authorities such as the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). The NDMC and the MCD have also framed schemes to regulate hawkers as per a policy of the government framed in 2004. However, since these schemes were not laid before Parliament, the Court held that these schemes cannot be called ‘law’ or drafted under the authority of any law. The Court also stated that there is an urgent need to enact a legislation to regulate hawking, and the rights of street vendors. It referred to a Bill which had been framed by the government, and stated that since the government has already taken the first step in the legislative process by drafting a Bill, the legislative process should be completed. On the basis of this, and other reasons, it directed the government to enact a law by June 2011. This judgement raises three issues:
[1] Decided on October 8, 2010
The nominations for all phases of the General Election have been submitted. We examine highlights from data on candidates who are participating in the ongoing elections. There are 8,039 candidates contesting for 542 Parliamentary constituency seats.
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On average, 14.8 candidates are contesting per constituency across the country. Among all the states, Telangana has the highest average number of candidates contesting. This is primarily due to 185 contestants from Nizamabad. Excluding Nizamabad, the state’s average number of contestants would be 16.1. |
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The Election Commission of India recognises parties as either national or state parties based on their performance in previous elections. Delhi and Haryana have a high number of candidates contesting from parties that have not been recognised as either national or state parties. After Telangana, Tamil Nadu has the highest average of independent candidates contesting in this election. On average, of the candidates in each constituency in Tamil Nadu, two-thirds are contesting as independent candidates. |
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After Nizamabad, the second highest number of candidate representation is seen in Belgaum, Karnataka. The five constituencies that have the highest candidate representation are from the southern states of Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. |
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The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress are contesting 435 and 420 seats respectively. In 373 seats they are in competition with each other. BSP has the third highest number of candidates contesting in this election. |
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The seven national parties together fielded 2.69 candidates per constituency. Among the largest five states, West Bengal has the highest representation of candidates from national parties, at 4.6. In that state, candidates from five national parties are contesting. Recognised state parties, together, fielded 1.53 candidates per constituency. Bihar (6 state parties) and Tamil Nadu (8 state parties) see a high representation of candidates from state parties, at 1.2 and 1.3 respectively. Largest states are ones with more than 30 Parliamentary constituency seats: Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48), West Bengal (42), Bihar (40), and Tamil Nadu (39). These states together have 249 seats i.e., 46% of Lok Sabha. |
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For these five states, the number of seats being contested by national and state parties is shown in the figures below. |
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This analysis is based on the candidate list available on the Election Commission website (eci.gov.in) on May 8, 2019.
