Every political process comes with a set of questions. On the 7th of April, the country went on for what is being labeled as the biggest general elections in Indian history. While on one hand, experienced players such as Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC) are battling at the forefront, a newly formed Aam Aadmi Party is also claiming to bring in notions of change. In the previous general elections, the total voter turn out was 57 percent and only 12 percent of the youth made it to the polling booths.
In this context, we went around the campus for MTV India’s Rock the Vote campaign to understand how much Delhi University students know about this political process everyone is talking about – the Lok Sabha elections. Before the the city goes for polling on 10th April, we felt there were few questions that should be answered, few concerns that should be resolved. In order to make sure you use your vote to the best of your ability, this post is all you need.
How many seats are there in the Lok Sabha?
The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha as envisaged by the Constitution is 552 – upto 530 members to represent the States, up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President, if, in his opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House. However, the present composition of the Lok Sabha has 545 seats, with 543 open to elections and two seats up for nominations by the President.
How many constituencies are there in Delhi?
Delhi has a total of 70 constituencies in the Vidhan Sabha and 7 constituencies in the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha elections taking place on 10th April, 2014 will witness elections taking place for the seven Lok Sabha seats in question.
Who is standing for elections in your constituency?
With NCT Delhi being divided in seven constituencies, it is important for a voter to know who is standing in their constituency before you vote. Here is a list of all the candidates standing in different constituencies. In order to know more about a candidate (including their financial assets), just click on their name.
Note: All data regarding the contesting candidates is sourced from Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR)’s portal – myneta.info.
[tabgroup][tab title=”East Delhi”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| Arun Thakur | Samyak Parivartan Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 39 |
| Deepak Kumar | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 31 |
| Dr. Nabhit Kapur | Naya Daur Party | 0 | Doctorate | 26 |
| Jagannath Tiwari | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 39 |
| Jai Ram Lal | JKNPP | 0 | 10th Pass | 79 |
| Kumar Vivek Gautam | IND | 0 | Graduate | 32 |
| Mahesh Giri | BJP | 1 | 10th Pass | 39 |
| Manjeet Singh | IND | 0 | Graduate Professional | 26 |
| Manju Chhibber | RPI(A) | 0 | Graduate | 58 |
| Mohammad Shakeel Saifi | BSP | 1 | Literate | 42 |
| Mohammed Naeem | IND | 1 | 10th Pass | 37 |
| Mohd Naseer | Peace Party | 0 | 8th Pass | 39 |
| Mohd Shahid Siddiqui | AITC | 0 | 12th Pass | 51 |
| Ompal Singh | Kalyankari Jantantrik Party | 0 | Graduate | 44 |
| Padam Chand | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 61 |
| Praveen Kumar | Bhartiya Jan Manch | 0 | 8th Pass | 33 |
| Prem Singh | Socialist Party (India) | 0 | Doctorate | 57 |
| Rajesh | Ambedkar National Congress | 0 | Graduate | 45 |
| Rajmohan Gandhi | AAP | 0 | Post Graduate | 78 |
| Ram Briksh Mall | Hindusthan Nirman Dal | 0 | Post Graduate | 58 |
| Sandeep Dikshit | INC | 0 | Post Graduate | 49 |
| Shakeel Ahmed | Jai Maha Bharath Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 32 |
| Virendra Mayer | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | 0 | Graduate | 60 |
[/tab] [tab title=”West Delhi”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| Babu Singh Dukhiya | IND | 1 | Graduate | 57 |
| Charan Jeet Singh | AIFB | 0 | Post Graduate | 46 |
| Deepak Kumar | Rashtriya Janadhikar Party | 0 | 8th Pass | 30 |
| Dinesh Kumar | Akhand Bharat Samaj Party | 0 | 10th Pass | 34 |
| Har Gobind Arora | SHS | 1 | 12th Pass | 42 |
| Istak Khan | IND | 0 | 5th Pass | 38 |
| Jarnail Singh | AAP | 0 | Post Graduate | 41 |
| Jarnail Singh S/O Gurbax Singh | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 59 |
| Jarnail Singh S/O Rajinder Singh | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 44 |
| Karam Chand Lathwal | Bhartiya Pragatisheel Congress | 0 | Post Graduate | 48 |
| Mahabal Mishra | INC | 1 | 12th Pass | 59 |
| Parvesh Sahib Singh | BJP | 1 | Post Graduate | 36 |
| Raj Pal Singh | BSP | 0 | Graduate | 51 |
| Rakesh Kumar | Bhartiya Janta Dal (Integrated) | 0 | 10th Pass | 31 |
| Sunil Sourabh | IND | 0 | Post Graduate | 45 |
| Uday Kumar Singh | Bahujan Mukti Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 31 |
| Virender Mohan Vats | IND | 0 | Graduate | 56 |
[/tab][tab title=”Chandni Chowk”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| Abdul Amir Amiro | IND | 0 | 5th Pass | 44 |
| Ajay Kumar Khemka | Kalyankari Jantantrik Party | 0 | Graduate | 41 |
| Altaf Husain | Bhartiya Janta Dal (Integrated) | 0 | 12th Pass | 40 |
| Ashutosh | AAP | 3 | Post Graduate | 48 |
| Ashutosh Mudgil | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 38 |
| Balram Bari | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 47 |
| Bir Singh Soni | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 46 |
| Dhan Raj Chauhan | Naya Daur Party | 0 | 8th Pass | 53 |
| Dildar Hussain Beg | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 44 |
| Dr. Harsh Vardhan | BJP | 2 | Post Graduate | 59 |
| Dr. Tarun Kumar | Vishva Shakti Party | 0 | Graduate Professional | 33 |
| Gagan Rastogi | IND | 0 | Graduate | 30 |
| Hariom Sharma | AITC | 0 | 10th Pass | 49 |
| Jag Mohan Singh Bakshi | Atulya Bharat Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 54 |
| Jagjeet Singh | Bharatiya Gaon Taj Dal | 0 | 10th Pass | 0 |
| Kapil Sibal | INC | 0 | Graduate Professional | 65 |
| Md Afaq | Jai Maha Bharath Party | 0 | 5th Pass | 49 |
| Mohd Mursaleem | Peace Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 39 |
| Musarrat Jahan | Rashtriya Janmorcha | 0 | Graduate | 49 |
| Narendra Kr Pandey | BSP | 0 | 12th Pass | 48 |
| Rashmi Kashyap | Bhartiya Pragatisheel Congress | 0 | 10th Pass | 55 |
| Sanjay Gandhi | Braj Vikas Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 0 |
| Surender Singh | IND | 0 | Graduate | 42 |
| Tariq Mirza | RPI(A) | 0 | 8th Pass | 29 |
| Vijay Shankar Chaubey | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 42 |
[/tab] [tab title=”New Delhi”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| Ajay Makan | INC | 1 | Post Graduate | 50 |
| Anjuman Agnihotri | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 53 |
| Ashish Khetan | AAP | 0 | Post Graduate | 38 |
| Biswajit Ranjit Chatterjee | AITC | 0 | 12th Pass | 77 |
| Dalchand | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 52 |
| Devi Singh | Rashtriya Jankranti Party | 0 | Post Graduate | 33 |
| Dheeraj Puri | SHS | 0 | 10th Pass | 35 |
| Ghanshyam Dass | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 57 |
| Harkrishan Das Nijhawan | IND | 1 | 12th Pass | 50 |
| K P Sankaran Menon | IND | 0 | Doctorate | 68 |
| Lakshmi Narayan | Bharatiya Bahujan Party | 0 | 8th Pass | 46 |
| Lukman Khan | IND | 2 | 5th Pass | 52 |
| Meena Singla | Poorvanchal Rashtriya Congress | 0 | Graduate | 44 |
| Narendra Singh Rawat | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 43 |
| Naveen Chandra | Naya Daur Party | 0 | Graduate | 40 |
| Nikhil Sablania | IND | 0 | Graduate Professional | 34 |
| Padmaja Kandukuri | IND | 0 | Not Given | 50 |
| Pradeep Varma | Bharat Vishal Party | 0 | Graduate Professional | 49 |
| Ramanuj Patel | Samyak Parivartan Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 36 |
| Ratheesh | IND | 0 | Graduate | 26 |
| Ravi Kumar Gupta | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 66 |
| Rubina Khan | IND | 0 | Graduate | 27 |
| Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi | BJP | 0 | Graduate Professional | 46 |
| Solomon George | BSP | 0 | Post Graduate | 50 |
| Sujeet Jha | Bhartiya Janta Dal (Integrated) | 0 | 12th Pass | 30 |
| Sunita Chaudhary | JKNPP | 0 | 10th Pass | 36 |
| Swadesh Ohri | Atulya Bharat Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 72 |
| Ved Prakash | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 56 |
| Vishal Khosla | IND | 0 | 12th Pass | 51 |
[/tab] [tab title=”North East Delhi”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| A.K. Aggarwal | Agar Jan Party | 1 | 10th Pass | 47 |
| Abdul Sami Salmani | BSP | 0 | Others | 58 |
| Ali Husan | IND | 0 | 5th Pass | 40 |
| Amit Kumar Sharma | IND | 0 | Graduate | 38 |
| Anand Kumar | AAP | 0 | Doctorate | 64 |
| Dan Bahadur Yadav | IND | 0 | Graduate | 50 |
| Dharamveer Singh | Rashtriya Ekta Party | 1 | 10th Pass | 50 |
| Dinesh Pal Singh | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 35 |
| H.K. Mahendru | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 78 |
| Harsh Kumar | IND | 0 | Graduate Professional | 38 |
| Jai Prakash Agarwal | INC | 0 | Graduate | 69 |
| Manoj Tiwari | BJP | 0 | Post Graduate | 43 |
| Mohd Arif Siddique | AITC | 0 | Illiterate | 26 |
| Mohd Hasnan Khan | JKNPP | 0 | 5th Pass | 33 |
| Mohd. Hasnain | IND | 2 | 10th Pass | 55 |
| Mukesh Kumar Arora | IND | 0 | Graduate | 40 |
| Narendra Sharma | SUCI(C) | 0 | Post Graduate | 68 |
| Om Dutt Sharma | SHS | 2 | 12th Pass | 49 |
| Pradesh Kumar | Ambedkar National Congress | 0 | Post Graduate | 31 |
| Rajan Lal | Bharatiya Republican Paksha | 0 | Graduate Professional | 36 |
| Ramesh Singh Siral | Naya Daur Party | 0 | 8th Pass | 40 |
| Roshan Ali | National Loktantrik Party | 0 | Not Given | 56 |
| Vinay | Bharatiya Sarvodaya Kranti Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 29 |
[/tab] [tab title=”North West Delhi”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| Basant Panwar | BSP | 0 | 8th Pass | 46 |
| Bhup Singh | IND | 0 | Graduate Professional | 77 |
| Dharamraj | Bhartiya Pragatisheel Congress | 0 | 8th Pass | 40 |
| Inder Singh | Asankhya Samaj Party | 0 | 10th Pass | 51 |
| Jodhraj Paharia | IND | 0 | Illiterate | 65 |
| Kamini Kaur | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 49 |
| Krishna Tirath | INC | 0 | Graduate | 58 |
| Rajesh Kumar | Rashtriya Bahujan Hitay Party | 0 | 10th Pass | 41 |
| Rakhi Birla | AAP | 0 | Post Graduate | 27 |
| Ram Karan Sauran | IND | 0 | Graduate | 60 |
| Shailender Kumar | IND | 0 | Graduate | 34 |
| Sunil Chhikara | IND | 3 | Graduate Professional | 42 |
| Udit Raj | BJP | 1 | Doctorate | 56 |
| Vijay Kumar | RPI(A) | 0 | Graduate | 39 |
[/tab] [tab title=”South Delhi”]
Candidate |
Party |
Criminal Cases |
Education |
Age |
| D K Chopra | IND | 1 | Graduate | 68 |
| Devinder Kumar Sehrawat | AAP | 0 | Post Graduate | 48 |
| Dushmanta Kumar Giri | IND | 1 | Doctorate | 54 |
| Hafiz Mustaq | Jan Samanta Party | 0 | Illiterate | 53 |
| Kiran Pal Singh | IND | 0 | 8th Pass | 63 |
| Mohan Kanuga | JKNPP | 0 | Post Graduate | 66 |
| Naresh Kumar | IND | 0 | Illiterate | 50 |
| Ombir | Bharatiya Bahujan Party | 0 | 12th Pass | 51 |
| Rakesh Kumar | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 42 |
| Ramesh Bidhuri | BJP | 4 | Graduate Professional | 52 |
| Ramesh Kumar | INC | 0 | 10th Pass | 58 |
| Ruby Yadav | IND | 0 | Post Graduate | 33 |
| Sanjay Kumar Rai | BSP | 1 | 12th Pass | 47 |
| Shahid | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 38 |
| Shri Chand Tanwar | CPI | 0 | 8th Pass | 68 |
| Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury | AITC | 0 | Post Graduate | 49 |
| Sumant Kumar | IND | 1 | Graduate | 51 |
| Sunil Kumar | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 38 |
| Tej Pal Singh | IND | 0 | 10th Pass | 38 |
[/tab][/tabgroup]
What is NOTA?
Let us assure you, this word being thrown in political debates has nothing to do with terrorism (please watch the video below to understand further).
None of the above (NOTA) is an option on the EVM for people who are not satisfied with any of the candidates running in their constituency. You should know it is not akin to ‘Right To Reject’ where if a certain percentage of the voters choose the latter option, the elections are cancelled and all the candidates have to be changed by the parties. In India, even if a majority of the voters choose NOTA, the candidate getting the most number of votes will win the contest. (No, a hung parliament or President’s rule do not follow a scenario with majority of votes casted for NOTA)
There is something called a manifesto (and you should read it)
An election manifesto is a document released by a party or candidate with the agenda of what all would one seek to fulfill if brought to power. Irrespective of whether these promises are actually converted to actions, in order to make an informed choice, it is only sensible to go through what each party is promising. After all, you don’t want to support a party or candidate that have something against your beliefs in their agenda, right?
To make things easier, here are the links to the manifestos of the three major political parties: Indian National Congress (INC) | Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) | Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
To see more videos of how Delhi University answered our questions visit DU Beat’s Instagram account. Share your opinions with @du_beat and @mtvindia using #RockTheVote.
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