Electoral politics and dynamics: A study of nabarangpur parliamentary constituency in Odisha

Elections in India are considered to be the very backbone of the Indian democracy. Being a parliamentary democracy, the citizens of India are entrusted with the responsibility to choose their representatives. There are both General Elections to the Loksabha and Elections to the State legislative Assemblies that are held in the country based on the universal adult suffrage. The General Elections continues to be by far the most important political event in the county.¹ The election studies are essentially a post–second world war development in political science. Mass voting by the people is usually associated with the concept of participatory democracy. Many western scholars have evinced keen interest to test the viability of the democratic system in the newly emerging independent countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The first General Elections were held in India in 1951–52. Since then some election studies have been conducted. The study of voting behavior in a parliamentary Democracy like India assumes great significance since it is regarded as an index of popular consciousness, articulation and participation of the electorate is the decision making process.² It becomes more important in a federal polity and in a developing country as well, where the twin needs of dispersion and consolidation of authority appear to be equal importance. The present study deals with the study of the electoral behavior of people in one of the most backward district of Odisha that is Nabarangpur. The Nabarangpur parliament constituency, one of the 21 constituencies from the state, has been selected as the area of research and standard sample size has been taken for the study. Both questionnaire and interaction with the respondents have been used as methods to collect the data. There is the use of the both primary and secondary sources of data for the present study. After analyzing the data the study finds that the level of voting behaviors of the people, particularly the common tribal people is almost negligible making the total democratic system irrelevant for them. The study finds that so many factors are responsible for lack of political participation among this vulnerable group, starting from economic, political and social to cultural. Both the state and the civil society should take initiatives to bring people into the democratic process through their increased participation. The growing consciousness among the people is a positive sign in this regard but a lot has to be done.