Universal franchise, asymmetric federalism and national identity

Detail

1. Universal franchise: what it means

• Universal adult franchise means every adult citizen can vote. Wealth, education, caste, religion and sex do not matter. Each vote counts equally.
• Legal basis is Art. 326. Elections to the Lok Sabha and to every State Legislative Assembly must be held "on the basis of adult suffrage".
• The original Art. 326 (1950) set the voting age at 21 years [5].
• The 61st Amendment Act, 1988 replaced "twenty-one years" with "eighteen years" in Art. 326. It came into force on 28 March 1989 [3].

2. Why it was a big achievement

• Reason 1: Indian society looked frozen. Many people believed India's hierarchies of caste, class and gender were congealed, meaning set hard and unable to change. Giving the same vote to a landlord and a landless labourer went directly against that belief.
• Reason 2: The West itself had given the vote late. India gave every adult the vote in one step in 1950. Older democracies took decades:

Country	Late step in the franchise	Year
United Kingdom	Equal franchise for women (same terms as men)	1928
United States	Voting Rights Act removes racial barriers	1965
Switzerland	Women get the federal vote	1971
India	Every adult gets the vote from the start (Art. 326)	1950

• Scale of the first test: the first general elections (1951–52) had about 173 million registered voters [6].

3. Roots in the national movement

• Indian nationalism always imagined a political order built on the will of every member of society, not of a privileged few.
• Constitution of India Bill (1895): anyone born in India could take part in public affairs and hold public office. It also said that "every citizen shall have the right to give one vote" [6].
• Nehru Report (1928): every person of either sex aged 21 or above, unless disqualified by law, should be entitled to vote [6].
• Government of India Act, 1935: the vote still depended on property, income or education, so only about 3–10% of Indians could vote [6].
• Constituent Assembly: the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights recommended universal suffrage. The Assembly adopted it despite opposition from members such as Brajeshwar Prasad [6].
• Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar (CAD, 23 November 1949): the Assembly adopted adult franchise "with an abundant faith in the common man" and in the final success of democratic rule.
• History textbooks call this choice an "act of faith". The details of elections (ECI, the electoral rolls) belong to the elections and electoral system topic.

4. Asymmetric federalism: the idea

• Federalism means power is divided between a central government and state governments, and each has its own area of work.
• Asymmetric federalism means the states do not all have identical powers. Some states get special arrangements that suit their history, culture or security needs.
• Contrast with the USA. American federalism is symmetric: every state has the same constitutional position.
• The Indian twist. The Indian Constitution has a unitary bias, meaning it leans towards a strong Centre. It still builds in differences among the units. India's model therefore combines unity with cultural recognition.
• The Supreme Court used the same idea in 2023. It held that "Article 370 was a feature of asymmetric federalism and not sovereignty" [2].

5. Article 371A (Nagaland): NCERT's main example

• Inserted by: the 13th Amendment Act, 1962, at the time the State of Nagaland was created [4].
• What it protects [4]:
• Parliament's laws on the following subjects do not apply to Nagaland unless the Nagaland Legislative Assembly passes a resolution accepting them:
  • religious or social practices of the Nagas;
  • Naga customary law and procedure;
  • civil and criminal justice decided under Naga customary law;
  • ownership and transfer of land and its resources.
• The Governor has a special responsibility for law and order while internal disturbances continue. The Governor uses individual judgment here after consulting the Council of Ministers.

• It provides for a regional council for Tuensang district with 35 members.

• NCERT framing: Art. 371A keeps Nagaland's existing laws valid and protects local identity (NCERT: through restrictions on immigration).

6. Special provisions under Articles 371–371J

• Correction to NCERT: NCERT links Art. 371 to the North-East. Art. 371 actually covers Maharashtra and Gujarat, for example separate development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada, Saurashtra and Kutch.

Article	State	Note
371	Maharashtra, Gujarat	Not North-East
371A	Nagaland	13th Amendment, 1962
371B	Assam	North-East
371C	Manipur	North-East
371D, 371E	Andhra Pradesh, Telangana	371E: central university
371F	Sikkim	North-East
371G	Mizoram	North-East
371H	Arunachal Pradesh	North-East
371I	Goa	—
371J	Karnataka (Hyderabad-Karnataka region)	98th Amendment, 2012

• North-East group: 371A, 371B, 371C, 371F, 371G and 371H.

7. Article 370 (Jammu and Kashmir): from special status to inoperative

• NCERT's position: the Class 11 exercises treat Art. 370 as still in force. That is no longer the case.
• What happened in 2019:
• On 5 August 2019 the President issued Constitution Orders 272 and 273 while President's rule was in force under Art. 356. President's rule means the Union takes over a state's government when its constitutional machinery fails [2].
  • CO 272 applied the whole Constitution of India to J&K.
  • CO 273 declared that Art. 370 had ceased to operate.

• The J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 split the state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without one).

• In re Article 370 of the Constitution (11 December 2023): a 5-judge Bench, reported as 2023 INSC 1058 [2]. It held: 1. J&K kept no element of sovereignty after the Instrument of Accession and the Proclamation of 25 November 1949. It had no "internal sovereignty" different from other states [2]. 2. Art. 370 was a temporary provision. The Court relied on its history and on its place in Part XXI ("Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions") [2]. 3. The President's power under Art. 370(3) did not end when the J&K Constituent Assembly was dissolved. The President could declare Art. 370 inoperative without that Assembly's recommendation. CO 273 is valid [2]. 4. CO 272 was partly invalid. Using Art. 367 (the interpretation clause) to amend Art. 370 was ultra vires, meaning beyond the power given. Applying all of the Constitution to J&K was still valid [2]. 5. The Constitution of J&K is inoperative and redundant [2]. 6. Under Art. 3, the state legislature's views are only recommendatory (they do not bind Parliament). Carving out the UT of Ladakh is valid under Art. 3(a) read with Explanation I [2]. 7. The Court left open whether turning a whole state into Union Territories is allowed under Art. 3. The Union had promised that statehood would be restored [2]. 8. Directions: the ECI must hold J&K Assembly elections by 30 September 2024, and statehood must be restored "at the earliest and as soon as possible" [2].

• Full treatment is in the special provisions and scheduled areas topic.

8. A multilingual federation the framers did not plan

• The framers did not originally plan states drawn along language lines.
• The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 redrew the states mainly by language. India became a multilingual federation, in which each major language group got its own state within one Union.
• Recognising linguistic identity strengthened national unity instead of breaking it.

9. National identity

• National identity is a common Indian identity shared by all citizens. It sits alongside religious, linguistic and regional identities and does not erase them.
• Under certain conditions, the national identity comes first. When a group identity clashes with a healthy common political life, the Constitution prefers the common identity.
• Test case: separate electorates were rejected.
• Separate electorates are a system in which voters of one community elect their own representatives in separate seats. The British introduced them in 1909.

• The framers rejected them because they endangered a healthy national life. They did not reject them because difference was bad.

• The goal was true fraternity, not forced unity. Fraternity means a sense of brotherhood among all citizens, which the Preamble links to individual dignity and national unity.

• Sardar Patel (CAD, 25 May 1949): "in India there is only one community". He said this while moving to give up reserved seats for religious minorities.
• NCERT cartoon: a student carries many identities in one school bag. Each person can hold several identities together, with the Indian identity as the common one.

10. Summary: the five substantive achievements

Substantive achievements of the Constitution are its core value commitments, as distinct from its procedures:

1. Liberal individualism: individual freedom is at the centre.
2. Social justice without giving up liberty: for example, reservations together with Fundamental Rights.
3. Group rights: respect for communities, such as minority cultural and educational rights (Arts. 29–30).
4. Universal franchise (Art. 326).
5. Asymmetric federalism within a national identity (Arts. 371–371J; formerly Art. 370). - Exercise 6 matching key: a-iv, b-ii, c-i, d-v, e-iii.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 326 sets adult suffrage for Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections. The 61st Amendment, 1988 (in force 28 March 1989) cut the voting age from 21 to 18 [3].
• Art. 371 covers Maharashtra and Gujarat, not the North-East. The North-East provisions are 371A, B, C, F, G and H.
• Art. 371A (Nagaland) came with the 13th Amendment, 1962. Parliament's laws on Naga customary law and on land ownership and transfer apply only if the Nagaland Assembly passes a resolution [4].
• Art. 371J (Karnataka) came with the 98th Amendment, 2012.
• In re Article 370 (11 December 2023, 5 judges) held that Art. 370 was a temporary provision, a "feature of asymmetric federalism and not sovereignty", and that CO 273 was valid [2].
• The Supreme Court directed J&K Assembly elections by 30 September 2024. It upheld Ladakh UT under Art. 3(a), Explanation I [2].
• Trap: the Constitution of India Bill of 1895, not the Nehru Report (1928), is NCERT's earliest root of universal franchise [6].
• Quote match: "abundant faith in the common man" is Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar (23 November 1949). "In India there is only one community" is Sardar Patel (25 May 1949).
• Dates to match: equal franchise in the UK came in 1928, the US Voting Rights Act in 1965, and the federal vote for Swiss women in 1971.

Mains Points

• Universal franchise was an "act of faith" that worked. India skipped the step-by-step path of the West. It went from 3–10% of people voting under the 1935 Act to every adult voting, with 173 million voters in 1951–52 [6]. Universal franchise has since become a tool for social change, as lower castes, women and the poor gained political power.
• Asymmetry strengthens unity. Arts. 371–371J and the linguistic states of 1956 show that recognising difference can hold a diverse country together. The 2023 judgment called Art. 370 a feature of asymmetric federalism [2]. Critics answer that removing it without the state legislature's consent, during President's rule, weakens trust in federal bargains. Other critics point to the delay in restoring statehood.
• National identity versus group identity. Rejecting separate electorates and Patel's "one community" line show the Constitution choosing fraternity over division. It still protects group rights such as Arts. 29–30. The balance is layered identities, not assimilation (forcing everyone into one identity).
• A GS-II framework: the five substantive achievements show the Constitution fusing liberal, social-democratic and community values. Use them to answer "Is the Indian Constitution a borrowed document?" type questions.