The document discusses visualizing politics through data. It summarizes that India is divided into 543 parliamentary constituencies, each electing one member of parliament. It also discusses how the number of candidates contesting elections has increased over time, though regulations in 1996 helped reduce it. The polling percentage decreases with larger electorates and population densities. The winning party in 2004 national elections was the Indian National Congress, which won 145 seats, followed closely by the Bharatiya Janata Party with 138 seats.

1. VISUALISING POLITICS
S ANAND
DATA SCIENTIST
GRAMENER.COM
S.Anand@Gramener.com @sanand0

3. INDIA’S 543 CONSTITUENCIES
The country has been
divided into 543
Parliamentary
Constituencies, each of
which returns one MP to the
Lok Sabha.

4. FOUR COLOUR THEOREM
“Every map can be coloured
with just 4 colours, with no 2
adjacent areas having the
same colour.”
Proven by Appel & Haken in
1979 – using a computer to
solve the problem.
The Indian state map can
also be coloured with just
four colours.

5. DELIMITED BY POPULATION Electors 1000000 1500000
The shape of each
constituency aims to house
the same population.
The last delimitation exercise
was in 1976. The next
one, based on the 2001
census is under process.
This has led to wide
discrepancies in the size of
constituencies, with the
largest having over 33 lakh
electors, and the smallest
just 39,000.
Ideally, this map should have
had a uniform shade of blue.

6. POPULATION DENSITY Pop Density 50 500
If we treat the amount of
“blueness” as
population, then the right
colouring scheme to use is
population density.
This varies considerably too
– from 1 person per sq km
(Ladakh) to over 45,000
people per sq km (Calcutta
North West and Mumbai
South)

7. RESERVATION OF SEATS GEN SC ST
In a number of seats in the
Lok Sabha, the candidates
can only be from either one
of the scheduled castes or
scheduled tribes. The
number of these reserved
seats is meant to be
approximately in proportion
to the number of people from
scheduled castes or
scheduled tribes in each
state.
There are currently 79 seats
reserved for the scheduled
castes and 41 reserved for
the scheduled tribes in the
Lok Sabha.

8. NUMBER OF CANDIDATES Contestants 2 20
The number of candidates
contesting each election
steadily increased. In the
general election of 1952 the
average number of
candidates in each
constituency was 3.8; by
1991 it had risen to
16.3, and in 1996 stood at
25.6.
In August 1996, the size of
the deposit and the number
of people required to
nominate were increased.
The 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the number of
candidates came down to an
average of 8.74 per
constituency. In 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, it was
8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

9. POLLING PERCENTAGE Poll % 40% 90%
The number of candidates
contesting each election
steadily increased. In the
general election of 1952 the
average number of
candidates in each
constituency was 3.8; by
1991 it had risen to
16.3, and in 1996 stood at
25.6.
In August 1996, the size of
the deposit and the number
of people required to
nominate were increased.
The 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the number of
candidates came down to an
average of 8.74 per
constituency. In 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, it was
8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

10. … REDUCES WITH ELECTORS
The more electors there are
Poll%
in a constituency, the lower 100%
the polling percentage.
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 3,500,000 4,000,000
Electors

11. … AND WITH POP. DENSITY
The denser the population in
Poll%
a constituency, the lower the 100%
polling percentage.
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000
Population density

12. CONTESTANTS INCREASE
As the number of electors in
# contestants
a constituency increase, the 40
number of contestants
increase as well. 35
(Remember: the number of 30
seats per constituency is the
same – just one. So this is 25
not a proportional effect.)
20
15
10
5
0
0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 3,500,000 4,000,000
Electors

13. WINNING PARTIES Party BJP BSP CPM INC RJD SP
In the 2004 election to Lok
Sabha there were 1,351
candidates from 6 National
parties, 801 candidates from
36 State parties, 898
candidates from officially
recognised parties and 2385
Independent candidates.
The Congress (INC) won
145 seats in the 2004
elections. BJP won
138, coming a close second.
The constituencies where
each party won is shown
here.

14. WINNING PARTIES Party BJP BSP CPM INC RJD SP
In the 2004 election to Lok
Sabha there were 1,351
candidates from 6 National
parties, 801 candidates from
36 State parties, 898
candidates from officially
recognised parties and 2385
Independent candidates.
The Congress (INC) won
145 seats in the 2004
elections. BJP won
138, coming a close second.
The constituencies where
each party won is shown
here.

15. NUMBER OF CANDIDATES Contestants 2 20
The number of candidates
contesting each election
steadily increased. In the
general election of 1952 the
average number of
candidates in each
constituency was 3.8; by
1991 it had risen to
16.3, and in 1996 stood at
25.6.
In August 1996, the size of
the deposit and the number
of people required to
nominate were increased.
The 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the number of
candidates came down to an
average of 8.74 per
constituency. In 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, it was
8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

16. NUMBER OF CANDIDATES Contestants 2 20
The number of candidates
contesting each election
steadily increased. In the
general election of 1952 the
average number of
candidates in each
constituency was 3.8; by
1991 it had risen to
16.3, and in 1996 stood at
25.6.
In August 1996, the size of
the deposit and the number
of people required to
nominate were increased.
The 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the number of
candidates came down to an
average of 8.74 per
constituency. In 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, it was
8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

17. POLLING PERCENTAGE Poll % 40% 90%
The number of candidates
contesting each election
steadily increased. In the
general election of 1952 the
average number of
candidates in each
constituency was 3.8; by
1991 it had risen to
16.3, and in 1996 stood at
25.6.
In August 1996, the size of
the deposit and the number
of people required to
nominate were increased.
The 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the number of
candidates came down to an
average of 8.74 per
constituency. In 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, it was
8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

18. POLLING PERCENTAGE Poll % 40% 90%
The number of candidates
contesting each election
steadily increased. In the
general election of 1952 the
average number of
candidates in each
constituency was 3.8; by
1991 it had risen to
16.3, and in 1996 stood at
25.6.
In August 1996, the size of
the deposit and the number
of people required to
nominate were increased.
The 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the number of
candidates came down to an
average of 8.74 per
constituency. In 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, it was
8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

19. LOSING THE DEPOSIT % Lost Deposit 50% 90%
Every candidate has to make
a deposit of Rs. 10,000/- for
Lok Sabha elections. The
deposit is returned if the
candidate receives more
than one-sixth of the total
number of valid votes polled
in the constituency.

20. WINNER MARGIN % Margin 0 5%
The percentage margin of
victory is shown against
each constituency.
The person with the single
largest number of votes is
returned to the parliament.

21. WINNER MARGIN
The percentage margin of
victory is shown against
each constituency.
INC 145 12%
The person with the single
largest number of votes is
BJP 138 11%
returned to the parliament. CPM 43 19%
SP 36 10%
RJD 24 11%
BSP 19 5%
DMK 16 23%
SHS 12 8%
BJD 11 10%
CPI 10 15%

22. INCREASES WITH CONTESTANTS
As the number of
Winner margin
contestants increase, the 70%
percentage margin by which
the winner wins increases –
60%
suggesting that candidates
do not split up the winners
votes much… 50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
# contestants

23. RUNNER UP MARGIN
… however, the runner-up’s
Runner-up margin
margin significantly drops 50%
with the number of
candidates. 45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
# contestants

24. WOMEN CANDIDATES # Women 0 1 5
How many women
candidates stand for
elections? And where?

25. WOMEN CANDIDATES Women % 0 0.5 1
There was only one
constituency in the 2004
general elections where
there were more women
candidates than men: at
Udaipur.
Incidentally, they were the
winner, runner up and
second runner up.
The men lost their deposit.

26. NAME LENGTH Name length 10 30
Where do candidates have
long names?

30. PARLIAMENT DECISIONS (CABINET + CCEA* + CCI**)
UPA's best cabinet performance was last
Friday, with a record 23 decisions taken in a
single day, including some long pending key
reform measures.
The only other such times were
Feb 23, 2008 (28 decisions) &
Dec 26, 2008 (23 decisions).
Mon 63 5%
Tue 56 4%
Wed 105 8%
Thu 854 65%
Fri 223 17%
Sat 6 0%
Nearly two-thirds of decisions
are taken on Thursday
sessions, which is also visible
on the calendar alongside.
* CCEA: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
** CCI: Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure

31. PRE-2009 2009 AND AFTER
Decisions related to
intervention, assistance and relief Decisions to increase the number of
were almost entirely concentrated in lanes on highways grew significantly
pre-2009 post-2009, especially as part of the CCI
(Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure)
decisions
A significant rise in the number of
The number of international decisions related to the States is
agreements has declined seen post 2009 – in contrast with
dramatically between pre-2009 and the focus on “Central” pre-2009
post-2009

32. There’s enough data out there.
I’ll be sharing the Excel file that built this
presentation.
Let’s get people to see politics.