Amid debate on the merits of the 'first-past-the-post' system, the government today said there is no proposal under consideration to introduce 'proportional representation' in elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said elections to the office of the President and to Rajya Sabha are held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
"However, for the House of the People our founding fathers had adopted a direct election on the basis of adult suffrage, which is known as first-past-the-post system. Thus under the Constitution of India, both proportionate representation and first-past-the-post system have been provided to elections to Parliament," he said.
He said the first-past-the-post system has served the country well for the last more than 60 years.
"There is no proposal under consideration of the government to introduce proportional representation in elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and the state legislative assemblies," he said.
Under first-past-the-post voting takes place in single- member constituencies. The electorate votes for their favoured candidate and the candidate with the most votes in the constituency wins.
In the first-past-the-post electoral system, it is seats that count. BJP with 31 per cent vote share became the first political party after 1984 to manage majority on its own.
