First past the post system is also known as simple majority system or plurality system. In this voting system, the candidate who receives the most votes in a constituency are declared elected. Examples of FPTP in India include direct elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. In an election race, the candidate who is ahead of others and crosses the winning post first is the winner.
India adopted this system as India adopted FPTP system for elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Reasons for the success of FPTP include:
(i) Simplicity and Accountability: The public relations system of elections is very complex. It may work in smaller countries but it is unsuitable for a sub continental country like India. For common voters, the FPTP system is easy to understand and operate. While voting, voters simply must select a candidate or a party. Voters can either give importance to a party or a third candidate or strike a balance between the two. In the PR system, voters vote for parties and representatives are chosen based on party lists. As a result, there is no real representative. In FPTP, voters know and can contact their constituency representative and hold them accountable.
(ii) Stable Government: The framers of Indian constitution realized that PR system cannot provide stable government in legislature and PR system cannot provide clear majority as seats are allotted in legislature based on vote share. The FPTP system allows the largest party or coalition with a majority to form a government, more than the PR system of sharing votes can give. Therefore, the FPTP system provides stability to parliamentary government.
(iii) Wider Representation: The FPTP system encourages representatives of different communities to win elections in a locality. The PR system will lead each community to form a nationwide party in India as the nation is full of diverse groups.
