9. SIGNIFICANCE OF SURVEYS IN THE LARGEST DEMOCRACY OF THE WORLD
In India till sometimes back and we can say that before the emergence of 24 hours news channel in India poll surveys were just of academic importance, and not much credence or valued time was devoted to analyze them. But with changing times and media's reach, especially with the emergence of news channels, they became more and more acceptable and recognizable. They have now become a part of every election. Psephology, the formal study of elections, is only a little older than independent India. In India some valuable research completed on voting, nationally and locally. It ranges from the pioneer work of W.H. Morris Jones, J.O.Field and Myron Wiener to more specialized studies
In India elections are considered as a festival of democracy. Our country enjoy elections and stand out as not only the largest but a triumphant example of democracy. Despite of many failing of our political parties and politicians no one can doubt the success of the democratic process. In more than 65 years of Indian democracy country has witnessed 16 Loksabha elections and more than 350 state assembly elections. In many countries governments change by coups or revolutions but in our country since the independence of our country in 1947 both at the state level and at the centre, the governments are changed or confirmed by the people as a whole. For example, In General elections of Loksabha 1977 the Indian electorate threw out one government but in 1980 they decided that it should come back. In 1984, at a time of crisis, they gave an emphatic mandate to a new leader. In 1989 they opted for change. In 1991 they reverted narrowly to the traditional dominance of the congress. In 1996 they didn‟t vote to return the congress however the successive two governments were in existence with the support of the Congress. 1998 Indian voters gave largest number of seats to BJP and in 1999 it was almost repeated again. In 2004 the mood of the voters changed and country witnessed congress as the largest party again and the verdict was repeated in 2009 Loksabha elections with electorate gave close to magic number of 272 seats to congress led UPA again. After 5 years the mood of the electorate changed in way that the party which won 206 seats in last election performed worst in the history of independent India. The congress party won its lowest tally of 44. On the other hand the