My experience of Bangalore Graduate MLC election

No, I was not a candidate for this election. I was just supporting a candidate whom I believed that he could change the system if elected. Alas, that we lost the election but it taught me a lot of things about MLC & about preferential voting which I would like to share with everyone.
Here are some learning point by point:

What is an election: An election is a process where people are free to chose their leader. People exercise their vote & decide that which person shall hold the power to serve them better. The candidate who gets the majority votes, is called elected.

What is an MLC: MLC abbreviates for Member of Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). India has only 6 states which have Legislative Council apart from Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha). In a simpler way, you can compare them as Loksabha & Rajyasabha in center. Interestingly, in contrast to Vidhan Sabha, Vidhan parishad can't be dissolved. Its members are elected to a term of 6 years in comparison to the 5 year term of MLA. The number of MLC in state can't be more than one third of MLA.

How an MLC is elected: MLCs are chosen in the following manner-

*One-third are elected by members of local bodies such as corporations, municipalities, and zilla parishads.
*One-third are elected by members of Legislative Assembly from among the persons who are not members of the Assembly.
*One-twelfth are elected by persons who are graduates of three years' standing residing in that state. (Graduate constituency)
*One-twelfth are elected by persons engaged for at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower than secondary schools, including colleges and universities. (teacher's constituency)
*One-sixth are nominated by the governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as literature, science, arts, the co-operative movement and social service.

What election was this: Bangalore is a Graduate MLC constituency where the Graduates can vote for their choice.

Enough about MLC. Tell me more about Preferential voting: This was not a normal election where people go & put a seal in front of the desired candidate's name. It was a preferential voting where you have to write 1,2,3... & so on according to your preference of the candidates. You must write 1 for the most preferred candidate of your choice then it's on you if you have other choices to write the next preference.

How the preferential votes are counted: This is interesting. In preferential voting a winner must be having 51% of the total valid votes.
First of all, all votes are counted for the 1st preference. If no one is having the desired 51% votes, then the candidate with least 1st preference votes is made out of the race & his voter's 2nd preference become the 1st preference & is added to that candidate's vote counts. This process continues until one candidate gets 51% of the total valid votes cast.
At last, if only 2 candidates remain & still no-one has the 51% votes, the winner is the one who gets maximum votes till this point.
(This condition came true in Bangalore MLC election as neither BJP nor JD(s) could get 51% votes so then by tally of total 1st preference votes  removing all other candidates, BJP won the election)

Why shall I vote? My single vote doesn't make a difference: This is a big myth in the youth thinking that they can't change the system solely. It becomes a problem when many of them has the same thinking. Oceans are made by drops.
When you crib about the system, corruption, infrastructure or inflation then you must think whether you did your own part to make it correct by casting your vote to the right person?