For elections to Parliament, the number of general electoral rolls prepared for every territorial constituency is:

Under Article 325, there is one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency for elections to either House of Parliament or to the legislature of a state.

What Article 325 says:

• There shall be one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency.
• No person shall be ineligible for inclusion in the roll, or claim to be included in any special roll, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them.

Why one roll:

• The Constitution abolished the system of separate electorates that existed under British rule.
• Under the Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms), Muslims were given separate electorates, where only Muslims could vote for Muslim candidates.
• This system was extended to other communities by later Acts and the Communal Award of 1932.
• Separate electorates were widely seen as having encouraged communal divisions and contributed to the partition of India.
• The framers of the Constitution therefore adopted joint electorates with a single electoral roll.

Reserved seats:

• Seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
• However, all voters in a reserved constituency, whatever their caste, vote together to elect the representative; only the candidates must belong to the reserved category.
• The Poona Pact of 1932 between Gandhi and Ambedkar replaced separate electorates for the depressed classes with reserved seats in joint electorates.

Preparation of electoral rolls:

• The Election Commission superintends, directs and controls the preparation of electoral rolls.
• Rolls are prepared under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
• The rolls are revised every year, with 1 January (and now also other qualifying dates) as the qualifying date for those turning 18.

Who can be enrolled:

• Every citizen who is at least 18 years old and ordinarily resident in a constituency can be enrolled, unless disqualified.
• A person can be enrolled in only one constituency.

Why not the other options?

• ✗There is only one roll per constituency, not two or three.
• ✗Separate rolls based on religion are prohibited.