Will you jail those who don't vote? EC Brahma slams Gujarat's compulsory vote

The Gujarat government’s decision to make voting compulsory in local bodies election has not gone down well with the Election Commission, with Commissioner HS Brahma saying the decision ‘may not be correct’.

Brahma, speaking to The Indian Express, said though the rules pertained only to local body elections in Gujarat, over which the EC has no purview, his personal view was that the law was incorrect.

“Let me ask you, what if we have a similar law at the Centre, and out of 83 crore-plus voters, 10 percent choose not to vote? Will you put eight crore voters in jail or impose fines on them? Do we have jails to accommodate eight crore voters?” Brahma told The Indian Express.

Association for Democratic Reforms founder-trustee Jagdeep S Chhokar also criticised the new law suggesting that the government first implement it for lawmakers and then impose it on the people.

“Our parliamentarians are allowed the choice of abstaining during voting inside the House. Why doesn’t the government first make it compulsory for MPs to vote and then force the common citizens to follow suit? I fail to understand how this law, as claimed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when his government in Gujarat got the law passed, will strengthen democracy. Isn’t dissent one of the main features of democracy?” Chhokar told the daily.

On Sunday, Gujarat became the first state in the country where voters will have to compulsorily exercise their franchise in local body polls with new Governor OP Kohli clearing the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill, passed earlier by the state government under Narendra Modi, but opposed by ex-Governor Dr Kamla.

The Bill also provides for 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies.

“The Governor of Gujarat has signed the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws bill and gave sanction for its implementation to the state government,” State Assembly Secretary D M Patel told PTI on Sunday.

The Bill was sanctioned by the Governor three days back, he said.

As per the Bill, any person who fails to vote during local body polls, is liable for “punishment and will be penalised,” though it did not explain the exact nature of action.

The Bill, passed twice by the BJP government under then chief minister Narendra Modi in the Legislative Assembly, had faced a stiff resistance from the former Governor who had taken the stand that the provision of compulsory voting is violation of Article 21 of the constitution.

The ex-Governor had not approved the Bill during her tenure, but after the change of guard at Raj Bhavan, Kohli has given his assent.

The Bill was first introduced on the floor of state Assembly in December 2009 and passed by a majority vote.

However, Dr Kamla returned it to the government for reconsideration in April 2010 with remarks that “forcing voter to vote is against the principles of an individual liberty”.

“The present Bill violets the freedom which a citizen is entitled to enjoy under Article 21 of the Constitution. Government should not have entered into a controversy to compel voters to act against their conscience by means of coercion,” Dr Kamla had said in her letter asking the BJP government to make amendments to the Bill.

She had also asked the government to separate issue of women’s reservation in local body polls from that of compulsory voting.

With PTI inputs