Article on Compulsory Vote

Link to the Article Published in Economic Times (English, All Editions) on dt 25/12/2009

Another attention-grabbing trick from Modi

THE decision to make voting compulsory in local body elections in Gujarat is yet another gimmick by Narendra Modi. In a democracy, how can anything, even voting be forced? India’s is the world’s largest and most vibrant democracy. Voting is a right and not a duty. Compulsory voting is against Article 14 & 19 of the Indian Constitution.
Choice is a very valuable tenet of democracy. It would be highly undemocratic if the state intrudes in our lives in this manner. Compulsory voting will not increase civil and mass engagement with politics. Are we then going to also have some prescribed punishment for the ‘offenders’? The provisions of this legislation also reflect a bias. For example, anyone travelling abroad can escape compulsory voting by providing documents, but a poor person will have to reply to a notice even if s/he is in the neighbouring district working as a migrant labourer. In short, a Modi or an Advani can be excused but a smalltime farmer or trader cannot. Why such anomalies? Since compulsion and democracy do not go hand in hand, countries like Austria, Venezuela, Netherlands, Spain and Italy have withdrawn such laws. In several countries where compulsory voting exists, it is more in form of an impotent law.
Instead of making voting compulsory for the people of Gujarat, why doesn’t Mr Modi first make safety of the citizens a compulsory thing for the government? What has the government done for the thousands of homeless victims or family members of Muslims killed in the state sponsored genocide? Also, if the Modi government claims that compulsory voting is to increase public participation, why not give more voice to the public by letting their elected representatives articulate their concerns in the assembly? Mr Modi ensures that the Gujarat assembly does not convene a day more than the minimum mandatory stipulation. In a democracy, should books and films be banned just because it hurts a megalomaniac’s ego? That several of his ministers and MLAs including Narendra Modi himself abstained from voting when this Bill was put up for voting is poetic justice. The move is just another attention-grabbing trick from Mr Modi. Like all believers in democracy, we strongly oppose this.