Gujarat governor returns Modi's voting bill

In a setback to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, state Governor Kamla Beniwal has returned a bill seeking to make voting mandatory in the state, on the ground that the legislation violates the Constitution. The bill was passed by the Gujarat assembly in December 2009.

Gujarat assembly Speaker Ashok Bhatt said the bill has been returned by the Governor a few days ago. Sources in the state assembly secretariat said the governor had raised two main objections while returning the bill.

"The main objection cited by the governor is that the bill violates the constitutional provision which does not allow voting to be made mandatory and that no punishment can be meted out for not participating in the exercise of voting," a senior official in the assembly secretariat said.

The governor also noted that the mandatory voting bill should be separated from the bill seeking 50 per cent reservation for women in the election to local bodies. The Gujarat government had clubbed together the two bills, putting opposition Congress in a dilemma, as it had favoured the reservation for women bill but was opposed to the mandatory voting bill.

The Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009, which seeks to raise the reservation of seats for women in local self governance bodies from 33 to 50 per cent, was passed by voice vote in the state assembly on December 19, 2009. As per the voting bill, if a voter fails to vote for reasons other than prescribed in the rules, he may be declared a 'defaulter voter' and would face consequences, for which rules will be framed and placed before the assembly for its approval later.

"It is observed that due to the low turnout of voters to discharge their duty by exercising their right to vote, the true spirit of the will of the people is not reflected in the electoral mandate," said the statement of objects and reasons of the bill.

"Everybody will benefit by compulsory voting, be it the ruling party or the opposition," Narendra Modi had told reporters after the bill was passed in the assembly.

He had described it as an attempt to strengthen the democracy in the state.

While introducing the bill, Gujarat Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel had described the bill as a historical step taken by the government to strengthen the democratic process, by achieving 100 per cent voting in the local bodies' elections.

According to him, the proposal will put Gujarat in the same league as a number of developed nations, where voting in the local bodies' polls is mandatory.

However, Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil had described it as a 'populist measure' by the state government which was in contradiction with constitutional provisions. He had added that the amendment bill should be split into two and a separate bill for the reservation for women should be introduced first.

"My party will support the government and would vote in favour of the bill for enhancing reservation for women from 33 per cent to 50 per cent, as done by the central government," Gohil said, adding, "The Congress party cannot support the bill for mandatory voting."