Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill-2009 which makes voting in local body elections compulsory has been approved by the state’s governor OP Kohli. The same Bill also provides for 50% reservation for women in all local body elections.
State assembly secretary D M Patel said on Sunday that the Governor had signed the Bill and given sanction to the state government for its implementation. The Bill was sanctioned by the governor three days back, Patel said. After the Bill was approved by the Governor, the state government issued a notification clearing the way for its enforcement. With this Gujarat has become the first state in the country where voting in local body polls has been made mandatory.
The controversial Bill empowers the state government to take punitive action against those who do not vote in local body elections. However, it does not specify the type of action that would be taken against a defaulter.
Earlier, the Bill had to passed twice by the state assembly as the previous governor, Kamla, had returned it for reconsideration in April 2010 after it was cleared by the House in December 2009. However, even after it was passed for the second time in March 2011, she did not give it her assent and the bill lay unapproved all through her tenure at Raj Bhavan. It received approval only after Kamla was removed by the Modi government at the Centre and OP Kohli was made governor in her place.
Kamla had objected to the bill on the ground that it violates 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,” she had stated in the letter she had written in April 2010 asking the state government to make amendments in the bill. Dr Kamla had also asked the state government to separate the issue of women’s reservation in local body polls from the issue of compulsory voting.
In its current form, the Bill is likely to be opposed again by the Congress. The opposition party has been in favour of 50% reservation for women in local bodies but it is against the compulsory voting provision which is included in the same bill.
The BJP, on the other hand, has called the Bill “revolutionary”. The statement of objectives and reasons in the Bill says: “It is observed that due to 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.”
Under the provisions of the bill, if a voter fails to vote for reasons other than those mentioned in the rules, he may be declared a “defaulter voter” and would face consequences for which rules will be framed. These rules will then be placed before the assembly for its approval.
The new legislation may prove crucial for the ruling BJP in the statewide local body elections to be held next year. Voting will now be mandatory in all elections to municipal corporations, municipalities, and district and village panchayats. Further, there will be 50% reservation for women.