Lalu supports Modi on mandatory voting

NEW DELHI: In an unexpected show of support for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s decision to make voting compulsory in local elections, RJD chief and former Union minister Lalu Prasad on Monday said mandatory voting was needed to tackle falling turnouts not just in municipal polls but also in parliamentary elections.

Mr Lalu Prasad — who seldom misses a chance to attack Mr Modi —- told reporters here that voting percentages were declining across the board, requiring compulsory voting in Lok Sabha polls as well.

“The vote percentage is slipping and this is a matter of concern. It should be made mandatory,” he pointed out.

A recent bill passed by the Gujarat assembly makes voting mandatory in local body elections. According to the Gujarat Local Authorities Law. (Amendment) Bill, 2009, registered voters who do not participate in local elections will have a month to explain their absence, following which they may face action. Though the BJP-ruled states like Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka have supported the idea of compulsory voting, Congress and Left view “forcible” voting as “anti-democratic”.

EC, too, agrees that applying the Gujarat government’s idea of making voting compulsory to all of India would not be a “practical” option. Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla was on Monday quoted as saying that it would not be practical to force 815 million-odd voters to compulsorily vote, even though he added that EC was watching the Gujarat initiative with interest.

Incidentally, the Gujarat bill provides for an option wherein the voter can reject all candidates. The voters’ right to exercise the so-called “none-of-the-above” option is also something that the EC has proposed before the parliamentary panel on personnel, public grievances, law and justice.