Gujarat govt to re-introduce compulsory voting bill tomorrow
Notwithstanding the Governor's returning of a bill making voting mandatory in elections to self-governing bodies, the BJP government in Gujarat will re-introduce the legislation in the state Assembly tomorrow.
The Gujarat Local Authorities Law (Amendment) Bill, 2009, making voting mandatory in local self governing bodies, which was termed as "landmark" by chief minister Narendra Modi was first passed in the assembly in December 2009.
However, Governor Kamla returned the bill in April 2010 to the government saying that it violates Article 19 of the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech and expression.
The main objections cited by the Governor were, the bill violates Constitutional provision which does not allow voting to be made mandatory and no punishment can be meted out for not participating in the exercise of voting.
The two-day assembly session began today. On the first day, the House was adjourned after paying homage to sitting Congress MLA Gautam Zala who died recently.
