Saturday, December 19, 2009

Modi absent when compulsory voting bill tabled

GANDHINAGAR : The Gujarat state Assembly on Saturday passed Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009, making voting to municipal corporations, municipalities, and district, taluka and village panchayats compulsory. The Bill also ratifies the Centre\'s suggestion to reserve 50 per cent seats in all local bodies for women. Majority of them, including Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), will go to polls next year.

Chief minister Narendra Modi and most of his ministers were absent when the Bill was being voted in the House.

Cabinet ministers Vajubhai Vala, close Modi ally Dilip Sanghani and Jay Narayan Vyas. Ministers of state Jaswantsinh Bhabhor, Vasan Ahir and Purshottam Solanki were also missing from the Assembly. Nearly 40 per cent of MLAs in a House of 181 were absent during voting.

Questioned on reason for their absence, state urban affairs minister Nitin Patel, who tabled the Bill in the House, told TOI, \"The CM was busy. You cannot expect him to remain present for every Bill being passed in the Assembly. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also absent in parliament when voting happens on important Bills.\"

Opposition leader Shaktisinh Gohil said, \"The CM is one of the voters in the state Assembly, yet he is unfortunately often absent in the House during voting. This is of true of majority of MLAs too. How can we mandate others?\"

BJP MLAs participating in the debate suggested, those who do not vote should be penalised with denials of driving license or passport, or concessional bank loan, or government jobs.

Justifying it, minister Patel said, the Bill was \"absolutely essential for strengthening democratic process\" so that \"the true spirit of the will of the people is reflected in the electoral mandate.\"

In a statement, Modi said that the bill will help decrease poll expenditure. \"It will also curb black money, rampant in electoral expense right now,\" he added. Ironically, Modi was also absent during the debate on the bill.

\"We are the first state to have given the option of negative voting in the Bill,\" Modi said, underlining, \"This will help encourage good and able candidates to participate in the voting process.\" The CM added, \"I think that it will make people less indifferent towards the democratic process. This will infuse faith in democracy, even as stopping the process in which people having got as less as 25 per cent votes to be elected.\"

Boll will help decrease poll expenditure: Modi

Issuing a statement on compulsory voting in local bodies on Saturday, Modi said that the Bill will help decrease poll expenditure. \"It will also curb black money, rampant in electoral expense right now,\" he added.

We are the first state to have given the option of negative voting in the Bill,\" Modi said, underlining, \"This will help encourage good and able candidates to participate in the voting process.\" The CM added, \"I think that it will make people less indifferent towards the democratic process. This will infuse faith in democracy, even as stopping the process in which people having got as less as 25 per cent votes to be elected.\"
News From: http://www.Time2timeNews.com

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