Karnataka Elections 2008

Here’s a post we received from Ranita Hirji, Dean, Commits, India

Over the past few days the media and several leaders have been urging the public to vote and thereby prevent a criminal or a dishonest person from entering the government. How can we prevent a corrupt person from entering the government when we have no choice but to simply choose one over the other, when we know that all are unfit? We will agree that we, the voters, really do not have a choice between candidates, for most of them if not all of them, are either corrupt or illiterate or selfish with no public interest.

In this situation it is interesting to note that there exists a provision in our Constitution (Section 49-O) that enables the electorate to reject unsuitable candidates. After all that is real democracy, where the electorate either selects (not merely chooses) or rejects a candidate. For some strange reason this provision has never been publicised by the media or any public affairs organisation, or for that matter even the Election Commission, whose primary responsibility it is to educate the citizens on all aspects of voting.

In fact, the previous election commissioner T S Krishnamurthy has even written to the Prime Minister of India (see extract given below) suggesting that the existing law be amended to enable negative or neutral voting. Surprisingly – or rather unsurprisingly – the government and the entire political class has chosen to remain silent over this issue. Imagine if this law is enforced, we will really be able to weed out the corrupt and scrupulous politicians because they will be scared that their candidature may be rejected by the voters if they are not truthful or honest.

What a fantastic democratic weapon we have, and how everybody from the Election Commission to the Media to the NGOs have overlooked this!